Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Traitors US season 2 through episode 6.
To say Josh Martinez is unimpressed with his fellow Big Brother champ is an understatement as he didn’t hold back when it came to heavily criticizing Dan Gheesling’s performance on The Traitors US.
Before we get to Josh’s remarks, here’s a quick recap of Dan’s Traitors appearance.
Dan, the winner of Big Brother 10, runner-up of season 14, and who many regard as the greatest franchise contestant ever, came out of a decade-long retirement to play in season 2 of Peacock’s reality competition show. To fans and Dan’s delight, he was chosen to fill the role of Traitor alongside Survivor’s Parvati Shallow and Bravo’s Phaedra Parks. The trio murdered and avoided banishment together until episode 6, the hour that marked Dan’s demise.
Dan took the same approach he had in his two seasons of Big Brother — hang in the background, observe, and strike when he felt the moment was right. Unfortunately for Dan, that play style didn’t fit The Traitors‘ rapid-style happenings. The other contestants constantly criticized him for being voiceless and his perceived lack of involvement led to his end. He was sniffed out as a Traitor and promptly voted out at the round table.
Well, one ex-Big Brother alum who watched Dan’s Traitors tenure was Josh. And when speaking with Shannon Tharp about season 2, the Big Brother 19 champion unloaded on the mastermind. Josh said Dan was among the names he was most excited to see play but was “disappointed” with Dan’s ability in the game.
“I think Dan tried to play Traitors like how he played Big Brother 10 years ago,” Josh said. “With Big Brother, he was able to coast and kind of float, and then talk a big game in the [diary room].”
“When you’re playing a game with people that are skilled in strategy, that are at the top of their game —Sandra [Diaz-Twine] — when you have people like CT [Tamburello] and Johnny [Bananas], I think that you can’t be a one-trick pony. I think you’ve got to be way more creative, and I think his skills were outdated. I’m going to get hate for that. He’s still one of the greats to play Big Brother. But… all games have evolved [from when Dan played last]. And I think that you need to adapt and get with the times. I think he played the worst game, I really do.”
Josh speculated that the game may have been “too quick” for Dan. Remember, Dan’s used to having months of playtime to maneuver a social-strategy game. But, Traitors is filmed in a matter of weeks.
“It was sad to watch,” Josh said.
Being out of the competition limelight for so long didn’t help Dan’s grand return. And Josh said that if Dan had experienced something like Big Brother Reindeer Games, or another in-and-out show before The Traitors, he would’ve potentially realized things had changed since the good ol’ days.