The Traitors' Parvati Shallow Explained The Real Reason “Boston” Rob Mariano Betrayed Bob The Drag Queen

When The Traitors’ third season premiered, fans saw an incredible cast of players become the latest people to play Alan Cumming’s reality show. Of course, some The Traitors players perform surprisingly poorly and there are always disappointments, like when Tony Vlachos was banished early. However, since The Traitors has so many memorable players, the third season has spawned a lot more discussion about topics like whether “Boston” Rob Mariano’s strategy made sense.

After Bob the Drag Queen responded to a backlash for “murdering” a Real Housewives star, “Boston” Rob turned on him and got him banished. Following that, “Boston” Rob’s former Survivor peer, Parvati Shallow, who also played The Traitors, revealed why she thought he turned on Bob.

The Traitors’ Parvati Shallow Analyzed Why “Boston” Rob Mariano Targetted Bob The Drag Queen

During the first two seasons of The Traitors, fans saw the players who were chosen to be Traitors work together initially. For example, while Season 2 featured Dan Gheesling turning on Phaedra Parks, they’d previously worked together well.

However, when “Boston” Rob Mariano became one of the Traitors, it didn’t take long for the turret to become overrun with chaos. After Rob turned on Bob the Drag Queen, that led to him, Danielle Reyes, and Carolyn Wiger no longer trusting each other.

Given what Rob turning on Bob the Drag Queen resulted in, that begs an obvious question. Why did “Boston” Rob get Bob the Drag Queen banished? The former The Traitors player and Survivor Hall of Famer Parvati Shallow went on to analyze why she believed Rob turned on Bob the Drag Queen.

On January 23rd, 2025, Decider’s YouTube channel uploaded a brief clip of an interview of Parvati. During that clip, Parvati was asked about “Boston” Rob playing The Traitors after she competed during that show’s second season.

During that YouTube clip, the interviewer brought up the fact that “Boston” Rob pulled off an “epic” move by getting Bob the Drag Queen banished. In response, Parvati began by revealing the simple reason she believed Rob got Bob the Drag Queen out.

Rob is not gonna let someone else run the show. And Bob the Drag Queen was a big personality.

Since Parvati’s greatest strength as a reality show star has always been her social understanding, her observations should be taken seriously.

During the same Decider video, Parvati then brought up examples of how big Bob the Drag Queen’s personality was.

More importantly, Parvati explained why Bob the Drag Queen’s behavior would have hindered Rob’s ability to take control of the Traitors.

“[Bob the Drag Queen] was trying to take the lead in the turret. We saw him kind of shutting down Carolyn and other people.”

As anyone familiar with how Rob played Survivor will know, he wants to control every show he competes on. In fact, Rob even created a “buddy season” during the Survivor season he won to make sure none of his allies spoke alone to his enemies.

After Parvati Shallow competed on The Traitors Season 2, “Boston” Rob Mariano played in Alan Cumming’s castle during The Traitors Season 3. Similarly, after Rob competed during Deal or No Deal Island’s first season, Parvati followed and played during DONDI’s second season.

Given how much control Rob likes to have, Parvati’s comments about why he got Bob the Drag Queen banished made a lot of sense.

During Decider’s YouTube video, Parvati can be seen talking about why “Boston” Rob and Bob the Drag Queen’s personalities would create an obvious rivalry.

“I just don’t think there’s enough space in the turret for Bob and Rob. I think one of them had to go. And Rob taking his shot was only a matter of time.”

At the end of Decider’s video, Parvati spoke about why she thought Rob was in danger on The Traitors. Parvati listed several reasons, including Rob getting Bob banished and him joining the game late with Derrick Levasseur and Wes Bergmann.

“It’s definitely put a target on Rob, but Rob already had a target. Coming in the way he came in to the game already was weird. And then being who he is from Survivor, he already is gonna have a huge target on him. So I think in Rob’s mind, it’s sort of like, why not take out the big dog and be able to run the whole game from the turret?”

Since Rob was banished not long after Parvati’s Decider interview, she clearly was on the money.

How “Boston” Rob Mariano Explained His Decision To Get Bob The Drag Queen Banished

During episodes of The Traitors Season 3, there were times when it seemed like “Boston” Rob Mariano was being frustrated by Bob the Drag Queen. However, Rob didn’t point to Bob’s control of the game as why he got him banished. Instead, Rob repeatedly stated he targeted Bob after his fellow Traitor called him out first.

During a mission, Bob the Drag Queen was trying to get the Faithful to strategize over who would get a shield. The mission called for players to get a shield if a head with their name on it was added to a statue. After the mission, Bob the Drag Queen loudly made a comment about people suspecting that Rob, Derrick Levasseur, and Wes Bergmann were Traitors. Bob made that comment while explaining why he thought they needed shields after the trio joined the game later than everyone else.

I did think that one of the new guys needs a head up there because we all think one of them might be a Traitor.

As soon as viewers saw Bob make that statement, the show went silent and then cut to Rob responding. An obviously bothered Rob made it clear he felt Bob called him out and needed to be gone.

“Bob, what the hell are you doing? You’re throwing me under the bus. You just put a big target on me, and ultimately, that’s a problem.”

After that moment, Rob repeatedly stated that comment from Bob was why he turned on his fellow Traitor.