‘The Traitors: New Blood’: Did Joe Break a Rule?

On Episode 6 of The Traitors: New Blood, Joe Vanella made a shocking confession to Niyyah Hayes — he is a Traitor and that he murdered her in plain sight.

Four people — Joe, Niyyah, Mark Zgoda, and Clyde Moser — were all left in their coffins after they were put on the shortlist the day before. The Traitors had to have one of the Faithfuls catch an apple. Whoever caught it would be murdered in plain sight that night.

When it came down to the four of them, Joe said he had to tell Niyyah something. He was hesitant, but Niyyah said he should tell her now because they both might not be here later.

“I can’t,” he said.

“Yes, you can,” Niyyah replied. “We are in a lose-lose situation.”

“You’re not going to like what I’m going to tell you. I had to sacrifice a Faithful,” Joe said.

“Oh, my God! You sacrificed me?” Niyyah said.

“I did not want it to be you, but I had to throw an apple to somebody,” he said.

“What the f**k?”Niyyah asked.

“Niyyah, I love you. I’m sorry,” Joe said before her tombstone was set on fire. Niyyah said in a confessional that she would never have done that to someone, and she imagined Joe was clearing his conscience.

So, did Joe break a rule by basically telling Niyyah that he is a Traitor? The NBC show’s executive producer, Mike Cotton, told Variety that if a Traitor tells any Faithful they are a Traitor, they are immediately out of the game. Although these rules were mentioned for the Peacock celebrity version, we imagine the civilian version follows the same rules.

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“They sign a lot of paperwork, and the Traitors sign their own oath and agreement with us. There are lots of things like that, but there was never a moment that we heard when anyone revealed their identity, and honestly, it wouldn’t make any sense,” he said.

While, yes, Joe did reveal that he is a Traitor to Niyyah, she was getting murdered anyway. Since she didn’t have the chance to see anyone after her murder, she couldn’t reveal that Joe is a Traitor or how her murder went down, so he was safe from being revealed.

So no rules were broken because Niyyah was on her way out anyway. But the situation most likely provided closure for both Joe and Niyyah.