'The Traitors' Fans Have an Interesting Theory About Donna Kelce's Role on the Show

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers about eliminations and the Secret Traitor.

Fans of The Traitors were shocked that Donna Kelce was voted out by the Faithfuls before even being introduced to the three known Traitors as the Secret Traitor, and a new fan theory believes that the 73-year-old mother of NFL pros Jason and Travis Kelce (and Taylor Swift‘s future mother-in-law) had her exit planned from the very beginning.

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Instagram user @shelby_g_t_laid out some facets of the multi-layered theory that Kelce may have had a three-episode contract with the show, hence why she was voted out in the third episode in a way that felt somewhat random to viewers. It was during the surprise vote that the Faithfuls, existing Traitors Candiace Dillard Bassett, Rob Rausch, and Lisa Rinna, and viewers alike learned Kelce was the Secret Traitor. So, why do people think Kelce’s exit was planned? There are a few reasons:

Inside The Fan Theory That Donna Kelce Had a 3-Episode Contract for The Traitors

• She was given a special role: Kelce was a big draw for this season of the show due to her connection with both sports fans and Swifties. Fans believe she was given the pre-picked role of Secret Traitor (a completely new concept on the US version of the show) to keep her front and center in the season early on.
• She may have been unable to keep up with challenges: Before her exit, Kelce was not seen competing in the chariot race, which was heavily physical and included players pushing a chariot and running through the woods to find money to add to the prize pot. Some fans think producers and Kelce had concerns about the physical nature of many of the games, and found a way to let her still appear on the show and get airtime despite being unable to get down and dirty in the challenges.
• The show had an unprecedented extra banishment: Banishments have historically happened at night, following the challenges. Fans thought it was odd that host Alan Cumming announced an extra banishment after breakfast, before the challenge, which is when Kelce got voted off.
• The vote was suspiciously unanimous: Despite having no real evidence against Kelce, Michael Rapaport having a massive outburst during the roundtable, and many players expressing concern about voting Kelce off at the risk of outraging Swifties, everyone but Kelce herself, Rapaport, and Ron Funches voted for her. That was enough to make fans suspicious that it may have been a planned exit.

Many fans agreed with the points laid out in the video, which currently has more than 135,000 views. “1000% planned. Too obvious. She didn’t participate. And then a random elimination before a challenger leaving someone without a teammate, nah, super forced,” said one fan, pointing out that the cage challenge would have had enough people for no one to be left out if Kelce hadn’t gone home in the surprise banishment. Another agreed, “I have to say that episode felt really strange… It really did feel like they had plotted to get her out early on because things start settling down once the Donna aspect is dealt with.”

Other fans disagreed, with some saying she was simply “bad at the game” and gave herself away with shifty behavior. “The UK version did the Secret Traitor before the US version, so I don’t think it was a special with for Mama Kelce,” said one, while another agreed, “Nothing was odd. She was just very obvious. Even myself would’ve picked her. Her character just was out there.”

Why Producers Might Be Regretting The Secret Traitor Twist

Now, producers are reportedly regretting the twist, whether Kelce’s exit was planned or not. “[The Secret Traitor twist] was a huge miscalculation on production’s part,” a reported “production source” told The Sun. “Watching it back now, watching the audience response to it… it was a colossal mistake.”

According to the source, producers wanted a departure from their history of picking the gamers (stars of strategy games likeSurvivor, The Challenge, andBig Brother) as Traitors, but they now see the Secret Traitor move as “a massive overcorrection to that problem” that “will not happen again.”

How Donna Kelce Felt About Playing a Traitor

For her part, Kelce had a blast. While on the show, she said “I never thought in a million years that I would get this chance … When you get to a certain part in your life, and your kids are starting their own families, it’s so important to reinvent yourself, do the things you’ve always dreamt of — and that’s how I ended up in Scotland!”

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After the show, she responded to a post from her sons’ New Heights Podcast about her appearance saying, “I did [fire emoji href=”https://.com/living/emoji-meanings”] have the time of my life in The Highlands!!!”

Other cast members also loved getting to know the NFL mama, with Rapaport saying that Kelce was “awesome, fun, and cool,” and he would definitely “hit her up” in the future.