She also found inspiration in Elle Woods—another female heroine that’s easily dismissed and branded as superficial for her love of fashion, but proves people wrong through intelligence, tenacity, and wit. “That’s kind of what I was aiming towards,” she says, “wanting to be the person that makes friends with everybody, but also can easily be underestimated.”
Still, you know what they say about what happens when you make plans.
“Going into it, you have all these ideas and strategies, but it really has to go out the window once you start playing, because nothing really can prepare you for being in it,” she says. “You’re seeing a very shortened and edited-down version, but they do everything they can to make it such an immersive experience. The game does not stop.”
The other thing Stause hadn’t considered was the weather in Scotland during filming. “None of my outfits were good for the cold,” she concedes. “One of the outfits on [the first three episodes] was kind of a mess because that’s not the way it was supposed to be worn—I was just freezing and trying to find what in my bag would go with that… They keep it very drafty in that castle.” (If she were to do it again, she says she would have brought activewear meant to keep warm and not just look cute.)
The cast of Traitors season 3.Euan Cherry/Peacock
While Stause thought carefully about what she would be packing in her allotted three suitcases, and how that could best serve her in the game, she also wanted to prove herself as a competitor, especially in the physical challenges.
“I wanted to have a little fun with it and let the fashion stand out a little bit—but, at the end of the day, I wanted to show people my worth,” she says. “Take the heels off and then show that I’m actually really physically able to help our team win money. Fashion comes into play to show, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ I do really well in the physical challenges. Don’t count us out just because we’re prancing around in heels. I can actually run in heels. I could have done those challenges in heels. If there was a challenge of having to do something in heels, for sure, I would’ve been the winner.”
