The Traitors’ New Players: Meet Wes Bergmann and Derrick Levasseur

Fans of The Traitors were shocked on Thursday, January 9, when the first three episodes of the show’s third season were released and two unexpected players dropped in — literally.

The announced cast, which Peacock shared last June, arrived at their second mission to find three new players suspended above them in cages. One was Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano, who they elected not to invite into the game during the premiere episode.

The other two were entirely unexpected reality TV titans: Three-time winner of The Challenge, Wes Bergmann, and Big Brother 16 winner Derrick Levasseur.

Those who recognized Wes and Derrick, both 40, reacted with a predictable mix of excitement and apprehension at unleashing two masterminds into the game, while others clearly had no idea what either was capable of.

Both new players will begin as faithfuls, while Boston Rob will try to exact his revenge on those who didn’t invite him to enter the game by joining the traitors’ side.

Learn more about Wes and Derrick below.

Wes Bergmann

Not many people have more reality TV experience than Wes, who first appeared on The Real World: Austin in 2005. Since then, he’s played 14 seasons of The Challenge, two seasons of The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars, one season of The Challenge: All-Stars, one season of The Challenge: USA and played in The Challenge: World Championship. He was also runner-up on House of Villains season 2.

Known as a master strategist and relentless competitor, Wes’ scheming has been both a blessing and a curse in his reality history. On The Challenge, It landed him in hot water and forced him into plenty of eliminations. But he also owns the franchise’s record for consecutive elimination wins with eight.

Wes has combined his physical prowess with a fearlessness that has continued to help him land roles across the reality competition universe. Two Challenge alumni (Chris “CT” Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella) won season 2 of The Traitors and Wes can match up with either of them.

Derrick Levasseur

Widely considered one of the greatest Big Brother players of all-time, the Big Brother 16 winner has the social ability to be a mastermind without ever appearing to be a threat. On Big Brother, he is both credited for his strategy and derided by some for “ruining” the game by showing future players how to dominate from start to finish.

On his season of Big Brother, Derrick formed a majority alliance early on with big competition threats, ensuring his side was almost always in power. As a result, he was never up for eviction and coasted to victory. Some argue Derrick had an easy path to his win because of the relatively low skill level of his competitors, but the season also included two future winners — former The Traitors contestant Cody Califiore and Nicole Franzel — as well as Frankie Grande, who some consider one of the most underrated players ever.

Another key for Derrick, both on Big Brother and The Traitors: He is a former undercover police officer. He kept this from his housemates on BB16, but with him already knowing several players on The Traitors, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the cast catches wind of his ability to deceive, read and react.