Ash Pollard Reveals the Mistake She Made on “The Traitors”

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by Stephanie Anderson
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Last on “The Traitors”, reality TV icon Ash Pollard became our first banished Traitor of the season, after Sam turned on their Traitor alliance to eliminate her from the competition. However, chatting to POPSUGAR Australia, Ash revealed that she may have accidentally put her castmates off early on in the season.

The Mistake Ash Pollard Made on “The Traitors Australia”

“I referred to the non-celebrity members of the cast as ‘civilians’ very early on in the show, and that rubbed a LOT of people up the wrong way!” Ash said, laughing at the error.

“So you know, that’s an industry term!” she explained. “That’s an industry term, and I wasn’t using it with malice.”

She continued: “I was just trying to say ‘you guys are the civilians and the other people are the celebrities’, and lots of the non-reality TV people took a lot of offence to that, and I did a lot of cleaning up after that on day one!” she laughed.

“A few apologies were made, for hurting people’s feelings and things like that!” she admitted. “So, yeah, that’s a bit of behind the scenes juice for you!”

Who Ash Thinks Will Win “The Traitors”

Now that Ash is out of the game, she’s ready to tune into the rest of the season as a fan, and said that she “loved the first season”.

As for who she thinks will win, though?

“I dunno, sometimes I think Luke [Toki], because he’s done this before,” she said.

Noting that his gameplay is “so good, SO good”, Ash said that Luke’s social game is one to be reckoned with.

“He’s exceptional,” she said. “And he was fun, I was like, ‘oh, he’s so nice! He’s such a nice guy!’ and then I would remember like, ‘DON’T TRUST HIM, HE’S DONE THIS A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE!’, you know, on Survivor, and he was very good at it!”

She added: “And he absolutely is so charming. Like, he is a great person, he’s good at gameplay, he’s very, very likeable, which makes him good at what he does, in those strategic games and shows. But you know, you have to remind yourself that he’s not to be trusted! Even though you think he’s making an alliance with you, he’s over making an alliance with someone else!”

As for who Ash hopes will win, she’s going to be rooting for Keith.

“I really admire him because I just think he’s a nice person, and he plays a good game, he doesn’t play a dirty game,” she said. “So I’d love him to win.”

What Ash Learned About Herself on “The Traitors”

“I learnt a lot about myself in that game, let that be said!” Ash declared.

It’s something we hear a lot from people who have competed on reality television competitions, and we’re always interested to lift the lid and find out more. What does reality TV teach people about themselves? What do they learn?

Having competed on “My Kitchen Rules”, “Dancing With the Stars” and “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!”, Ash is certainly no stranger to reality television. But “The Traitors” was a completely different experience.

“You’ve gotta be on your toes and deceiving people, whereas other shows that I’ve been on, you know, I’m working with people, we get to talk to each other, learn about each other, make friends,” she explained. “That’s not what this show was. You’re not talking about your personal lives, you’re not trying to make friends. You’re constantly deceiving, you’re constantly trying to remember all this deceptive gameplay, and what happened yesterday and who said what.”

While Ash had gone into the game excited to become a Traitor and to lie and deceive, the reality was that it was actually very difficult.

“I kind of just learned that my brain doesn’t work that way, you know?” she said. “I’m not that kind of a thinker, I’m not that strategic. And I thought I was!”

Ash explained that going into the game, her thought was that “having a career in reality television, you do have to have some strategy to maintain a career in the industry”. As it turns out, that kind of strategy did not translate to the “vindictive gameplay” necessary to excel in “The Traitors”.

“I didn’t think that I was going to be that way!” she said.

While Ash was able to make friends and allies in the game, and felt she was true to herself the whole time, she “still found it incredibly difficult to be a Traitor”.

“That is what I learned about myself!” she said.

What Is Ash Pollard Doing Next?

Having checked another reality television competition off the bucket list, there’s only one question: What’s next?

“God, that’s just a difficult question, because I myself don’t even know that!” she said. “The world is my oyster at this time!”

With two young children at home, Ash said that she’s “not hustling like [she] used to at this point in time”.

“I’m still not getting a full night’s sleep!” she laughed.

Still, there is one show she has her eye on.

“But look, I believe that what you put energy into will grow, so I’m gonna put it out there that ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ would be my next point of call, if I were to be asked!” she said. “That would be fun!”

Casting agents, make the call!

“The Traitors Australia” airs tonight at 7.30pm, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand. Miss an episode? Catch up now on 10 Play.

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