Parvati Shallow Calls 'The Traitors' Her Reality TV "Renaissance"
Parvati Shallow on 'The Traitors' season 2
An ice princess. A duchess of deception. A mistress of murder. And, ultimately, a traitor. Parvati Shallow went by many names during her eventful time on season 2 of Peacock's The Traitors. The Survivor winner stepped into that Scottish castle with one of the biggest reputations of the all-star cast. She was known for her high level of gameplay and manipulation. And it certainly didn't help that she was playing alongside fellow winner, villain, and rival Sandra Diaz-Twine. You didn't have to squint to see how dangerous she was.
Though starting the game as a Faithful, Parvati was immediately recruited into becoming a Traitor by Dan Gheesling and Phaedra Parks, with the former seeing a lot of similarities between them. Together, the unholy trinity was able to ram roughshod through the first part of the game, cleaning up in the murders (including a high-stakes poison chalice hand-off) while drawing barely any suspicion. All was not copacetic in the turret, though, as Phaedra laid into both traitorous winners for throwing "Bravolebs" under the bus, and accused Parvati of being cold and suspicious to the people around her.
Related: The Parvati/Sandra Feud Has Arrived to 'The Traitors'
The Traitors' momentum went about as cold as Parvati's supposed demeanor in the blink of an eye. Peter Weber piloted a scheme where he strategically lied about the Shield to specific people, including Dan and Parvati. Though Parvati took it as a bluff, Dan fell for the trap. Peter's closest ally survived the murder, and the two of them became immediate suspects. After losing Dan immediately, Parvati seemed prime to go next. She tried her hardest to fight back, including an attempt to recruit Peter, an emotional plea to John Bercow, and even going after her fellow Traitor at the Round Table. But, ultimately, she was as trapped as a fly in a Black Widow's web, as the Faithful said, "Off with her headband!"
After her elimination, Parade sat down with Parvati to discuss her reaction to the sudden push to get out Phaedra, rebuilding her friendship with Sandra over the season, and her "renaissance" era in reality TV.
Now, which Parvati am I talking with today? The duchess of deceit? The Iron Maiden? The ice princess?
[Laughs.] Oh, man. All of those monikers came from John. And he called me the ice queen, the ice princess, the Iron Maiden. Look, I am you're talking to Parvati, but I am also all of those, and the Black Widow and the poisoner, and all of those things. It's, it was so fun, it was insane. But also really fun.
Well, I want to start with where things ended. You had a bit of a whirlwind day, with Peter approaching you saying he made a mistake and that he now thought Phaedra was a Traitor. Then, at the Round Table, it seems like things are going Phaedra's direction until John comes in with a litany of points against you. By the time the votes came in, how surprised were you that you were being banished?
I knew it was coming for me. They'd already been gunning for me for days. I was like wandering around the castle by myself, hoping that someone would talk to me. I was like, "Let's get something going, guys!" My strategy at the end there was, if they all think I'm a Traitor, then the only move I have to make is through. If people are thinking strategically, they would want to keep the Traitor that they know in the house, and then get the other Traitors out that they're not really sure of. Then in the end, then they can banish the person who they really think is a Traitor.
So I was like, "Okay, let me see. Is anyone thinking this way?" So I did approach John and have a conversation with him that was kind of like that, which I think was not good. It wasn't helpful, because he was so he was so righteous and caught up in this role of the Faithfuls. And the Faithfuls, you'll see this with the guys, they were doing this. Peter, Bergie, John, even CT. They were like, "We would never be tTaitors, because those are the bad guys. And we're the good guys. We're the saviors of the house." Even though Peter is lying! He's doing all the same things that the Traitors are doing. He's just doing it for the right reason.
There we go, bring in that Bachelor lingo! So it seemed to us like the beginning of the end for you was when Peter planted the lie about the Shield to you and Dan. Dan believed it, and you didn't. Do you similarly feel like that was when the die was really cast for you?
Yeah, that was it. That was the moment. If I would have stood my ground harder and the turret and tell Dan, "No, we can get Bergie next time," then I think a lot of things would have been really different.
In general, what was your dynamic like with Dan and Phaedra? We definitely saw some tense times in the turret, like when Phaedra dressed you and Dan down for going after the Bravolebs at the Round Table, or last episode when Phaedra offered you some "constructive criticism" about the way you were coming across. What was it like to work with them all game?
