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Cast your mind back to the winter of 2024 and the delicious second season of The Traitors. That series single-handedly brought the reality show back from the regular-person doldrums, infusing the whodunit murder-mystery reality show with Housewives and reality TV gamers and one pilot named Pete to make the whole show sing. In the end, the MTV’s The Challenge alliance of Trishelle Cannatella and CT Tamburello trounced fellow Faithfuls MJ Javid and Sandra Diaz-Twine, as well as late-game Traitor Kate Chastain. The season’s runaway favorite, however, was The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks, whose cutthroat Traitor strategy — replete with sparkly eye shadow and sharp one-liners — got her almost all the way to the finish line. But maybe Parks did win after all, at least in her own way? On the September 4 episode of Jeff Lewis Live, the Housewife confessed she’s been dating Traitors winner Tamburello for a little while. “We’re going to the [Creative Arts] Emmys. He’s a presenter, so I’m his date,” she told Lewis. After that, Parks explained the two have plans in New York because Parks has obligations on Fire Island. It seems like they’re doing the long-distance thing for now, but maybe he can pop up on RHOA, which also just started shooting its new season.
Sorry, all of this is validating as well as inspirational. Validating because, let’s face it, there was always a vibe with these two. Though they both denied a romance at the end of their season, the heart wants what it wants, and sometimes it wants someone you were on a reality TV show with two years ago. And it’s inspiration because there is such thing as a Faithful-Traitor romance. Maybe there’s hope for Rob and Maura after all.