{"id":449198,"date":"2026-01-31T08:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449198\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T08:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:56:08","slug":"the-traitors-star-yam-yam-arocho-explains-being-dragged-out-of-the-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449198\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Traitors’ star Yam Yam Arocho explains being dragged out of the banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"

He thought it was the kiss of death, but it was actually a cursed amulet that did Yam Yam Arocho<\/a> in on this week\u2019s episode of The Traitors.<\/a> Unbeknownst to Yam Yam, his fate was sealed after he helped Traitor Lisa F—ing Rinna<\/a> adjust her amulet at Alan Cumming<\/a>\u2019s camptastic banquet.\n<\/p>\n

But Yam Yam would not go down quietly. After he was identified as the victim, the murdered in plain sight subject kept repeating that it was Lisa who had killed him\u2026 with a kiss. (He was correct about the first part, if not the second.) Making the scene even more a spectacle was the fact that Yam Yam was literally being manhandled and dragged out of the castle while doing so.\n<\/p>\n

How does the Survivor winner feel about the circumstances of his untimely Traitors demise? Did he ever consider making his case to take the antidote? And what was up with his feud with fellow gamer Tiffany Mitchell<\/a>? We spoke with Yam Yam about all that and more.\u2026 only to have another Traitor contestant crash our interview to offer her two cents. Who is it? Watch or read the interview below and find out.\n<\/p>\n

Yam Yam Arocho ‘The Traitors’ season 4 exit interview<\/p>\n

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I\u2019m not going to start by blowing you an air kiss because those don\u2019t seem to be going well lately.\n<\/p>\n

YAM YAM AROCHO: Oh my God. I would make out with you anytime. Don’t worry about. Even if it makes me be murdered.\n<\/p>\n

I\u2019m obsessed with you literally being dragged out of the banquet by creepy masked men as you are yelling about Lisa Rinna kissing you on the cheek. Was that as chaotic as it looked?\n<\/p>\n

I felt like it was way faster than they did show. I felt like I was literally like with my legs kicking and screaming. But actually, I was apparently walking backwards. I got asked last week by Mark, \u201cWere you overacting? What was going on?\u201d I was like, \u201cNo, dude. I just got murdered! Of course I was gonna scream what I was gonna scream!\u201d\n<\/p>\n

But these people thought they could take a notepad out and say like, \u201cSo Yam Yam before you leave, we have five questions for you.\u201d I was like, \u201cI WAS KISSED AND KILLED! DON\u2019T YOU GET IT?!\u201d They were like, \u201cWhat do you mean Yam?\u201d Whatever. [ED NOTE: You really need to watch the video above to see this entire exchange played out.]\n<\/p>\n

How physical were those men pushing you out of there?\n<\/p>\n

No, it was real. It was real. It felt like I was murdered. The only thing that they could have done was like, cut my head there, but it was not gonna happen.\n<\/p>\n

Yam Yam Arocho on ‘The Traitors’ season 4.<\/p>\n

Euan Cherry\/Peacock<\/p>\n

How weird is the suddenness and whiplash of a Traitors murder? You\u2019re dressed up all fancy and then people are carrying you out of a room and that\u2019s that.\n<\/p>\n

Oh my God. Of course, I was so happy to be there at the banquet. Because we knew that at some point we were gonna dress really fancy and really pretty and really amazing. But I thought we were celebrating life, I thought we were celebrating halfway through the game. Like of course I was like, I’m gonna be aware of what’s going where and what’s happening. But it never occurred to me that it was in the outfits. Never.\n<\/p>\n

Tell me your reaction when you found out that it wasn\u2019t the kiss, but was actually touching the amulet that did you in.\n<\/p>\n

Oh, I was surprised. I was surprised. First, I was like, I’m good because I knew it was that. But it wasn\u2019t. But I felt like a fool because I love Lisa. I could not believe it because at that point I was looking for someone to have fun with. Like, if you see me on Survivor with Carolyn, we were having fun. That was Lisa and me. Of course I was close to Natalie, but Natalie’s like more gamer, more athletic, more, you know, like [starts trying to imitate someone being athletic\u2026 again, watch the video above]. But Lisa is kooky like me. So we were having a blast. And for her to use that relationship that I had with her \u2014\u00a0because I was not, um, suspecting that she was gonna do something like that to me \u2014\u00a0I was very surprised.\n<\/p>\n

