The relationship between American TV personality Larsa Pippen and her boyfriend Marcus Jordan is put to the ultimate test as they compete against each other in the second US season of the television series The Traitors.
Season 2 of the Peacock reality show, which began on Friday, 12 January, includes a $250,000 grand prize competition between the 49-year-old Real Housewives of Miami actress and the 32-year-old former basketball player.
Pippen explained to PEOPLE magazine why she decided to join The Traitors, saying that she kind of wanted to push herself. She explained how she feels like everything she has done on Bravo has been pretty safe, but this was a really dangerous place where she didn’t know if she was going to turn out good or bad or anything else.
Jordan, who describes himself as “a big murder mystery fan,” joined The Traitors for the trill part of the game show.
He admitted that he kind of got hooked while watching season 1. Additionally, he saw that all of the game’s related stuff was solely focused on the game and didn’t try to go too far into the contestants’ personal lives, which was a major plus point for him.
Their Individual Strategies
When filming in Scotland began, Jordan sought to learn as much as he could from his castmates, who included former champions of Big Brother, The Challenge, and Survivor, given his lack of competitive experience in reality TV.
Jordan stated how he uses “being a sponge” as his strategy, as it could be detrimental to a contestant if they come in “too hot” right at the beginning. Therefore, his watching of season 1 makes him believe that spending the first few days getting to know everyone and their personalities greatly aided in the development of his future plan.
Pippen claims that her approach evolved during the tournament. The Bravo actress recalls that she thought she was going to be super quiet and just kind of take in all the information, but she has somehow managed to make friends with every other person.
Pippen expressed her wish that she wouldn’t be forced to take sides, blame others, or risk being killed. Despite not having a background in competition, she felt ready for the physical aspects of The Traitors.
She explained that she and Marcus work out daily, so she feels like they had realized they needed to “step up our cardio” when they learned they would be performing The Traitors. One more component of the challenge that they had to get used to was having our phones. However, she believes that when they are taking on the challenges, their adrenaline truly spikes and helps them advance.
How Their Relationship Changed
The reality star, who is the son of NBA superstar Michael Jordan, noticed that he was becoming competitive on The Traitors. He teased that he felt like winning was in his blood because he is a Jordan by DNA.
Jordan acknowledges that it was a little more difficult to navigate the game when he was playing with his partner. He states that it feels like a target on their back as they are a couple in the show, but he does consider himself really fortunate and grateful to have his partner here since it made the transition a lot smoother.
Pippen, on the other hand, expressed that “our relationship has changed” because of The Traitors. She added that they had a new ideology as they entered the game: “Hey, once we get to the castle, I’m Larsa, and you’re Marcus, and we’re not necessarily a duo anymore.”
They were forced to have the conversation that “You’re by yourself. I’m by myself”, as Pippen explained. She felt like as they were on this path together, they were both evolving as individuals, and she believes it was quite enjoyable to be able to go through this with someone she loves while also having their relationship tested.
Following each day’s filming at the Traitors’ castle, Pippen and Jordan spent the night apart in rooms where they were unable to speak to each other. Nonetheless, Pippen managed to have a secret conversation with Jordan while filming.
She explained how she put the nail file that Marcus asked for in a paper bag. The team goes through everything, so they were not supposed to send stuff back and forth. But Marcus wanted a nail file, so she thought she would just send him one. Then he also requested a banana, so she used the nail file to write “I love you” on the banana and mailed it to him.
