What to know
- Elan Bibas, a former Love Island USA bombshell, is trading romance for strategy as he joins The Traitors Canada, premiering Sept. 21 on CTV.
- Bibas says the biggest shift was moving from building romantic connections to forming strategic alliances, describing The Traitors Canada as more of an intellectual challenge.
- Despite being extroverted, Bibas admits nerves got the best of him on Love Island USA, but his second show felt easier as he adapted to the reality TV environment, allowing him to focus more on gameplay.
- Trust and deception are key: Bibas drew inspiration from previous winners and aimed to use friendships as “currency,” but found earning trust from some contestants more difficult than reading who to trust himself.
Canadian reality TV star Elan Bibas was once “a hot new bombshell” in the Love Island USA villa. Now, he’s traded love for betrayal and deception as a contestant on the fourth season of The Traitors Canada.
With The Traitors Canada’s fourth season premiere approaching, on Sept. 21 on CTV, Bibas spilled the tea on everything reality TV.
Richmond Hill resident Elan Bibas arrived in the Casa Amore as a bombshell in the seventh season of reality dating show Love Island and the upcoming season of The Traitors Canada, a competitive reality show with challenges to build a prize pot while trying to unmask “Traitors” who are “murdering” the “Faithful” contestants each night.
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‘You’re still building relationships, just not romantic ones’: Bibas on his experience from one reality show to the next
Love Island USA focuses on building romantic relationships, but The Traitors Canada calls for strategy, trust, friendship — and sometimes betrayal.
Bibas says it’s a whole new experience, from trying to find love to hoping to win a game, but both depend on good relationships with people.
“In some ways, it’s a big changeup. In other ways… it’s still reality TV. But the context is very different,” he told Now Toronto.
“I actually enjoyed The Traitors Canada a lot because it was a little bit more of an intellectual challenge for me. You’re still building relationships, just not romantic ones,” Bibas added.
‘I was so anxious’: Bibas on getting over his nerves in Love Island USA in time for The Traitors Canada
Bibas’ first reality TV show was Love Island USA, and despite being an extroverted person, he said his nerves got the best of him when he entered the villa.
“I couldn’t sleep at all that night. [The show had] taken a video of me when I was sleeping… I was so nervous in fight-or-flight mode… I was so anxious,” Bibas shared.
The moment seemed hilarious on-screen, so Bibas’ own brother, who was running his social media page during his absence, made a meme out of the scene.
But entering his second reality TV show, Bibas is more familiar with the environment, he says.
“The environment is something that I’m somewhat normalized to. It just wasn’t as strenuous on me; I wasn’t as nervous,” Bibas said. “That obviously makes it easier to focus on the relationships in the game itself.”
To trust or not to trust… Bibas’ experience on The Traitors Canada
The Traitors Canada ultimately leads to strategy and trust. So, Bibas shared who inspired his gameplay and his biggest challenges with trust—being trusted or trusting someone.
The Richmond Hill resident says he’s watched previous Canadian and American seasons as inspiration.
“Obviously, I looked at Rob, who won the previous season of the U.S. and was someone from Love Island. I kind of tried to take some strategy from that. I wanted people to like underestimate me, given the last show that I was on,” Bibas said.
He also focused heavily on building relationships.
“I just wanted to build relationships with each person and kind of friendships because people are more inclined to, like, hold true to those kind of things… When information is needed inside the manor, information is currency, right? So just being very attentive to that, I think, was kind of my approach,” Bibas explained.
But with the game involving trust so much, Bibas said he had to convince others to trust him back.
“I think I’m a pretty good read of people, so I can figure out who to trust quite well. But getting people to trust me, if they weren’t one of the people I was spending a lot of my time talking to, I found was probably way more challenging,” he said.
He added that Rob, both a traitor and a contestant in Love Island USA, also gave Bibas a disadvantage and a “bad rep” going into the show.
How are his relationships with cast members from Love Island USA and The Traitors Canada post-filming?
Bibas explained that Love Island USA was “one of the hardest things a couple can go through,” explaining that’s probably why lots of couples from his season broke up.
“You come out to a completely different reality than when you came into the villa. There’s a lot more demand for you, a lot more work for you, things pulling you in different directions. I think it’s a really big challenge to try to stay in that relationship,” Bibas explained.
Meanwhile, he says he’s still friends with everyone in The Traitors Canada, stating friendships aren’t as hard to maintain in that show as Love Island USA romantic relationships.
What to expect in The Traitors Canada Season 4
Bibas says “people’s jaws are going to be on the floor,” adding it’s going to be very shocking and exciting.
Bibas hopes this will mark the start of a reality TV show career in adventure-styled series, naming Amazing Race Canada and Survivor as dream shows.