Yam Yam Arocho on ‘The Traitors’ season 4.<\/p>\n

Euan Cherry\/Peacock<\/p>\n

Love your Natalie impression, by the way. That was spot on. So how does it feel to not win a reality show for a change?\n<\/p>\n

Oh, it sucks, dude. That’s harsh.\n<\/p>\n

Now you know how the other half lives.\n<\/p>\n

It’s weird to not have so much air time. Because I am one of the Survivor people with the most confessionals ever on Survivor \u2014\u00a0like of 800 people that have played. I’m like the eighth winner with the most confessionals ever on Survivor \u2014 when that was a 60 minutes show instead of 90 minutes.\n<\/p>\n

But it’s good. I had everything I asked to the universe, I was like: I wanna get to the banquet, I wanna get halfway through, if I get eliminated, I wanna get eliminated in front of people so I can say whatever I wanna say. Obviously, I was thinking more it was gonna be like a banishment kind of thing, but I got murdered. Like, nobody has ever gotten murdered in front of everyone. And I was able to say what I was thinking, which had never happened.\n<\/p>\n

Yam Yam Arocho on ‘The Traitors’ season 4.<\/p>\n

Euan Cherry\/Peacock<\/p>\n

Take me through the whole antidote drinking madness. You had Kristen, Tara, and Natalie all really wanting to take it. What was that scene like?\n<\/p>\n

So I knew right away that the way it was set up that it was whoever got to it first. But because all of these people are like actors and stuff, and this is like a set, they\u2019re behaving and waiting for whatever cue. It felt like that. Maybe it’s not like that, but’s how I perceived it.\n<\/p>\n

At some point when it got really heated, I told Johnny, \u201cGrab it, grab it.\u201d I gave it to Kristen because Kristen had gone hard at people at their last Roundtable and she wasn’t trusting me. When we left the Roundtable where we banished Ron, we had a conversation and she said, \u201cIt is not that I think you’re a Traitor, Yam Yam, but I don’t trust you.” And I was so surprised by the way she talked to me that I wanted for her to have trust in me again.\n<\/p>\n

So that’s why I went and told Johnny to give it to Kristen. And then when Natalie’s sitting in front of me and she\u2019s fighting with Tara, Natalie’s looking for that prompt of someone allowing her to drink it. And because I knew I got so much s— on me and people thought I was messy and people thought I was a Traitor and people thought I wasn’t authentic, I told Natalie to drink it.\n<\/p>\n

But I would mouth it to her. I did not give a s— about what everybody was saying at that point. And I was like [mouthing the words] \u201cNatalie, drink it. Natalie, drink it. Drink it.\u201d So she looked at me and then she swallowed it. So I basically was telling the people that drank the potion that I needed for them to drink it because I wasn’t expecting it.\n<\/p>\n

Ron Funches, Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho, Porsha Williams, Rob Cesternino on ‘The Traitors’.<\/p>\n

Euan Cherry\/Peacock<\/p>\n

You were probably just mouthing Natalie to drink it because you had to do damage control because you already gave one to Kristen. Why you gotta do Natalie like that? You put her in a 50 50 situation there because you gave one to Kristen. You were in damage control mode.\n<\/p>\n

The two of them were so outspoken at the Roundtable that I knew they were not gonna kill Colton or me, because everybody had suspicions on us. So I was like: These people, I need to protect. I need to protect Natalie so I can continue playing with her, and Kristen because she was like kind of leading that pack with Johnny.\n<\/p>\n

Well, you did need Natalie because the gamers have been dropping like flies. And then you get murdered and they almost banished the last one left in Natalie. Were you all screwed by not having anyone in the turret to help protect you?\n<\/p>\n

It was so bad. If there’s a season gamers don’t wanna play, it was this season. It’s bad. I mean, I guess the Housewives can say the same of last season, right? So maybe next season there’s not gonna be\u2026. I don’t know. I’m not gonna say anything.\n<\/p>\n

