Exit Interview: Madeline Kostopulos Opens Up About Feeling Misunderstood on ‘The Traitors: New Blood’

Madeline Kostopulos entered The Traitors: New Blood ready to play the most Faithful of games. Taking inspiration from Gabby Windey, she hoped to lead with kindness, build friendships, and prove herself through hard work. But in a castle where suspicion can turn even an innocent decision into evidence, claiming a shield during the first mission and a misunderstanding with another Faithful put her intentions under scrutiny.

By the first roundtable, Madeline found herself defending both her words and her decision to secure protection. With little concrete evidence to guide the group, accusations gained momentum, and her calm explanations struggled to cut through. Her hopes of building trust gave way to a fight to establish her innocence, ultimately making her the first Faithful banished.

Pop-Culturalist spoke with Madeline about the gap between watching The Traitors and living it, the shield controversy that fueled suspicion, and the roundtable that left her feeling misunderstood. She also shared her perspective on blindside accusations, staying true to herself under pressure, and finding humor in her fellow players’ many attempts to spell her name.

PC: Watching The Traitors and actually playing the game must be two completely different experiences. Was there a former player whose approach you hoped to model your own after? How did your gameplay evolve once you entered the castle and met your fellow competitors?
Madeline: It’s a whole different beast when you’re there. It’s such a high-pressure environment, and everyone’s super anxious. You don’t fully grasp how that feels just from watching it on screen.

Going into it, my idol was Gabby Windey. Her vibe is similar to mine. I wanted to be unproblematic, have good outfits, and be a good Faithful. I wanted to be everybody’s friend. That was definitely my approach to the game.

As far as strategy, I had no strategy. That was my strategy. I wanted to be a team player, be honest, and be kind to everyone. I think that comes through when people watch it back, and I’m happy with that.

PC: You definitely give Gabby vibes. Unfortunately, you were the first Faithful banished after being blindsided by Kriste Lewis’ accusations at the roundtable. Time and again, we’ve seen that approach lead to a Faithful being sent home. Having experienced it firsthand, do you think catching someone off guard at the roundtable is good or bad gameplay? Is there strategic value to it?
Madeline: It depends on your perspective. If your goal is to stay in the game and get someone else out, sure, blindside them at the table. If you want to be a good person, don’t do that. [laughs] How about we not do that? Because that was traumatizing. If she had stopped in the moment and asked, “What did you say?” we could have cleared it up and saved a lot of heartbreak. I was truly blindsided. No one told me before the roundtable that my name had even been mentioned. Not a single word. I really value being a good friend. If one of my friends were about to get ganged up on, I would have given them some sort of heads-up.

Another point of contention was the shield. No one believed me when I said I got the third one, and no one would corroborate that. So it was easy to piggyback on that and say, “Madeline’s a liar. She won’t say when she got the shield. She also said she murdered Kim [Daily].” Neither makes sense. If I could sum up my experience in one word, it would be “misunderstood.”

PC: That’s a great way to describe it. What’s so interesting about that roundtable is that Victor [Vollbrechthausen] came to your defense. You were both pushing back against Kriste’s allegations, but the group ultimately sided with her. Why do you think her argument carried more weight in the room?
Madeline: I think it was her conviction and the fact that she was crying. She was crying and screaming, and that’s not how I roll. If someone’s accusing me of something, I’m going to respond calmly. In this case, being louder seemed to make her more believable, but that didn’t mean she was right.

They also discredited Victor’s argument because of judgments they’d already made about him. There was a lot of talk around the castle that if Victor backed me up, it was because he was a Traitor, rather than because he was the only witness. That wasn’t cool.

I do want to make it clear that it’s all love for everyone in the cast. There are no hard feelings toward Kriste. I’m just talking about how everything unfolded on the show. It could have been handled in a much kinder way. The whole thing was really traumatizing.

PC: You’re a good sport about it. Early on, it feels like everyone is grasping at straws. You touched on this already, but you took a lot of heat for being one of the three players who claimed a shield. You made a compelling argument, though, that you waited until well into the mission to take it. Was that always your approach to shields, or was it a decision you made in the moment?
Madeline: I’m really competitive. If I see something shiny, I want it. With this group, everyone was really scared to stand out. It was a little cowardly. I didn’t want to stand out in the first mission for anything other than my hard work, but I started to realize the mission was going to end without anyone taking it. That would have been such a waste.

There were eight minutes left, and no one was going for it. So I said, “You know what? If people have a problem with this, they can speak to me.” I would have told them, “The mission was about to end. No one was going for it. I waited long enough, and I did a lot of work during the mission.” I feel like the way I went about it was fine.

But again, it came down to being blindsided. No one told me they had a problem with me getting the shield. No one asked when I got it. When that came up and no one would corroborate that I got it last, it was clear no one wanted to listen. They didn’t want to understand. They just wanted to get someone out.

But again, no hard feelings. It’s a game, and it was the first banishment. It’s really hard to go off the evidence you’re given.

PC: There’s so little evidence, and that “as long as it’s not me” mentality takes over. You became the scapegoat. Once it became clear the vote was coming down to you and Victor, you voted for him to protect yourself, but he didn’t do the same. How surprised were you by his vote, and do you think your reveal as a Faithful will ultimately help his game?
Madeline: I felt really bad, but at the end of the day, it’s a game. If it had come down to a vote or two between Victor and me, what a waste it would have been to throw away my chance for a guy I’d just met. I had to do that.

But I didn’t expect him to vote for Kriste. When I saw his vote, I felt so bad. He really stuck up for me, and I have so much love for him for that. He’s such a good friend.

The group didn’t like how he went for that shield immediately, and it left a bad taste in their mouths. Even after I revealed I was a Faithful, they were still going for him. I’m rooting for him. I hope he makes it far.

PC: It was a good game move. On a lighter note, have you ever seen your name spelled so incorrectly so many times in one night?
Madeline: That just added insult to injury. At that point, it felt disrespectful. [laughs] I didn’t know there could be so many variations of my name. I thought it was pretty straightforward. I think one person even spelled it “Madison.” That’s not even close to my name. At least it gives people something to laugh about when they’re talking about the show.

To keep up with Madeline, follow her on Instagram. The Traitors: New Blood is currently airing on NBC and available to stream the next day on Peacock.