#3248 Bonus: Candiace Dillard Bassett Talks Traitors!

Summary

Watch What Crappens – Bonus Episode (#3248)

Guest: Candiace Dillard Bassett (“The Traitors”, “Real Housewives of Potomac”)

Date: March 6, 2026
Hosts: Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam

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Overview

This bonus episode features a lively, in-depth interview with Candiace Dillard Bassett. Fresh off her appearance on Peacock’s "The Traitors," and known for her tenure on "Real Housewives of Potomac," Candiace opens up about her experience on reality competition TV, navigating intense fandoms, and the drama surrounding her “Traitors” run. The discussion ranges from castle antics, fandom feuds, the Vulture/NY Mag controversy, to representation and layered identities, all blended with humor and signature Real Housewives shade.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Arrival at the Castle & Traitors Game Strategy

[03:00–08:25]

• Candace reminisces on filming "The Traitors" last June, highlighting the surreal, “otherworldly” experience and sharing that she’d “definitely do it again and do the same way.”
• Castle Life: She describes Ardross Castle as “gargantuan, stunning… a behemoth” – much larger and maze-like than TV audiences see. (“You get lost. It’s huge. It’s a maze, and it’s stunning.” [04:41])
• On Wanting to Be a Traitor: Candiace admits she obviously wanted to be a Traitor (“Who wants to go on a show called Traitors and not be a traitor?” [04:04]), joking about using her acting skills and “survival skills from Housewives.”

2. Fandoms: Housewives vs. Gamers

[08:25–11:19]

• Candiace compares the Bravo fandom with the reality competition “gamers,” suggesting the latter is more “sensitive” and “whiny.”
• “Housewives fans… my fans are smart, they are educated, they’re well read… the cream of the crop.” [09:01]
• She notes that Housewives fans are “in on the joke” due to the franchise's longevity, while “gamers… don’t have any evidence to back up the whining.” [09:09]

3. Media Backlash: The Vulture ‘Ban the Housewives’ Article

[11:19–18:59]

• Discussion centers on Joe Reid’s Vulture/NY Mag article asserting that Housewives should be banned from “The Traitors.”
• Ben calls the article “dripping with misogyny” ([11:19]) and notes its clickbait nature.
• Candiace passionately rebuts:
  • “Vulture needs to ban you from journalism because you do a disservice to the art form… this is a moldy, spoiled, dirty, funky take.” [13:39]
  • “We are not monolithic… we have many layers to us… And to do such a crime in the month of Women’s History?… Where is a shoe for me to jettison? Like, eat my shoe.” [15:09-15:11]
  • “You reek of hateration. It reeks of hateration to me. And as you said, of misogyny.” [15:11]

4. Criticism, Sore Loser Accusations, and Double Standards

[19:56–24:44]

• Ben and Ronnie defend Candiace’s emotional directness at the reunion (“If she was being a sore loser, we would have seen a much bigger reaction.” [22:19]), referencing her Housewives history.
• Candiace: “I resent this idea that I also need to drink Rob’s bath water. I was not that thirsty… There was this overwhelming just hypnotization of Rob.” [23:08]
• She points out the double standard: “You have no problem, general public, criticizing all of the women and their gameplay, but somehow Rob… we're gonna rewrite history and make Rob's game flawless. It wasn’t flawless.” [24:03]

5. On Alleged Cheating and House Dynamics

[25:03–28:46]

• Ronnie asks if she truly accused Rob of cheating (telling Colton she was a traitor):
  • Candiace clarifies she only repeated information relayed to her on a post-show call with Colton (“Colton got my number from somebody... He called me… he said, ‘Rob told me you were a traitor.’” [26:37])
• She highlights apparent willful ignorance among players to clues she left, e.g., signaling Rob’s role (“…to watch it and to see just the blatant dedication to being dumb, like you have to try to be this dumb.” [30:00])

6. Representation and New Beginnings

[32:30–34:36]

• Candiace shares that a main reason for joining “The Traitors” was to showcase other sides of herself, countering the “typecast” emotional princess seen on Potomac:
  • “Black women are not monolithic. We are layered, and we come in many different shapes… when you're on a show with 6 or 7 big personalities, it’s hard to see all sides of someone.” [32:30]
  • She relished using different skills—strategy, humor, collaboration—in the game environment.

