The Traitors Canada host Karine Vanasse says she can spend an entire day in the hair and makeup room preparing for her looks. The show airs Tuesdays on CTV, with extended cuts released Wednesdays on Crave.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
The Traitors Canada’s Karine Vanasse is dressing to kill again as the CTV reality television competition she hosts returns for a third season.
The Quebec actress (Cardinal, Polytechnique) plays a wealthy, well-dressed character who happens to have the same name as her own in the show. She invites 22 guests to her manor – who then compete in challenges and try to guess who the secret murderers are in their midst before they get offed in the night.
Beyond the betrayal and the backstabbing, the often out-there outfits that Vanasse wears in each Traitors Canada appearance are a major part of the show’s appeal with viewers. “I’m not there to look pretty,” she says. “It’s more about wanting to have a reaction from the guests when I walk into the room and when we go to the round table.”
Based on the Dutch series De Verraders, The Traitors is an international phenomenon that riffs on the popular party game Werewolf. The franchise’s various emcees internationally lean into ostentatious and often campy costuming to greater (Alan Cumming in the American version) or lesser degrees (Claudia Winkleman in the British version).
There’s even a difference between how Vanasse dresses for The Traitors Canada versus how she dresses for Les Traîtres, Bell Media’s French-language version of the show. “In Canada, she comes from old money; in Quebec, she made her money with crypto,” Vanasse explains.
With a new season of treachery having started (Tuesdays on CTV; extended cuts Wednesday on Crave), Vanasse shared seven of her favourite fashion looks as she’s messed with the minds of contestants to date. “One episode is one day of shooting, so with all the looks, I have pretty much spent the entire day in the hair and makeup room,” she says.
“We really live in the manor for a full month, so our life is just following what happens with the game and making sure we’re on time with the looks.”
Vanasse wearing Dorian Who by Toronto-based designer Dorian Rahimzade in season 1, episode 3.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 1, episode 8.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 1, Episode 3: This Act is to Die For
The big-sleeved coat Vanasse wore in this early episode is from Dorian Who, a fashion collective founded by Toronto-based designer Dorian Rahimzadeh. “I love her pieces, and it’s pretty much something I could wear personally,” Vanasse says. “But it really supported the attitude at that specific moment.”
Season 1, Episode 8: Date With Destiny
The Traitors Canada’s initial stylists were Indiana Bourassa-Petit and Olivia Leblanc – and, later in that first season, they experimented with makeup designer Leslie-Ann Thomson on how kooky Vanasse’s manor-owning character’s couture could go. “When I wore this look, to me it was like, ‘Okay, it’s fine to be serious, but we can go a little over the top,’” she recalls. “We started playing with shape a little bit more and adding volume. I wouldn’t wear that for a dinner.”
Vanasse says this gown worn in season 1, episode 10 makes her feel like a ghost moving through the manor.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 2, episode 2.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 1, Episode 10: Trust Your Instincts
Vanasse was sold on hosting this reality TV show by a producer friend who promised her it would be cinematic – and, to her, this look in the first finale is an example of the dramatic atmosphere of the show. “I feel like that dress speaks to that specifically,” she says. “I stand very straight. I have amazing, high shoes, so I feel very tall. I feel like I’m just a ghost moving through the manor. Loved it.”
Season 2, Episode 2: The Hunt Has Begun
In the second season, Patrick Vimbor took over as The Traitors Canada’s wardrobe stylist. This outfit Vanasse wore at the round table in episode two is one of her overall favourites – but she feels the hair is what really made it work.
For all three seasons of the show, Vanasse’s hair has been the purview of Valeria Amirova. “At the end of season one, we decided that if we come back for a second season, let’s play with that. Let’s make it confusing if she gets a new haircut every day, you know.”
In season 2, episode 8, Vanasse wore a dress designed by Montreal-based Gabriel Paul Caron.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 2, episode 10.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 2, Episode 8: The Trust
While some of Vanasse’s looks are international and off the rack, she particularly appreciates the opportunity to showcase Canadian designers as she did with this outfit by Montreal-based Gabriel Paul Caron. “I loved, loved this, and to me, it shows the chic that the character has,” she says. “A little edge comes from the bangs from Valeria.”
Season 2, Episode 10: Dig to the End
Tristan Réhel, another local designer, crafted this second finale look specifically for the show. “Tristan can be very fun with his creations, and, in that specific case, he created something it felt like I could play in Alice in Wonderland,” says Vanasse.
Season 3, episode 1.David Trang/Entourage/Supplied
Season 3, Episode 1: Overconfidence is a Curse
For the newest season of The Traitors Canada, Patrick Vimbor is back as wardrobe stylist and Valeria Amirova is back on hair, but Sabrina Rinaldi has joined the team on the makeup front.
This dress Vanasse wore to greet guests on their arrival did not allow for much arm movement – but her character didn’t mind. “When there’s some sort of restraint, I think that she feels power within that,” she says.
“I love to feel like I’m wearing armour, although it’s a dress. … She’s ready for the fight; she’s ready for the game.”