In the United Kingdom, Maura Higgins is already a star. She made her name on Love Island U.K. in 2019 for speaking her mind in increasingly funny ways; from swallowing a fly to reaming out an arsehole guy for his ungentlemanly conduct, she was having just as much fun as the viewers, if not more so. She quickly became a stalwart of British telly, appearing on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and Cooking With the Stars. Since 2024, she has been dipping her toes into American waters as host of the Love Island USA aftershow, Aftersun. Then came The Traitors.
The Peacock series brings (mostly American) celebrities into its Scottish castle for the world’s most intense game of Mafia, and as a contestant on season four, Ireland-born Higgins was out of her element in more ways than one. She was one of the few non-American contestants in the U.S. version’s history; she hadn’t watched any version of The Traitors beforehand, meaning she didn’t know the rules; and she didn’t know any of the other contestants except fellow Love Island–er Rob Rausch, whom she met only a handful of times as an interviewee on Aftersun. But that fish-out-of-water quality made her immediately endearing. American audiences fell in love as she made friends with her colleagues and squawked out in shock at any twist, then felt increasingly bad for her as she aligned with Rausch, who viewers knew was a Traitor. At the end of the season, the Love Island duo became the final two in the game, and Rausch had to reveal he’d been playing Higgins the whole time. Her stunned reaction is destined to live in reality-TV renown for years to come: “You’re never gonna have a girlfriend after this,” she spat at him. “You’re such a good liar.” But by the time of the reunion, she’d come around, admitting he’d done what he needed to do.