7. Traitors Gameplay and Endgame Reflections

[34:36–38:48]

• Ben praises the dynamic between Candiace, Lisa, and Rob as traitors (“one of the most iconic trios of traitors to get that far”). [34:36]
• Candiace reflects on voting Rob and the strategic reasoning, wanting to plant seeds even in her exit (“If I'm going to go out, I'm going out clearing desks… So even when I'm gone, my ghost will live on.” [36:38])

8. Projects: Podcast & Music

[39:02–41:41]

• New Podcast: "Undomesticated" with Michael Arsenault (on the Audacy network). Covers group chat fodder, pop culture, reality TV, and features a “Nobody Asked Me But…” segment. (“If there is a breaking news moment, like my former cast member potentially going to jail, God forbid, we're going to talk about that!” [40:25])
• Music: New single “If Only,” with a remix and an unannounced featured vocalist and tour in the works. Visual available on YouTube/Vevo. [41:07]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On The Castle: “It's huge. It’s a maze, and it’s stunning. But it was so much fun to be there.” – Candiace ([04:41])
• On Traitors vs. Faithfuls: “Who wants to go on a show called Traitors and not be a traitor? …I am a main character. Humbly, of course.” – Candiace ([04:04])
• On the Vulture Article: “Vulture needs to ban you from journalism… this is a moldy, spoiled, dirty, funky take… Where is a shoe for me to jettison? Like, eat my shoe.” – Candiace ([13:39] and [15:09])
• On Gamer Fandom: “They’re whiny… Housewives fans… are the cream of the crop.” – Candiace ([09:01])
• On Her “Sore Loser” Reputation: “I resent this idea that I also need to drink Rob’s bath water. I was not that thirsty.” – Candiace ([23:08])
• On Game Strategy: “If I'm going to go out, I'm going out clearing desks… so even when I’m gone, my ghost will live on.” – Candiace ([36:38])
• On Representation: “Black women are not monolithic. We are layered, and we come in many different shapes and colors and sizes and personalities.” – Candiace ([32:30])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction, Candiace on Traitors: [01:42–03:42]
• Castle Experience, Wanting to Be a Traitor: [03:42–06:59]
• Fandom Wars (Housewives vs. Gamers): [08:25–11:19]
• The Vulture Article & Candiace’s Response: [11:19–18:59]
• Sore Loser Claims and Double Standards: [19:56–24:44]
• Cheating Accusations, House Dynamics: [25:03–28:46]
• Missed Clues & Audience Ignorance: [29:03–31:05]
• Candiace on Representation & Image: [32:30–34:36]
• Traitors’ Trio and Endgame Tactics: [34:36–38:48]
• Podcast & Music Announcements: [39:02–41:41]

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Tone and Vibe

The episode is witty, candid, and occasionally shady—blending reality TV meta-commentary with introspection on representation. Candiace is sharp, self-aware, and charismatic; Ben and Ronnie match her with affectionate roasting, volleying pop-culture references and Housewives lore.

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Summary

This episode is a must-listen for Bravo fans, "Traitors" viewers, and anyone interested in the intersection of reality TV stardom, public perception, and the wild world of Internet fandoms. Candiace gives listeners a backstage pass to the castle, reflects on strategies and mistakes, claps back forcefully at media critics, and opens up about her new ventures— all with signature flair.

Transcript

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[Hayden]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan. Fellas, I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistbor. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Fin AI Representative]

Hei.

[Stephen]

Hei. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

News flash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

Guess what happens when there's so much.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

That happens.

[Ben]

Well, hello and welcome to Watch what Crappens. I'm Ben. That. That's Ronnie. And we are so excited because we have not only someone from the Traders, but someone from the Real Housewives family. Please welcome back. Well, not back. To our show. For the first time ever, Candice Dillard Bassett. Hello, Candice. How are you? Welcome to Crappin.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Thank you. I love it here. Yes. Hello, Crap Ins family. Yes.

[Ben]

Yes. We love it there. Look at your beautiful bookcase that you have back there. I love that.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

That green color reading is fundamental, you know, as they say. And this is one of my favorite colors. My whole office is this. It's called Breakfast Room Green, but I love the color sage, so I thought

[Ronnie]

I said I have to put that on the wall. We've got a new.

[Ben]

Is it really called Breakfast Room Green?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, it's. They did not pay me to say this, but the company is called Pharaoh and Ball. And this is. That's the name of the color Breakfast Room Green. So.

[Ben]

Wow. Love it. Well, we are very sad you're here, Traders.

[Ronnie]

Fantastic job.

[Ben]

How do you.

[Ronnie]

How. How was the after press of Traders? How's it been going?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

It's fun. It's been. It's been great. It's been sort of reminiscent and kind of, like, you know, a little nostalgic to, like, oh, what a time that we had, because we filmed it last June, so it's been quite some time. Like, my son was 8 months and he's 17 months now. So it's like, wow, all the time that has passed. But it's been fun. It's been, like, getting to reminisce and, like, relive, like, the most otherworldly, insane experience I've ever had in unscripted tv, and probably the only one that I would definitely do again and do the same way.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Ben]

Really? Yeah. I mean, tell us about this. Tell us about what it was like when you, like, arrived at the castle. What was the castle like? What were your thoughts even going into it. Did you want to be a traitor? Did you want to be a faithful. Like, just give us the whole. The whole spiel.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah. So, I mean, who wants to go on a show called Traders and not be a traitor?

