Ron Funches didn’t come from the reality TV world like many of his fellow The Traitors castmates, but he still made a memorable impression during his time in the castle. After his elimination, he became the focus of conversations around bias, outsider dynamics, and fan support.
In an exit interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act, we caught up with Funches to talk about his journey on the show, how he approached the game, and his thoughts on the players still competing — including who he’s rooting for and what comes next for him after the Peacock series.
How does it feel to have such an outpouring of love and support from The Traitors fans since your exit?
It’s been amazing. What’s been nice is to watch the tide change. In the first week, when I voted out Porsha, and I got a lot of negative feedback about that, it hurt my heart a little bit because people thought I didn’t like big, beautiful Black ladies with big booties, and that could not be true. That’s not true in one ounce. So I was a little upset about that. But to watch week after week, people seeing more of me as a person and enjoying me. Now I get such a beautiful outpouring of support from people, whether they themselves are introverted in the workplace or neurodivergent, or just like you said, just Traitors fans who like that in a world where everybody is playing a character or coming at it super dramatic — it was just this regular guy trying to play the game.
Did you think complimenting everyone at the roundtable at the last minute could’ve saved you in some way, or did you believe that you were out of the game no matter what?
At that point, I believed I was done. I was suspicious no matter what. I was just starting to think, you get down to that final group, you want people who you have no questions about. I was like, well, they have questions about me from day one, so I’m probably not making it to that final group. So at a certain point, I was just like, I want to tell people what I enjoyed about them, what I liked about them, and the good times that I had here, because that’s how I was raised — even in the hard times and the rough times, to be grateful for what you’re going through. And that’s how I try to raise my sons, and I knew this might be something that they would see. So I wanted to show them that even when other people are being rude to you, even when you’re not feeling supported, that you have to have your own back and have your own morals and stick up for yourself and who you are as a person. So I was just proud of that. I’m sure some people were swayed, but I’m sure other people thought I was just trying to play a game, but I try to be my authentic self.
Do you think people who aren’t from reality television shows are at a disadvantage and that regardless if reality stars are from a Bravo show or a competition show, they can play the game more?
I think it is a natural disadvantage to just be an outsider from that group. It’s like the Avengers of reality shows. Those people all know each other, whether it’s Big Brother, Survivor, or Housewives — and especially the Housewives, they have a strong bond together. And when you’re coming from outside of that world, I just come from comedy and stand-up, it was just a disadvantage because they had no previous love for me or any knowledge of me. I myself just try to — even if I don’t know you — I just like, “Hey, I want to get to know you as a human and respect you as a person,” but I think some other people in that castle are more like, “If you can’t do anything for me, if I don’t know you, then I don’t see the value in you being here.”
We spoke to Monét X Change after her murder and she said that there may be some implicit bias at play as far as how you were received after making a misstep list with Colton Underwood and Eric Nam. Would you agree in any way?
Yeah, I just think you watch it play out on screen. You see the difference in between — I make the same mistake, and I make it one time. Then you see someone like Colton who is continually allowed to repeat those mistakes without any type of repercussions or even a side eye. I think it’s a cycle that we see in the community, that we see in the regular world, and it’s something that I think is important to see in a show like that so that when we see it in our face like that, sometimes people try to deny that those things exist. And I think when you see something even as simple as a game like this, you go like, “Oh, I know what it’s like to have that in a workplace environment or in my life or in a school.” And I think to see that and have that on tape is actually pretty beautiful.
What do you think of the Traitors so far? We just lost Lisa Rinna and there seems to be a Rob Rausch versus Candiace Dillard Bassett war brewing. What do you think of their games so far and are you rooting for the Traitors in general?
I’m rooting for Rob. That’s who I’m rooting for. I don’t know — because he was so kind to me the whole time. We played a lot of chess together. Even when he was telling me previously, before he changed his vote to Lisa, he was letting me know, “Oh, I’m going to probably vote you out because this is what we need to do,” but he was never not kind to me. He still spent time with me. We still had fun together. Yeah, I think Candiace is playing a tremendous game and has been a great Traitor so far, but now we’re seeing some little emotional cracks. I think you see a little cycle of it — she stayed on me so much because she was emotionally invested in Porsha, and now she’s emotionally invested in Lisa. And so now she’s turning against Rob when they still can work together. So I’m hoping that they pull it together and that the Traitors win, because I got no love for them Faithfuls, but if it comes down to one, I just hope Rob makes it through.
What is life for Ron after Traitors looking like?
I mean, it’s been real beautiful because I’ve been out on the road traveling the U.S. doing my stand-up tour, getting so many people from The Traitors that come out. I think one of the best things about me is that a lot of those people, you only can see them on the show or you can only see them at a BravoCon in real life. Me — I’m coming town to town and you can come see me, shake my hand, you can hug me, you can learn more about me and my family and my life. Then I got a new stand-up special that we finished shooting and we’re editing right now and hopefully that’ll be out this summer. And then I’m always hoping to be acting and working. I’m on Loot with Maya Rudolph and I’m hopefully looking to make my own project soon. So that’s what I’m hoping for me.
The Traitors airs new episodes each Thursday on Peacock.