Phaedra Parks and Shereé Whitfield Are Ready To Serve Fashion on 'The Traitors'

Phaedra and Sheree

No need for a "Fix it, Jesus," the cast of The Traitors Season 2 is looking just peachy thanks in part to two Real Housewives of Atlanta cast members Phaedra Parks and Shereé Whitfield. Whitfield, known among Bravo fans as "the bone collector" due to her penchant for scooping up secrets and passing them along, is one of RHOA's original housewives. In between multiple exits and entrances from the franchise, Whitfield also launched her own fashion line She by Shereé (although there were a few stops and starts along the way). Parks, who joined RHOA in Season 3 and departed after Season 9 has since nabbed spots on Ultimate Girls Trip, Married to Medicine and now The Traitors. Together, the pair make an intimidating force on the strategic murder mystery game show.

Prior to filming, Phaedra and Shereé sat down with Parade to discuss their strategies headed into the game, how being a Housewife could serve as a major advantage and their plans for fashion dominance in the Traitors castle.

Related: Six Big Changes Coming to 'The Traitors' for Season 2

To kick off, were you familiar with The Traitors? Did you watch other seasons of the show or are you going in blind? 

Phaedra Parks: No, I hadn't, I mean, I was familiar with it because my good girlfriend Brandi Glanville did it last season. But it's my parents' favorite show. My mother has watched every episode, so when I mentioned to her, "They want me to do Traitors," she's like, "You gotta do it. I can be proud of this show."

Shereé Whitfield: When it came out, because it was NBC and Peacock, I wanted to support it. So I did watch it. But then when I got the call that they were interested in bringing me on, I was like, "Oh, I need to watch it again in a different way. Let me be strategic." So I did watch it again. And then I started watching The Traitors: Australia. I did not finish. But I did watch some of Australia.

In terms of strategy, did you come in with a plan or are you trying to get the lay of the land first? 

Shereé: I just figured I'll be me and go in, listen, keep my eyes open, ears open and just do what I do as, you know, a bone collector. I'll collect a few bones, use them to my advantage.

Are you prepared for how emotional the show can get? 

Phaedra:  I only knew that I was coming five days ago. So I'm a late-to-the-party type of girl for this one. But when I watched the [Season 1] reunion, it just broke my heart. I was like, "How dare she [Cirie Fields] not give those people money? They need help." It was very sad to see how upset they were. I can see now that you really like the people you're here with. You know, we've got a great group of people here. They're really nice.

Shereé: And it's hard to believe that someone may stab us in the back. They're so sweet.

Phaedra: Everyone's so sweet and fun. So it's like, man. And then they're gonna kill you.

There's four Real Housewives here. Are you planning to work together? Did you know each other beforehand? What are the group dynamics? 

Phaedra: Well, of course, I've known Shereé well over 20 years. Tamra [Judge] and I did, [Real Housewives Ultimate] Girls Trip Season 2 together. I just met Larsa [Pippen]. None of us have ever played a game like this, but I think being a housewife makes you pretty tough. We definitely have to fight with a bunch of vindictive, deceptive villains. I think that is perfect training.

Shereé: Yeah, I think we were definitely well equipped for this challenge, being OG in Atlanta. Coming into this, I did not know Larsa, but I met her a few days ago. Very sweet. I knew Tamra. For me, I want the Housewives to win. So I'm rooting for, of course me, but I'm also rooting for my fellow Housewives.

Phaedra: But it's a lot of serious gamers on this show. Like winners of Survivor and Big Brother, so some people have been on these types of shows for like 22 seasons. Their strategy is unmatched, but I think, being a housewife, we can play with the big dogs.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of 'The Traitors' Season 2

Do you think they are underestimating you?

Phaedra: Probably.

Phaedra, did you give Brandi a call before the show or have any sort of communication with her? 

Phaedra: Well, here's the thing. I found out five days ago. It was the weekend. It was so much paperwork and I have two kids and 50 businesses. So, literally, I didn't even have time. It was doctors' appointments, psychiatric appointments. I am crazy, but not quite that crazy. I had to hit the ground running just to set up all my businesses.

When I told my mom, "I'm gonna think about it," she called the next day at like 7 in the morning and said, "You're going call them and accept. I'm packing my things now." It was a Saturday. I had to leave on Tuesday. So I didn't even get to talk to Brandy.

How do you think Housewives fans will react to seeing you two on this show? 

Phaedra: They're going to love it. We are from the heyday of Housewives when it was really good. No lies. So I think they will enjoy it. I mean, me and Shereé have always been cool. We got a great rapport. [To Shereé] Of course, you got Tamra.

Shereé: But the weird thing for me is for some reason, Tamra has been so heavy on my mind to call her for the last couple weeks.

Phaedra: Why?

Shereé: I don't know why. I was like, "I need to call Tamra," and I never got around to calling her. And then when we get to the castle and we see her, we're like [screams].

Phaedra: Because I had no idea.

Shereé: No, me neither, because Tamra was on my mind to call.

Phaedra: Tamra had sent me a text asking me like, "What are you doing?" or something. I was like, "I'm crazy." That's my usual response, like "I'm crazy right now." And when I saw her, I was like [knowing glance]. I didn't think there'd be this many Housewives.

Shereé: Me neither. So one of us need to take home.

Phaedra: Amen.

Is there anything about yourself that you're hoping to show viewers that they didn't see on The Real Housewives? 

Shereé: I hope people see me in a different way. We're establishing relationships in a different way than on Housewives, so I hope they see we're really good people, we're genuine people, we're not always bitchy and drama-filled. Then also, I am very fit. I love working out, so I think I can do really great with the challenges, unless they put me with some rats or snakes.

Phaedra: And this show is really not catty like the Housewives, so I think it allows you the opportunity to show the more strategic, thinking side of us. But we're still going to be glamorous.

Shereé: Oh yeah, we're going to give you fashion. The fashion and beauty aside from Alan [Cumming, the show's host].

Yeah, how did you decide which outfits to bring? 

Shereé: First of all, it's cold here. It's not cold in Atlanta, so I couldn't find a lot of warm pieces, but I did put some pieces together. I'll probably just have to layer, but I'm definitely going to give you fashion, honey.

Phaedra: Are we going to see She by Shereé?

Shereé: Well, they said I could not.

Phaedra: What? Are you for real?

Shereé: You didn't see that in the contract?

Phaedra: Oh my god, that's awful.

Shereé: Yes, very awful.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About 'The Traitors' Season 2