[Ronnie]

Like, exactly.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah. Like, I think I said in one of my interviews, like, the traitors are the main characters. The show is called the Traitors. They're on the marquee. I am a main character. So, of course I wanted to be one of the main characters. Humbly, of course. No, I said, okay, if I'm gonna leave my baby and go to the other side of the world, it needs to be worth it. And how fun is it to get to, like, murder people and you don't have to go to jail? Like, we're adults playing a board game.

[Ronnie]

Like, can I pick my own cast?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Right, okay. Yes. And so when I arrived, I was enamored with the castle. It is this just gargantuan, stunning. It's a behemoth. It's like this. It's huge. And we kind of lived and worked and played in a lot of it. And there was still so much of the castle that we did not get to see. Some parts were sort of closed off for, like, construction and renovations and what have you. But we were in a lot of the castle, and there were. There was so much that we were not able to visit. So there. And a lot of the times, like, when you're walking to do interviews, it would be like a five minute walk. And you're walking through these halls and up these. These stairs and then back downstairs and then up, and you just. You get lost. It's huge. It's a maze, and it's stunning. But it was so much fun to be there. And I think Dorinda was saying that she knows the people that it's called Ardross Castle. She knows the owner, so she was telling us, like, all the lore and the history of the castle, which was fun and interesting. But, yeah, I was excited. I was excited to get there.

[Ben]

Yeah. It's funny because, by the way, what you're saying about the castle, because it kind of looks oddly small on tv, because I guess you guys are always shooting in the same, like, four rooms, so it always seems like you guys are gonna run into each other. Like, oh, my God. Why are you saying that? Like, why are you sitting there? Like, everyone's gonna find you? But it sounds like it was actually much more expansive than it looks on tv.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

For sure. It's. I mean, yes, we. So the breakfast room, the library, the bar, the kitchen were all kind of, like, concentrated right around, like, it almost felt like a rotunda because they were all kind of in a. In a circle. And then the stairs kind of broke it up a little bit. But the round table room is, like, way at the other end. And all of the interviews, like, all the things the interviews that we were doing were in, like, random places in the castle, so it was huge. It was huge. And it just felt like it kept going and going.

[Ben]

Wow. So what was your. Once you were chosen as a trader, what was your plan? What. What did you think? Like, okay, now that I'm a trader, this is how I'm going to conduct myself as a trader. This is how I'm going to play this game.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I didn't really have, like, a plan.

[Hayden]

I just.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I knew that, okay, I have to live a double life here, and I'm going to have to employ some of my acting skills, and I'm going to have to employ some of my, like, survival skills from housewives here. And you just almost immediately lock in. Like, as soon as I was tapped on the shoulder, it was like, okay. I mean, you saw, I barely moved, so I was already like, okay, I'm. I'm already playing the part because inside I was, like, doing backflips and just screaming at the top of my lungs. But I knew I had to keep a cool head and I had to behave and walk and talk and act as if I was a faithful, all the while wearing this hat and using the mind of a traitor and be sort of sleuthy and duplicitous and sneaky. So I. I didn't, like, plan my strategy for how to behave. It just kind of befell me. I figured it out as I went.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. Instinct.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yes.

[Ronnie]

So the audiences, you know, the fandom for Real Housewives obviously is one of the more intense fandoms on tv, I would imagine. You know, we're a part of it, and it's harsh in there. Yeah, it's crazy.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

But you know what is so funny, though? Yes, I agree with you, but the gamers.

[Ronnie]

That's what I was thinking, like, yes, coming from Housewives, but then you got the gamer fandom, so how was that? How was navigating that? And how would you compare the two?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I think the gamers, they're a bit more. What's the word? They're. They're a little more sensitive. Like, they. They need some crying goals and some big girl panties. They're like, they're just. They're whiny. Like, I feel like Housewives fans, and I can speak specifically to my fan base. My fans are smart, they are educated, they're well read. They, you know, they. They come from spaces of academia and fundamental reading. They have books behind them.

[Ben]

Honey, Breakfast. Breakfast room green. They know it.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yes, they know Breakfast room green. My supporters are just. They're the cream of the crop. And, you know, even the worst of the fandom, you know, I won't name names, but you know who they are. Even they are. They're astute and they, like, they're in on it. They're in on the joke. I think what's changed about Housewives is that, you know, we're in. We're celebrating 20 years of Housewives. The fans are in on the joke. They know what's happening. You can't pull one over on them anymore. Like, they understand the way production works, and they know they can tell when somebody is faking or lying or at least, you know, they think they can, and they're really vocal about that. The gamers, a lot of them are just. They're just whining, and they don't have any, like, evidence to back up the whining. They're just like, why are all these housewives in the turret? It's supposed to be gamers. Well, why, John?