Oh, she's fun. She's such a larger than life character. And we didn't talk to each other in the castle. So there wasn't much strategy going on with me and Phaedra. And even in the turret, there wasn't strategy. She was performing a part. She was really good at the social game, with making relationships with people and keeping herself safe that way. She wasn't thinking like, "Oh, we got to murder this person, because then these dominoes will fall."
I was doing that more with Dan, which was really fun. Because I like thinking like that. I mean, I'm from Survivor. That's the way my mind works. So it was it was an interesting dynamic. Between the two of them, I feel like I was a good middle ground for both of them, because I could straddle both worlds. And I could pacify Phaedra when she was really feeling hot headed. And we had great banter in the turret. We had a lot of danger, and I had a lot of fun in the turret. I liked those moments with her.
Related: Who Was Eliminated on 'The Traitors' Season 2 This Week?
Speaking of Survivor, we got a lot of alliance talk last episode. It seemed like, before the torch twist, the house was divided between "Peter's Pals" and this leftover group. I'm curious, if that twist didn't happen, do you still think you would have been banished?
No, I think I might have [survived]. Because Sandra and I had come up with the same idea independently. I was like, "These guys, if there's a Traitor over there, hey are going to run the game to the end. And maybe that's why they're so confident." Bergie is walking around saying, "We're gonna be together till the end." I'm like, "You wouldn't be saying that unless you knew you were protected." So we were we were working this kind of alliance, numbers game kind of. It was very Survivor. And I was like, "I got to play with what I what I know at this point. And can we convince these people."
The wildcard was sort of Kate. Kate seemed like she was annoyed by Peter and Kevin enough to go with us. Because all she really cared about was killing people who were boring and annoying. So I was like, "Let's get 'em! Come on, let's do it." And I think we would have possibly had the numbers had that torch event not occurred. But I don't know. So either it saved me or it saved Peter that night.
You talk about Sandra. You talked in the preseason about how you were not happy to see her based on a rivalry that stemmed all the way back to Heroes vs. Villains. But I saw your Instagram today where you called her your "favorite Faithful." What made you change your tune over the season?
Peppermint did it! Peppermint brought us together. I'm so grateful. Peppermint, an icon. Gorgeous, amazing, fabulous. And then brought Sandra and I together. That would not have happened without Peppermint. I think Sandra and I would have been circling each other and very wary of each other. And since that moment with Peppermint, Sandra and I were like, "Okay, cool. Let's do work together. Or let's not come after each other at the very least." And that's what happened.
I was like, "I'm not gonna murder Sandra." And Sandra wasn't coming after me. So I was like, "Great." Let's keep this thing going. I think we have a mutual respect for each other. We're very different people. And we're very different players. But we both have come through a lot on Survivor and have done some pretty significantly difficult things in the game. And that merits respect, I think, on both of our ends.
I've been a Survivor fan since the beginning. And, honestly, I cannot think of a time where you have received so much online acclaim since maybe the end of Heroes vs. Villains. You have obviously done a lot in the past couple of months, between publically coming out, announcing your relationship with Mae Martin, and appearing again on reality TV for the first time since before the pandemic. What's your response to the fan reaction, and does this encourage you to do more reality TV?
Man, that's nice. I'm feeling emotional about it. It's been such a renaissance for me. Because Winners and War was a grueling slog. And I was a new mom, and I was already so depleted and exhausted going out to play that game. And since then, so much has changed in my personal life. So I've been recalibrating as a person for the past two years. And I said it on the in the show in the last episode where I got banished. That's true. I've been going through some stuff, and really evolving and changing as a person.
So to come out and to play this game and to be like, "I am on my heels. I am on my toes. I am like throwing Hail Marys everywhere. I am messy AF playing Traitors." But the fact that the fans enjoyed it and that it's had this such a fun response from the media, I'm overjoyed. Because it was me just being me and having as much fun as I could in such a high intensity game and playing with the people that I was playing with. It was fun for me.
I would do something else. I don't really necessarily want to do more of lthe emotional warfare and manipulation stuff. That's hard for me. But I really enjoy things that are like a mission-based situation. So something like Dancing with the Stars I would love to do. Or Drag Race. If I could do a lip sync with Ru, I would die. Oh my God.
