“Girl, it’s too late now! You shouldn’t be crying! You should have felt bad five seconds ago before I f---ing walked out of the castle.”

Natalie Anderson felt ‘bamboozled’ by Tara Lipinski’s Traitors U-turn

“Girl, it's too late now! You shouldn’t be crying! You should have felt bad five seconds ago before I f---ing walked out of the castle.”

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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February 23, 2026 3:11 p.m. ET

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Natalie Anderson and Tara Lipinski on 'The Traitors' season 4. Credit:

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK (2)

*“My whole life I’ve wanted to be so strong, and I try really hard to present as tough, and sometimes it comes with a negative of being judged of being ruthless, cutthroat. But today, a gamer got played. I’m a Faithful, so… good job, guys.”*

That was Natalie Anderson after being erroneously banished by her fellow Faithful on the most recent episode of *The Traitors.* Natalie was especially crestfallen after being approached earlier by Tara Lipinski about Rob Rausch being a Traitor. But once everyone sat down at the Roundtable, both Tara and ally Johnny Weir instead voted Natalie (unanimously) out of the game.

Natalie was so upset she also instructed Johnny before casting his vote: “Don’t say sorry, Johnny. When you put up your card, don’t f---ing say sorry. I don’t want to hear it.” (He did not say sorry.)

What did Natalie make of Tara’s abrupt U-turn? And Tara then wanting to quit the game after Natalie’s banishment? And does she think the gamers were set up to fail by there being no gamer in the turret? We asked the *Survivor* champion all that and more.

Natalie Anderson on 'The Traitors' season 4.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**: Tara brought up Rob’s name to you as a Traitor, you join in on it, you all are together, then you get to the Roundtable, and what happened?**

**NATALIE ANDERSON:** I guess there was a miscommunication at some point because even though the numbers didn't seem to number, we could have had a tie situation, worst case scenario. And then, I mean, how exciting? I don't really know the rules on *The Traitors*, but I'm assuming we flushed the dagger and then there's a revote of the two people that were up for elimination, which means me versus Rob, and everybody but us revotes. I'm assuming that's how it works.

And for me, even if we went in with a one less number, if we went in guns blazing, like, “We're not stopping, we are voting for Rob,” maybe Eric would've flipped. You never know, but we presented such a weak case and I was all by myself on a lonely island that there was never gonna be a situation where we would've been able to flip extra votes.

I just felt bamboozled. I felt like going in with such high expectations, it didn't prepare me to not be backed up. And if I had gone into the Roundtable knowing that it was me solo versus everybody, I would've had a way different plan. But yeah, it sucked. I feel like we could have flipped the whole game on its head and just redirected this storyline and we just f---ed up, you know?

Maura Higgins and Natalie Anderson on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**You said during that Roundtable that “Every single thing in me wants to jump across this table and grab Tara,” which, first of all, would have made incredible TV, you know that right? That would've been an all-timer, but tell me about what was getting you so frustrated.**

I think it was just seeing how comfortable Johnny and Tara were with allowing me to be, banished. How comfortable they were and how okay they were with me being voted off knowing that I wasn't a Traitor. They were just like, “Whatever, who cares? She can go today and we can try and figure it out tomorrow.” That was really frustrating for me. I wasn't out there to come fifth place or whatever the f--- I got. I was out there to win.

I think there's a different gravity of losing for some of us out there. The financial incentive is way bigger of a loss for me than it is for some of the other people out there. And I think that's also frustrating. Like, I'm not playing only for the money, but the money is such a big deal. Winning that money would've been amazing.

And so it was really frustrating to be out there and just see the nonchalant kind of like, “Oh, whatever, you can go today and we can try and figure it out tomorrow. 'cause me and Johnny just wanna be here another day.” And the lack of support for me in that position when I went there because of a conversation that we had had and this fire that was ignited in me because of this possibility that we could have done something.

Natalie Anderson on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**You're not the first person to say that. Tiffany this season mentioned it too. There are certain people that are there that really need the money or are also very competitive and are used to playing competitive games, and other people that are just there to kind of cash the appearance fee check and build their brand. Did you get that feeling when you're playing the game?**

I'm not gonna judge them for being there for different reasons. I think their reasons are valid. It's just very different and it makes playing different because we have this incentive and this possible opportunity. Like, I went out there this season saying: If I win, that money is going all to my nieces — something that is life changing for their future. And it does put a pressure on us that may make us play differently in a way that makes us most stressed out.

It is frustrating when it feels like we're playing for different reasons. So the game is kind of flipped on its head, versus *Survivor* where it’s a bunch of nobodies all playing the same game with the same kind of gravity. So it feels different in a way. And there are levels that are okay to the people out there, and the levels are not the same. That's how I feel.