[Ronnie]

Yeah, exactly.

[Ben]

I mean, let's. Let's get into it. It's time to get into it. Right?

[Ronnie]

Even, like, the fandom of Housewives, like, we're used to arguing because Housewives is arguing. So it's conflict resolution, as someone recently said on Housewives. So we'll. We'll get messy with each other in a comment, but then give each other arguments 4 days and comment upon comment and at least be able to, like, hear each other out. Where I feel like the gamers are

[Ben]

just like, you suck.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, they just think they're throwing tantrums. And with. With. No. With no. Nothing to back it up. It's boo. Tomato, tomato.

[Ben]

Yeah, well, so the. So the thing that, like, has lit up the Housewives fandom, including yours truly, and I think all three of us were lit up. Actually, Candace, I saw you being pretty active about this article, as was I. So this. So Joe Reed in Vulture Slash New York Magazine, he comes out with an incendiary piece that says, basically, housewives should be banned from the traders. And I personally felt like this was dripping with misogyny. I thought this was.

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[Ben]

Did I talk too much? Can't I just let it go?

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[Hayden]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Hayden]

Hey.

[Ben]

Hey.

[Stephen]

So each week, you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

News flash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy Fan Fellas wherever you get your podcast.

[Ronnie]

And.

[Ben]

And his argument is that the housewives are not there to play the game. They are there to create drama and then go into social media and perpetuate the drama. Mind you, his. His article had such a clickbaity headline. The housewives need to be banned from the traitors. So he's complaining that the housewives caused drama online while simultaneously putting out an article to light the Internet on fire. But that's okay. So what do you say to all that? What do you say to this. This hot take.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

How embarrassing. Joe, or whatever your name is. And I think I tweeted or I posted on threads. Vulture needs to ban you from journalism because you do a disservice to the art form by even creating or letting such a narrative sit out in the public and spoil and be moldy, because this is a moldy, spoiled, dirty, funky take. And I think, you know, I'm one of many, I think, who resent this idea that housewives are one. He kind of painted us as this sort of one dimensional group that all we do, all we are is drama, all we are is emotion. And that's just simply not the case. And I say all the time, more so about black women, but it can apply to housewives in general that we are not monolithic. We are not one way. We are not, you know, one sided. We have many layers to us. We are not all of us. Okay? But many of us are onions that require layers that need to be peeled back and peeled back. And you don't always get that in one, two, or even sometimes three seasons. And it takes time to really get the full scope of who we are. But to also do such a crime in the month of women's history, like,

[Ben]

oh, yes, Candace, go there. I love it.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Where is a shoe for me to jettison? Like, eat my shoe. Okay? It's just, it's disrespectful. And, and it's also like, yeah, we're entertaining. Are you mad about it? Because while you sit and pitter patter on your laptop spewing misogyny and spewing this hatred toward an entire group of people who live and breathe to create entertainment and give layers and give gravitas and moxie to the people, you reek of hateration. It reeks of hateration to me. And as you said, of misogyny. And then I, and it also, you know, I found it interesting who he chose to zero in on in his criticism, and I believe it was myself. And he also had a lot to say about Danielle and sort of referring to us as, I wanna say some of like the worst traitors or some criticism of that nature. And that's, that's interesting as well.

[Ben]

And that's crazy. It's crazy that he would say you're one of the worst traders, because I took a screenshot of something that he actually had very complimentary things to say about you earlier in the season. He said, man, I love Candace Dillard Bassett, the poet laureate of Potomac, so much. Then he goes, but then he goes, but she's coming across like a sore loser at this reunion. So I guess maybe I take that back. But, like, it seemed like he was, he had like some love for you, but I just. To me, it's just, like, crazy that. That I feel like just discounting a whole group of people when he also wrote an article saying how the villains were doing so well this season, and he highlighted Colton and Michael, and if you talk about drama, I mean, they're the ones causing the most drama.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. Michael was the biggest drama queen. And then you have jam. Jam.

[Ben]

Like, oh, it was a kiss. It was a real.

[Ronnie]

Yes. You know, so come on. That was a gamer.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

And.

[Hayden]

Yeah.

[Ben]

And actually, you know what? He also said this. I think this was actually the quote I meant to read. I didn't mean to read one where he was like, Candace, he said. He said. I think the big reason why I'm loving this season of the Trader so far, despite an early boot order, is that the. The traders, Candace especially, are making good smart moves. So he actually called you out for making good smart moves.

[BetterHelp Ad Voice]

But.

