After going to war with Colton Underwood in the most recent episode of The Traitors Season 4, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna is lowering the temperature along with the show’s official Instagram account.
On social media over the weekend, the actress and mogul asked her 3.7 million followers to back off the former Bachelor, who is allegedly on the receiving end of death threats, according to the reality TV star.
“The fact that the backlash is happening, I feel horrible about because I don’t want to hurt anybody. I’m here to play the game and have fun, and Colton is a great nemesis for me. We had so much fun. I’ve only always had a great time with him,” she told her followers in a self-taped Story. “Please guys, be gentle. It’s a game. It’s a TV show. We’re all doing the best we can. Don’t send death threats or do anything to jeopardize somebody’s family.”
On top of Rinna’s message, the official Traitors Instagram asked its followers to “not ruin the passion for this show with unwarranted negativity and personal attacks.” While they did not cite a specific cast member in the post, many fans in the comments immediately connected it to Underwood, who has been quiet on social media since Season 4 began airing in early January.
“We are committed to making our casts feel safe, respected, and supported – on screen and off. The cast of The Traitors are real people, and what happens in the game should never lead to cyberbullying or harassment,” the account posted. “There’s a difference between discussing a show and targeting individuals.”
The posts from the series and Rinna come after days of online discussion about Underwood’s behavior on the show and outside of the production, including his history with Cassie Randolph, the woman he was engaged to after his season of The Bachelor.
Around the time of their breakup, prior to Colton publicly being blackmailed into coming out as gay, Randolph was granted a restraining order against him as she accused him of stalking her and harassing her. While the two later settled the matter privately, fans have brought up the matter in videos and social media posts.
One person on Threads even pointed to Colton going up against Rinna in Episode 6 of The Traitors, saying that he has no idea what he’s getting himself into, to which Rinna responded.
“THIS is who Colton thinks he’s slick up against? GOOD LUCK BUDDY!” content creator Abbey Bonadies wrote, attaching a screengrab of Rinna’s iconic “were people doing coke in your bathroom” screengrab from RHOBH. To that, Rinna responded, “Let’s talk about you being a stalker….”
That response might have been what got Rinna to take to her Instagram Story over the weekend, where she also updated fans on the real status of her relationship and, once again, asked people to remember that it’s just a game.
“It’s come to my attention that my post that I responded to in my Housewife mode is taking on a life of its own, and it’s causing real problems for Colton. And I do not want this because Colton and I are great,” Rinna said on Instagram. “He was a great and is a great nemesis for me on the show in the game…. but just so you know, I am totally great with Colton. I’ve been texting with him. We talk. Everything is great.”
The first six episodes of The Traitors Season 4 are now streaming on Peacock. New episodes release Thursdays on Peacock.
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