Maura Higgins Left Reeling as Rob Rausch Wins $220,800 on The Traitors Season 4
The Traitors Season 4 concluded with Rob Rausch crowned the sole winner and walking away with $220, 800, leaving Maura Higgins stunned when he revealed he had been a Traitor. The finale, which aired Thursday, February 26, resolved a series of betrayals that included an on-camera helicopter mission, a final flaming roundtable and a reunion that reopened disputes about alleged cheating.
Finale Night and the $220, 800 Prize
The February 26 finale delivered the season’s monetary resolution: Rob Rausch emerged as the lone victor, taking the $220, 800 prize. Host Alan Cumming framed the final choice for the last two players directly — if both were Faithful they would split the prize; if a Traitor remained, that player would take the entire pot. Rausch ultimately claimed the full amount and acknowledged remorse for backstabbing Maura Higgins, the contestant he’d grown closest to in the castle.
Rob Rausch, Day-One Traitor, and Maura Higgins’ Reaction
Rausch, a day-one Traitor and former Love Island contestant, had been part of the original Traitor trio with Lisa Rinna and Candiace Dillard Bassett and later named Donna Kelce as the season’s secret Traitor. Maura Higgins, who maintained for much of the run that Rausch could not be a Traitor, cast the decisive vote to banish Tara Lipinski late in the game. When Rausch revealed he had been a Traitor, Higgins reacted with visible shock and emotion, saying, "Oh my god, I'm so stupid, " accusing him of breaking a pinky promise and calling him an "absolute asshole" and a "fucking snake" before conceding, "But well done. " Rausch told Higgins he felt remorseful for having to betray someone he had been close to in the game.
Eric Nam’s Final Betrayal and the Helicopter Mission
Eric Nam, a late-in-the-game Traitor recruit by Rausch, was targeted in the finale after a last mission that included a helicopter jump into the water. Nam, Rob and Maura were among the final players who faced the season’s last true roundtable. Rob and Maura turned on Nam, banishing him before Rob revealed his Traitor status, a move that sealed Nam’s fate and set the stage for the final two-player showdown.
Roundtable Rituals, Johnny Weir and Mark Ballas’ Fate
In the lead-up to the final, contestants used the show’s ritual of throwing red or green bags into a flame to indicate whether they believed any Traitors remained; in one round, all four players threw red. The finalists included Eric Nam, Johnny Weir, Mark Ballas, Maura Higgins, Rob Rausch and Tara Lipinski. Johnny Weir was voted off in the penultimate round, splitting up the Olympic duo with Lipinski. Mark Ballas was named the Traitors’ last murder victim earlier in the season, leaving the late-game field that produced the showdown.
Reunion Confrontations: Colton Underwood, Candiace Dillard Bassett and Lisa Rinna
The reunion reopened tensions. Candiace Dillard Bassett and Lisa Rinna singled out Rob Rausch for not collaborating with them when they had been Traitors, and both accused him of misconduct. Candiace also accused Rausch of letting Colton Underwood in on his Traitor status during filming; both Rausch and Colton denied the claim, with Rausch pointing to strict rules and cameras everywhere that would have prevented such conversations. Colton said it was "no secret" he and Rob had worked together from his perspective, but insisted he never cheated and that he had believed he was working with a Faithful.
Colton Underwood’s Explanations and Donna Kelce’s Family Take
Colton addressed fan backlash over his casting, his friendship with Rausch in the castle and an offer he made to Lisa Rinna to work together despite knowing she was a Traitor; he said the move was intended to get recruited. He defended his choice to say he would have "taken [Rinna] hostage" by explaining he would have kept a Traitor in the game to see if they would flip on someone else. Colton also reflected on public vitriol related to his past with Cassie Randolph, calling that period "one of the darkest and most horrible moments" of his life and saying he was not in a good place. He also completed a tell-all interview with Vanity Fair shortly before the reunion aired.
Donna Kelce, who served as the secret Traitor this season, said both of her children thought she had given it her best shot and joked they believed she had been more treacherous than expected. Donna added that Taylor Swift is a "watcher" of the show, as is Swift’s family. At the reunion, Rausch said he had put the $220, 800 aside "for the future" and promised Maura Higgins he would buy her a Birkin bag; he also confirmed he is not single while Higgins said she was more focused on the Birkin than any romance.
The finale’s rapid reversals — from banishments to the reveal that two late-game allies were Traitors — and the reunion’s blunt exchanges left several players publicly sorting hurt and strategy, and turned the season’s closing hours into a contested reckoning over loyalty and gameplay.