[Ben]

So it's surprising that then he comes out with an article where he's like, oh, yeah, the housewives aren't really there to compete. I just don't understand that.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

So. Well, two things to. To say that we are not there to compete. Like, waking up every morning and putting our eyebrows on. We are in competition. Okay. We. We are. We are doing the work. And I also feel like. I believe he called me loquacious, and I was like, okay. And like, thank you.

[Ben]

Like, it's either that or Mark Ballas.

[Hayden]

Right?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

What do you. Oh, I love Mark, though. Mark did. He did start speaking up later. Shout out to Mark. That's my boo. But no, I mean, what. Also, I'll say this, too, about me. Me being talkative. Many times when the roundtables would start, no one would speak. We would start the roundtable, and there'd be a solid, like, 45 seconds of just no, nothing.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. The whole season, I mean, it never got to the point where people were

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

just starting off, just ready to jump in. So I'm like, okay, I'm ready for my glass of wine. I'm ready for my pastry. I need to go to bed. Okay. This makeup has been on for 12 hours. I need to go to bed. Yeah. And, yeah. Smoke salmon. They had these also. These, like, salmon pots that were really good that they would give us as snacks. That I don't think I want my salmon pot. I want my red wine or my white wine. You only get two glasses a night. That's the maximum. So I'm ready for my wine. Yes. And my eggs and my salmon. So I'm ready to go. We have to get this party started and you all are dilly dallying and pussyfooting about. So let's get it started. So often I was just, you know, nobody else was speaking, so I was like, okay, let's get it started. And am I. Am I chatty? Yes. Am I loqu. Yes. Sure, sure. But so is Colton. It's like, again, the white male patriarchy of it all is just. It's run rampant in these Americas. The reason why y' all's president is Yalls president because people like Joe and his foolishness that he writes down on paper and calls it journalism. It's embarrassing.

[Ronnie]

Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe. You're a fault for Trump, damn it. Oh, it seemed to me because one of the best parts about all of these shows, both of the shows you were on, is the reading the comments after. I love getting into a messy thread and just reading people fight. You know, I love an online.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ronnie]

And it seemed like a lot of this pushback for Housewives didn't really happen until towards the end of the season when, you know, there were a lot of social media things like Chris was on there saying, you know, he doesn't like women. You know, it's Chris, I love that. I love that you married a man who will also get into some mess on social media.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

You know, you're back afraid of the mud.

[Ronnie]

So it seems like a lot of it came from that and kind of the reaction, kind of your reaction when you left. So what do you say to that? Do you feel, you know, what do you say to people calling you a sore loser and stuff like that? What's your reaction to that?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Well, it's. It's funny that I just found this out today because Rob had a lot of support online and I was always like, well, who are these people? Who are these supporters? And he recently was seen out with an ice out pen on, like on a lapel or on his shirt or something, which. And I stand in agreeance with him.

[Ben]

I love that he did that, actually.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, I think. And I. Rob always. We didn't talk politics, but he always struck me as someone that I could trust with a general election vote. Like, I don't think he's voting, you know, for demons to come overtake America. And a lot of the fandom is pissed at him. And when people would be in my comments calling me a sore loser and, you know, criticizing me, I would always be. It always kind of felt foreign to me, like the. The direction it was coming from. So now that I know that a Lot of the people that were rooting for Rob are probably MAGA supporters. I'm like, okay, sure, call me a sore loser.

[BetterHelp Ad Voice]

You.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

You're a sore voter. You're an idiot. So I'm not.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I can't be upset.

[Ronnie]

It's hard to take you seriously.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Seriously. Yeah.

[Ben]

I also. I have to say that, like, we. We've known you from Potomac, and we have known the full range of your emotions and what you're capable of doing. And, like, you calling Rob to task at the reunion, I felt like was you just saying, like. Like, hey, it's fine that you won, but, like, don't try to have a narrative where you're just, like, the good guy or whatever who just like. It was like, you have to own up to some of the things you did to us. And people were like, oh, my God, she's a sore loser. I'm like, you guys don't know the Candace. You guys don't know the Candace that we know. If she was being a sore loser, we would have seen of a bunch much bigger reaction.

[Ronnie]

That was our reaction. We were like, you think this is bad, these housewives? You've never seen a tamer housewife than these housewives. Because you could have pandas up there.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Thank you.

