The Parvati/Sandra Feud Has Arrived to 'The Traitors'

Parvati/Sandra

Sandra Diaz-Twine may be the Queen of Survivor, but if Parvati Shallow has anything to say about it, Sandra will not be Queen of The Traitors. While the pair of Survivor legends have played together multiple times, there's been no love lost between the two, and after an internet feud in early 2023, it seems unlikely that they'll be a tight alliance in Scotland.

Queen Sandra, of course, made her Survivor debut on Pearl Islands back in 2003, where she used her "anybody but me" to clench her first victory. Meanwhile, Parvati arrived on the scene for the tribes-divided-by-race season in Cook Islands but didn't win until she returned on Season 16 several years later, spearheading the "Black Widow Brigade." Sandra and Parvati first met on the Villains tribe of Season 20 and their rocky, often-frenemy relationship was born. Parvati and Russell Hantz charged their way through the game with Sandra often trying to undermine their games. When the trio sat together in the finale, Sandra took home the second win over Parv.

The two reunited a decade later for Winners at War, but both were eliminated before they could face off. That didn't stop Sandra from coming for Parvati on social media a year ago. After criticizing Parvati's game, she wrote, "And for those Parvati lovers out there go spend 2 hours on survivor with her and see how much you like her then! She’s not that nice."

Parvati replied on Instagram writing, “Call me anything, but please don’t call me nice. Nice girls don’t win Survivor or build lives they love. @sassysdt you can keep my name in your mouth to stay relevant."

It seems like The Traitors Season 2 will now be the rematch of the two titans.

Prior to filming, Parade interviewed Sandra and Parvati separately (each in a room with several other competitors) to learn their thoughts going into the game. Of course, you should take their strategic answers with a grain of salt given who else was listening in.

Related: Six Big Changes Coming to 'The Traitors' for Season 2

What brought them to Traitors

While they may not be thrilled to work together, both Parvati and Sandra were eager to compete on the show. "The minute I saw that Cirie [Fields] and Stephenie [LaGrossa] and Rachel [Reilly] were on it, I wanted to tune in and see what it was all about," Sandra said about The Traitors. "Then you kind of get addicted, and you can't wait for the next episode. When it finished, I told all three of them to pass on my phone number, which they did not. The call didn't come because they did that for me. But when Peacock called me and said, 'Hey Sandra, are you interested?' I was like, 'Yeah, sign me up. I don't care. Send me whatever paperwork you need to. I'm there.'"

For her part, Parvati said she was drawn to the competition's "theatrical experience."

"I feel like I'm in a movie playing a character, but I'm myself," she explained. "It blurs the lines between reality and theater, which is so fun because it's like Knives Out, Murder Mystery and Clue, but a game."

Of the two, Sandra seemed more inclined to position herself as a super-fan of the series, sharing how she and fellow contestant Peppermint (of Drag Race fame) obsessively watched the show before coming on it.

"Me and Peppermint compared notes because we tried to watch any and every Traitors that was out there on the internet, YouTube, Daily Motion," Sandra said. "I knew about the Dutch version, but I couldn't find it in English. So why watch it if I can't tell what they're arguing about?"

Perhaps a secondary battle on this season will be between Sandra and Parvati for Peppermint's love. "I love Drag Race, so I was really pumped to see Peppermint," Parvati also confided. "I was like, 'I hope they put something from Drag Race on the show.' I've just been grilling her, like, how do you sew your clothes? How do you do the performance? Can I do it? Sign me up."

Related: Meet the Full Cast of 'The Traitors' Season 2

How the show compares to Survivor

Coming from Survivor, both women were pleased with how posh Traitors seemed by comparison. "I couldn't be more excited to be wearing clothes," Parvati said. "Different outfits for different days. More than just one old pair of underwear for 39 days, I'm so jazzed."

Meanwhile, Sandra seemed almost underwhelmed by the challenges, after her time on Survivor. "When we went to the challenge yesterday, everyone kept saying, 'Oh, we're nervous,'" she recalled. "I'm like, 'Don't worry about it. These are kiddy challenges.' Survivor challenges would really make me so nervous because I'm not an athlete. On The Traitors, I was like, 'Oh we could do this. Don't worry about it. And if we don't make the prize pot, it's okay, they'll double it next time. No matter what, we'll get that money.'"

Going it alone

Neither Parvati nor Sandra confessed to calling previous players for advice. Parvati sidestepped the question when asked, while Sandra said calling would actually be bad strategy. "The main thing is secrecy, she said. "Cirie's on Big Brother, and if I would have called Stephenie or Rachel, there's no telling who they would tell, 'Oh, guess who called me?' When it comes to my money, I don't play. I didn't think I needed any tips from them anyway."

It seems unlikely that the pair called each other either. When asked if she planned to work with Sandra, Parvati simply said, "Sandra and I did not get along."

While the Parvati/Sandra feud may not be in the past, Parvati is attempting to put her impressive track record behind her and lay low. "It's been like 15 years since I won Survivor. A lot has changed for me from then to now, so I'd really like to shake that," she said.

As for Sandra, she seems to relish having an impressive resumé. When asked if she felt pressure because Survivor alum Cirie Fields won The Traitors Season 1, she replied, "No, she had the upper hand. She was a Traitor from the jump. I'm a Faithful. I have a lot of work to do, so I'm already at a disadvantage. So no, I don't feel like now that she won Traitors, there is pressure."

Comparing her two Survivor wins with Cirie's Traitors win, she quipped, "Eleven days in a castle is different." But will Sandra or Parvati make it eleven days? Only time will tell.

Next, Everything You Need to Know About 'The Traitors' Season 2