In a first for The Traitors, both in Australia and internationally, the grand finale saw all three Traitors standing the end. Blake, Sam and Camille had managed to banish every last Faithful, and they had one final hurdle between them and the $200K prize: The Traitors’ Dilemma.
The Traitors’ Dilemma asked the trio to vote — they could either share or steal the $200K prize. The catch? If all three of them voted to steal, none of them would win, which is exactly how it played out.
Over the course of the season, Blake played a game that was quietly confident. In fact, he never even prepared an exit speech for if he was banished.
“I was so confident of not being caught, I never felt it was necessary!” Blake tells The Latch via email.
Unfortunately, confidence can only take you so far, and when it came down to the finale, it all fell apart.
Sam, Blake and Camille had agreed to write share and split the winnings, but when the time came to reveal their votes, OG Traitors Sam and Blake had both voted to steal. For a moment, it looked that Camille would be cut out of the winnings, but that was not the case at all. Rather, Camille said that she’d known all along that this was exactly as far as they had wanted her to get, and that if she wasn’t getting any of the prize, no one was.
Unpacking The Traitors Australia Finale
It’s been a few weeks since The Traitors Australia 2023 finale, but the sting of walking away from the series empty-handed persists.
Asked how he’s doing now, Blake says: “Not going to lie, it is definitely still pretty raw, especially watching it back. I can see how much getting the win meant to me.”
In the moment, Blake recalls being “a little lost for words”.
“Part of me wanted to just stand there and say, ‘I told you so!'” he says. “But [it’s] definitely one of those rare moments when you don’t want to be right.”
Given that Blake had approached Camille with a proposition to work together and cut Sam out of the equation, he also found himself wanting “to understand why Camille didn’t want to work with [him]”, rather than having both of them leave empty-handed.
In the moments after the cameras stopped rolling, Blake says the vibe between the Traitors was “frosty”.
“Very grateful for the fire,” he adds.
Regardless of the outcome, though, Blake remains “proud of what [he and Sam] did to get to the end”.
“To be some of the only players to have ever done it globally — to make it to the end as original Traitors — part of me definitely thinks we deserved the chocolate,” he says. “Of course, I am going to think that though, when it is such a life-changing amount of money!”
Related: “Sam Is No Luke Toki!” — Camille Talks ‘The Traitors’ and Her Prize-Blocking Move
Related: ‘The Traitors’ 2023: Sam Says “Camille Made One Move At the End, That’s It!”
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: The What Ifs of The Traitors Australia 2023 Finale
Over the course of the season, we watched as tensions rose between Blake and fellow OG Traitor Sam. Still, the duo were still standing at the end of the game, and agreed — along with recruited Traitor Camille — to stick together. From the comfort of our living rooms, and with the benefit of hindsight, it’s a decision that raises many questions. Why not team up with Camille to banish Sam? Or team up with Sam to banish Camille? Or team up with Sarah and Camille to banish Sam? Or team up with Liam and Sarah to banish Sam? Or team up with Camille and — you get the picture.
Blake says that he discussed many of these options with his fellow Traitors. First, he approached Camille with a proposition to banish Sam, but she told him to share the prize. Then, he proposed to Sam that they banish Camille, “as a way for [them] to guarantee taking a piece of the pie”, but that plan also fell through.
“Sam was open to it until he realised there would be a tiny sliver of a moment after that where I could have gotten rid of him and taken the money all for myself,” Blake explains. “Unfortunately, the trust was gone.”
And so, all three Traitors went into that final vote saying they’d share, but planning to steal.
“I knew Sam was going to steal,” Blake says. “Playing the game with him for so long, it was a no-brainer — whether he could openly say it to me or not.
“I tried to construct multiple ways to avoid the trainwreck that we ended with, but at the end of the day you can’t force people to listen,” he continues, adding, “See all of my experience with the Faithful!”
Winning The Traitors Australia Would Have Been Life-Changing
While Sam may have played a louder, more boldly villainous game over the season, Blake’s smart, strategic gameplay served him well. While neither of them walked away with the prize, Blake remains proud of the game he played.
“I think I played a good game,” he says. “I was right about a lot of things during my time there, so can hang my hat on that one!”
With that being said, taking home the prize “definitely would have been life-changing” for Blake.
“I was in there to try and get the win to use the money to help my family,” he says. “I wanted to raise awareness of Huntington’s Disease and how it affects people and those they’re close to.
“I wanted viewers to hear about how the people who suffer from this disease have a 50% chance of passing it on to their children,” Blake adds.
Blakes’s mother has Huntington’s Disease, which is a degenerative neurological disorder which leads to to severe motor dysfunction, cognitive decline, and psychiatric symptoms.
In a pre-show press statement, he spoke about how it has affected her.
“In the past, my Mum would enjoy coming along to live stand up shows that I’d be a part of and I know being on this would be something she’d enjoy watching,” he said, adding: “I’d love to make her proud.”
Blake hopes that people will offer their support to non-profit Huntington’s Victoria, which you can do at this link.
What’s Next for Blake
With his first stint on reality TV done and dusted, Blake is looking toward the future, which is currently wide open.
“Who knows what comes next post-Traitors!” he says. “Use my powers of deception for good rather than evil?!”
As for whether we’d see him on any shows in the future again, Blake quips: “I’ll need some counselling on being able to trust again first!”
Missed The Traitors Australia finale? Catch up on 10 Play.
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