[Ronnie]

They could have handed you a butter knife. They could have had Syringa.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Like, thank you. Thank you. I just. I resent this idea that I. As. I think, as I said on the show, I'll quote myself, that I also need to drink Rob's bath water. I was not that thirsty. Like, I don't need to drink his bath water. And there was. There's. There was this. Just this overwhelming. Just hypnotization of Rob. And he's a. He's a wonderful person. He's very sweet. He was very kind. He's a Southern gentleman. We talked a lot about the fact that he's from Alabama. My family, both sides of my family are also from Alabama. And we talked about that in the Cat. Like, so I'm. I don't take away from him as a person, but this idea that everyone needs to be up his butt is insane to me. I saw nothing wrong with me having criticism of the way that he played the game. You have no problem general public criticizing all of the women and their gameplay, but somehow Rob. We're gonna rewrite history and make Rob's game flawless. It wasn't flawless. Honestly.

[Ronnie]

It's natural to rip apart each other's games. I mean, that's what the whole thing is, is talking about.

[Ben]

Games.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

That's a part of the show. Yes, gamers do that all the time. But somehow it's become this, you know, this crime, this high crime misdemeanor. Because I'm criticizing his game. I applaud that he won. He won the show. I'm happy that he won, but

[BetterHelp Ad Voice]

it

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

was just the way that he was like, well, I didn't really wanna. And I. Oh, yeah, there's, like a

[Ben]

little bit of bullshit in there. There's some bullshit.

[Ronnie]

I'm just a boy, you know?

[Ben]

Just a boy.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, yeah. Like that part, I was like, okay, you.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, there was.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

You did all these treacherous things. Own that. You did these treacherous things.

[Ronnie]

Yeah, there was some, you know, from the tr. From the. From the traitors. Duh. Ronnie, from the reunion, when you were kind of insinuating that he might have cheated by telling Colton whatever, what do you think about. Were you accusing him of cheating? And do you think he did cheat?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I don't know if he cheated. I just know what I was told. And when I got home from the castle, and I think. Cause we all kind of got home around the same time. By the time I left, the last five were, like, right behind me. And we all kind of got on the phone over the course of, like, that next week to debrief and be like, well, what do you think of this and what happened? And one of the calls I got was from Colton. And I want to make it clear I did not call Colton.

[Hayden]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan. Fellas, I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Stephen]

And I'm Steven, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Hayden]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Stephen]

That's right.

[Ronnie]

Hei, hei.

[Stephen]

So each week, you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Hayden]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Stephen]

News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Colton got my number from somebody. I think somebody. He asked someone. Hey, he's good at that. You.

[Ronnie]

He was outside your house.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Comment, Ben. Oh, my God. Y'.

[Ronnie]

All.

[Ben]

Continue. Continue.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Colton, don't come crying to me.

[Ronnie]

We're Just kidding.

[Ben]

We're just kidding.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

We're just J slash K. Slash K. Easy joke. So he called. He called me. He called my phone, and, you know, among other things, he said about. We were talking about a bunch of stuff, just debriefing, and he said to me, yeah, Rob told me you were a traitor. And I said, and at the time, I thought that he meant that he. Because he told me where it happened. He said, I think he told me you were a traitor at the Mountain Challenge, that abhorrent, horrific challenge that should be banned. It was horrible. Somewhere in there is when he told me that he told him. And so I waited all season to see it because I'm like, oh, well, if he. If he. He built up this case against me, for sure they're going to show this. This is. This is like a pinnacle moment for one of the traitors to be outed. And it never came. And then I said, well, wait, if he didn't tell him on the show, then where did he tell him and how did he tell him? So these are just the questions that I think anyone with any level of.

[Ronnie]

If he did, if he had told him, wouldn't he have to say, she's a traitor? And I know because I'm a traitor. So is the insinuation also telling him that he was a traitor?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Because what other reason he had to, like, built a case against me? I think Candace is a traitor because I saw her do this xyz. I heard her say something or she's been acting suspicious, something. And from my purview, I was not detectable. There weren't really a lot of people, if anyone. Mark told me he was suspicious of me because I gave him skittles at, like, in, like, episode three or something.

[Ben]

I was like, I mean, that's a smoking gun.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

And the same sort of critique when I suggested Johnny go or get a shield during that portrait challenge, I was just being nice. There was no strategy behind that.

[Ben]

I have to tell you, Candace, one of my biggest frustrations with this season because I'm someone who plays these games, like Mafia, et cetera. I'm a big board gamer. I do all these games. And one of the biggest frustrations I had is that you didn't just give one breadcrumb. You didn't give just two breadcrumbs. You gave two big pieces of. You gave two loaves. You gave a challah. You put like a holla out on the table. And you were like, it's Rob, everyone. Good night. Like, as much as you could without saying it. And the way they did not even pursue that. Do you, like, did they. Did they even talk about, like, it seemed like they just completely discounted it and it was painful for me that they just would not. And Morrow's like, well, I think that it might be that, but I think

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

she just messed up.