But it’s so random. It’s so different. It wasn’t even that there was not somebody there to protect me, it was the fact that the gamers did not trust each other because all of us thought one of us was a Traitor. Because I wasn’t a Traitor so it has to be Natalie or Rob, right? So if Rob wasn’t a Traitor, then it has to be Yam Yam or Natalie. Or vice versa with Natalie. But it just created this air of not trusting each other, and that went into the other people as well.\n<\/p>\n

Yam Yam Arocho and Stephen Colletti on ‘The Traitors’ season 4.<\/p>\n

Euan Cherry\/Peacock<\/p>\n

Is that why you and Tiffany were going at each other?\n<\/p>\n

I didn’t even know Tiffany didn’t like me until that Roundtable. I thought we were friends. I thought I was her big deal. I was talking about the Cookout, we were having lunch together, and people were like, \u201cTiffany is talking about you\u201d I was like, \u201cWhy would she?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

But we hung out last week and she told me, \u201cHad I known you were like this, I would not have mistrusted the way you are.\u201d Because I’m basically the same person everywhere I go and people think I’m like acting. But I’m just loud and I’m bigger than life and I don’t measure my words and I don’t have like super fancy phrases or one-liners. If I say a one-liner, it’s something random that I say. I don’t have this list of funny things to say. I just say whatever I want.\n<\/p>\n

Whom are you rooting for on Survivor 50?\n<\/p>\n

I mean, Cirie is my girl. Cirie is my favorite. She was my inspiration. I always said I wanted to play like Cirie and win, and I did. And you have to root for Dee, my fellow Latina. She won after me. She’s great. She’s doing everything. She’s beautiful. She’s gorgeous. She got the fire. Because if Carolyn is not gonna be there\u2026. I was really surprised Carolyn wasn’t there. Like, I was more surprised that she wasn’t there than me. Because I wanted to do it. But yeah, Cirie and Dee. Do I think they have a chance? No, but that’s who I want to win.\n<\/p>\n

Natalie Anderson on ‘The Traitors’ season 4.<\/p>\n

Sam McElwee\/Peacock<\/p>\n

[Natalie Anderson walks in room] Hey, Natalie. How\u2019s that antidote doing?\n<\/p>\n

YAM YAM TO NATALIE: He\u2019s saying I should not give you the potion because I put a target on you or something. Is that what you said?\n<\/p>\n

I said he was doing damage control because he gave Kristen the first antidote. So that’s why he was then telling you to drink it because he felt bad because he knew he did you wrong. He did you dirty.\n<\/p>\n

NATALIE: Well, honestly, now in hindsight, I wish I just said, \u201cListen, gamers are being targeted. Me and Yam Yam deserve to drink these potions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

YAM YAM: But it would’ve been bad. It would’ve been bad. It would’ve been like, \u201cOh, them. They’re the Traitors.\n<\/p>\n

NATALIE: Then they thought, I was like, what? Sacrificing you to be killed? What would they have thought?\n<\/p>\n

YAM YAM: Because whoever went for it hard was gonna\u2026 if I had stood up like I wanted to do and drink it, they would have banished me next.\n<\/p>\n

NATALIE: Yeah, like me. That’s what they basically tried to do to me, obviously. But I don’t know if he told you, but Colton, Dorinda, and him were mouthing at me being like, \u201cDrink it.\u201d Dorinda wanted me to drink it because she knew it would make her in the clear with the turkey with Tara. Colton wanted me to drink it because he knew that I was a Faithful. And Yam Yam was like, \u201cJust drink it\u201d because he felt bad for me that I was up there being like, \u201dShould I do this? Should I do this?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

And I love it how everybody’s like, \u201cLet Tara drink it!\u201d But nobody felt like I deserved to drink it, which is just like so unfair. Just because they just didn’t think that I was really scared and Tara was \u201creally scared.\u201d Whatever.\n<\/p>\n

YAM YAM: Tara was not gonna get murdered.\n<\/p>\n

NATALIE: No, neither was Kristen.\n<\/p>\n

Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free Survivor Weekly newsletter<\/a> to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He thought it was the kiss of death, but it was actually a cursed amulet that did Yam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-449198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}