**What do you make of Tara’s tears after you left, and her saying she didn’t want to play anymore and asking to be murdered?**

I was like, “Girl, why didn't you just get banished instead and then let me stay in the game one more day? You should have just voluntarily walked out of the castle!” No, I feel like Tara really had this moment with me, and you see her kind of fighting with that emotion with Johnny, and it's kind of Johnny that convinces her like, “No, Natalie's ruthless. You can't trust her. She's a professional game player. This is what she does.”

So I know Tara was fighting with this, and I think she just chose her relationship with Johnny over this commitment to me that she had made. And most of my conversations were with Tara, but we had kind of bonded together in this, me-Johnny-and her situation. It's like, “Girl, it's too late now! You shouldn’t be crying! You should have felt bad five seconds ago before I f---ing walked out of the castle.”

Natalie Anderson, Maura Higgins, Tara Lipinski, and Dorinda Medley on 'The Traitors'.

**Talk to me about telling Johnny to not say sorry when he showed his vote for you.**

Listen, I don't do things for TV. That was authentically me. And there are some people in the house that do things that are very performative because that's their role in their shows. For me on TV, you are seeing 100 percent myself all the time. And in that moment, I was so fed up with all of them, including the Faithfuls that had already [voted]. I was just like, “Save it. Like, why are you saying sorry?”

I knew he was gonna say sorry, and I knew he was gonna drop that bulls--- heart on his chalk board. And I was like, “I don't wanna hear it. You're not gonna make me feel better. If anything, you're gonna get me more mad saying sorry to me.

The difference is with Maura, where I said, it's okay, is because I truly feel like Maura was so like conflicted and confused and didn't know if I was a Traitor, versus Johnny and Tara who had already, kind of established this truth in them to be that Natalie's not a Traitor, but we're just gonna f---ing take the easy route and vote her off so that we can be here one more day.  And obviously Rob, I respected him voting for me. It was an awesome move and he barely had to do anything to defend himself because we just started fighting on the Roundtable.

Natalie Anderson on 'The Traitors' season 4.

Sam McElwee/Peacock

**Rob said after that, “The way Natalie went about it, she messed up. And it just made her look guilty.” What do you think he means by that?**

I don't know if it makes me feel look guilty. It definitely didn't help. I feel like now I wish I just redirected my anger into saying, “Listen, I don't care. I don't care if you're backing out. I'm voting Rob. Mark, Eric, if you guys wanna lose, go ahead and vote me off, but let's just do this.” I wish I just redirected my attention to: *Stay focused, Natalie, don't get distracted by Tara. She's a mess, but you can stay focused.*

So I think he was right. I could have done a better job of saving myself. I just got so wrapped up in my emotions that I animated about me versus Tara instead of me, instead of just focusing on being like, “Rob's a Traitor.”

**Were all the gamers screwed this season by there not being any gamers in the turret?**

Yeah, I think we needed a gamer. I think having the secret Traitor be a gamer would've been an awesome twist 'cause it would've bought us some protection. And I mean, kudos to the Traitors killing off all the gamers. And obviously we banished Tiffany too, which is so dumb. It was an awesome way for them to use that later against me if they wanted to. Even though it makes zero sense for non-gamers, it's like, “Oh yeah, it's a double bluff.” It's like, “No, bro, we wouldn't do that!”

But you can't convince them otherwise. They thought I was this mastermind that double bluffed them to vote off all the gamers. Even at the banquet, they were trying to convince themselves that I did it as like a reason to get the heat off me. And I was like, “If Yam Yam was gonna be murdered, why on earth would I be fighting Tara for the f---ing potion? It makes no sense!”

But anything I did was suspect. Anything I said was shady. It was a really hard uphill battle for me to prove innocent. It’s usually like innocent until proven guilty. I came in feeling already guilty and I have to prove innocence, which sucks.

Natalie and Nadiya Anderson on 'The Amazing Race'. Cliff Lipson/CBS

**Whom from *Survivor* would you like to see on season 5 of *The Traitors?***

I would like to see Nadiya on *The Traitors*. I think Nadiya would be awesome. I mean, I would pick Jeremy too, but he's already been on. I would've loved to play with Jeremy. I think Ethan would be good, but honestly I'm rooting for Nadiya, and watching *Traitors*, there's something in her that wants to play it, and I was like: If you're gonna come back to reality TV, what a way to come back, go on *The Traitors*. So Nadiya for *Traitors*, maybe season 6 or 7, because her youngest is 4, but when she's 6, I can handle her for three months. I would just step in and be mom for three weeks while Nadiya goes and plays *Traitors*.

**Finally, whom are you rooting for to win* Survivor 50*?**

So I'm rooting for Dee on *Survivor 50* and I think that it's gonna be interesting. I have no idea. I know there's a lot of really random twists and stuff, but I'm excited to watch. I'll see if I'll end up watching the whole season. Last season I kind of faded out halfway through, so let's see.

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Source: “EW Survivor”