[Ben]

And I'm like, look at that. You have so little to go on. Why don't you look at the one tangible thing? How was that for you to watch that? It was bad for me. But as you as the one who actually left the bread there, how was that?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Infuriating, in a word, especially watching it back because of course I left, so I didn't know what they were going to do with the information. But to watch it and to see just. Just the blatant dedication to being dumb. Like, you have to try to be this dumb. Like, it's like, who said it? My sister Kenya said in one season of Atlanta, talking about Portia, she was like, it almost hurts me to watch her be so dumb. And I. I had to, like, go back to that place and, and just sit with her because, wow, I'm. My flowers were gassed at just how you. How do you miss this? What other. And they kept. They kept almost getting it, like, well, why would she do that? It just didn't make any sense.

[Ben]

But the Skittles.

[Ronnie]

But it was Skittles. It was Skittles. I was actually thinking about you because I was watching clips this morning in bed, as I do, of Maura getting her Birkin on watch. What happens.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I'm not sure what happens live.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yes, I saw the clips. Congratulations, Maura.

[BetterHelp Ad Voice]

You.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I hope it restores some faith in men for her because she's spoken at length about how she doesn't trust anyone, least of all men, and for once, a man. What did she say? She said it's not so much that he got the Birkin, but that he kept his promise. So if for nothing else, restoring some faith in, you know, in. In men, as. As you know, it's hard to trust him in general.

[Ronnie]

It restored some of my faith. I mean, yeah, so get you a Birkin. Because I thought that was so old fashioned when a man you over and then he gets you a gift. But I'm glad to see that still there and we're not just getting over and that's the end now because I don't like men.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Take no life.

[Ronnie]

Yeah.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah.

[Ben]

I want to talk one positive thing like, or I hope a positive thing is you coming back to, like, reality. TV in a big way here with this. Do you feel that you've been seen differently than you were on the Potomac? Like, do you feel like, oh, I finally got to show a side of myself, or people got to know me in a different way? They may have had preconceived notions of how I was on Potomac, but now they actually got to see a different Candace.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah. That was part of the reason why I think I wanted to do the show was to sort of open myself up to a new audience and perhaps reframe the way that the current audience viewed me. Because, again, black women are not monolithic. We are layered, and we come in many different shapes and colors and sizes and personalities. And, you know, when you're on a show with, you know, six or seven big personalities, it's hard to see all sides of someone, especially when you become sort of typecast. And I, you know, I own that. I was sort of this spoiled princess who was, you know, seen more often as emotional than she was not. And that is. That is me. I own that part of myself that's just not all that I am. And I love that I was able to put myself into a game where, you know, you're employing things like strategy and conga lines to sort of show that there's more to me, and I am fun and I can be light, and I can, you know, get through a season of something and not get into, like, a huge argument with someone unless they're a snake and they lie.

[Ronnie]

And that was a rough end, too, to your. To your time on Potomac. I mean, that was just, like, intense.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

It was not pretty.

[Ronnie]

That was like, two years of intensity, like, severe.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah.

[Ronnie]

So it was time to recover from, I imagine. My God.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah.

[Ben]

I loved seeing the Candacence, as I'm gonna call it right now, the Candace ons on the traitors. I love. I. I thought you did, actually. You did do, I think, a great job. And I honestly. Well, the only thing that really. I think that really bummed me out was I loved you, Lisa, and Rob, when you guys were a traitor family. I thought you guys were so fun together, and I knew you guys wouldn't ever be able to make it all the way through together, but I was. When I started to crumble, I got so sad. I was really, really sad about that, you know?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah, I. I will. I will say this. I actually did think tw. Probably by episode. Probably episode six. Episode five or six. I woke up one morning that morning, and I was like, wow, we could maybe win together. Like, we could Maybe all three traitors go to the end. Because at that point it still felt like we were a cohesive unit and we were still really flying under the radar and we had, you know, pulled off at that point, I think at least one, I think we pulled off both of our heists, our murders in plain sight. We were just sort of working together as a great team. So I naively, obviously, hindsight, felt like we could go to the end together. And yeah, I was also just really disappointed that the ban got broken up because I think that in the history, the short history that is us traders, I think we'll go down as like some of the most iconic trios of traders to get that far and still be on one accord.

[Ben]

Yeah, I really loved watching you guys work together. And I guess I'm sorry, we are gonna let you go very shortly. But I do have, I do want to ask you some questions about, like, when you first voted against Rob and then the second time. So the first vote against Rob, I think a lot of us in the audience were like, oh, no, this probably won't end well because this is going to start. Like, do you, when you did that, was that like a spur of the moment decision? Like, what was your thought behind that? And then also then the subsequent vote, it seemed like the, the talk was between you or Stephen, but you were trying to do a push for Rob. Do you feel like you kind of like split the vote? Do you think if you just piled on to Stephen, it would have been better for you? I'm just as a fan of the game, like, I love to hear what was going through your head.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

So with my first vote, that was a strategic move. I knew at that point. I knew earlier that day that I was probably not going to make it because whatever seeds Rob had planted, he had garnered enough trust by, like, shoving his bathwater down everybody's throats and gotten them to, like, get on board with him, that they were, they were not going to trust me over him. It just there was there. I knew there wasn't a lot that I'd be able to say because I'd seen it. I'd seen just the, the very hard lined, like, vehement, like, well, it's not Rob, so who else is it as people, like, going through the list? So for me, the moment was about if I'm going to go out, I'm going out clearing desks, and as much as I can within the confines of the game, I'm going to shout Rob's name. So that even when I'M gone. My ghost will live on. As I. People can hopefully somehow recall back to, well, why did Candace do this? This doesn't make sense. It's out of the blue. And. Question.

[Ben]

Oh, it was basically actually all wrapped up in that. At that point, did you realize it was like, oh, it's too late. So I'm just gonna just put all the. Put it all on to Rob as much as possible.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yeah. Yes. And I. There were. No one was really saying Stephen to me. I was not hearing Stephen and at that point, there weren't a lot of people left. But I was hearing people say that they were hearing my name and that was it. That was all I was hearing. So then I was. My goal was just to as much as I could get people to look at Rob without, you know, blurting out his name.

[Ronnie]

Yeah. My God.

[Ben]

Wow.

[Ronnie]

Well, great job. It was a great season and it was good. I think you did great on the tv.

[Ben]

Can you tell us about your. You have a new podcast out, right? Can you tell us about it?

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yes, I have a new podcast. It's called undomesticated. We are on the Odyssey podcast network. It features myself and my amazing co host, Michael Arsenault. And we are talking about everything that's happening in your group chat at your kitchen tables. We're talking about. We do a segment where Michael talks extensively about baddies on Zeus because he is a baddies fan. We have a segment called Nobody asked me but which was kind of born out of my, to quote my former boss, my being a disaster on Twitter. It's a space for really me, but anybody that comes on the show to just opine about whatever. Like nobody asked me. But I think that Maura is a fool for accepting the Birkin bag or whatever you want to say. So it's a space to get your thoughts out about anything. We talk about relationships. We talk about pop culture. People were kind of like up in arms that I was talking about Housewives. Why did you leave the show if you're going to talk about Housewives? Well, Housewives is pop culture. So if there is a breaking news moment, like my former cast member potentially going to jail, God forbid we're going to talk about that. Like, that's, that is. That's. That's the news of the day that should be.

[Ronnie]

Not gonna let NFL people talk. Be football commentators. I mean, the whole point is that you have the experience that makes you more informed to talk about it.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Ronnie]

But that's.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

I mean, that's. They are and that's but that's. That is a small grain of rice in comparison to everything else we discuss whatever is happening in pop culture in the zeitgeist we are discussing and we're doing it with Michael's sort of signature cynicism and my just passion for being mouthy and loud and, you know, the mess you see before you.

[Ben]

We love that. And you have a new single out too. We also would have to promote for everyone to go download it and listen to it, right? If only.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Yes. If only. Yes. It is the new single that will be a part of my new album, which will be coming later this year. I do also have a remix coming to if Only with an amazing vocalist. I won't say who yet, but an amazing vocalist that you all know and love. And then I will actually be going on tour with this person later in the year. So.

[Ronnie]

Nice.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Lots of exciting moments on the music front. There's also a visual out on YouTube and Vevo you can check out and just keep streaming and downloading and letting. Letting me know what you think. I. I love all of the. The feedback on the song and I can't wait for you guys to hear the remix and the next single, which will be coming soon as well.

[Ben]

Fabulous. Well, congratulations on that. I mean, in my mind, I do believe that you have, like, one of the very best housewives songs in drab. Love that song.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Thank you.

[Ben]

Thank you, Candace. You were hilarious. Oh, my God. Thank you for spilling all this tea on our podcast today. You were great. Congratulations on your run on the Traders and thanks for being here with us, everyone. Go check out our podcast Uninsphisticated. Thanks, Candace.

[Candace Dillard Bassett]

Take care. Bye.

[Ben]

Watch what Crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. Ain't no thing like Alison King.

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[Candace Dillard Bassett]

You're listening to Mommarky. I'm Sarah. And I'm Tanya and this is a podcast where two millennial moms get real about raising kids and making sense of the world. We're calling out the bs, breaking down the headlines and laughing through the mess. Because honestly, what else can we do? So whether you're here to learn, vent, or just feel a little less alone, we're so glad you're here. Hit subscribe and let's navigate the chaos together. We are about to take the drama out of politics and the shame out of motherhood. Because this is monarchy.

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[Ronnie]

Com.