Parliament's John Bercow talks past in 'political deception' on The Traitors US

13 January 2024 , 04:33

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John Bercow joined the American The Traitors show (Image: PA)

Former Speaker of the House of Commons and member of the British Parliament John Bercow competed on American reality show The Traitors US.

In the first episode, all the competitors were doing some introductions. The Challenge legend Johnny Bananas started kicking everything off with some questions. He asked: "You were a member of Parliament?"

When John admitted he was, Johnny teased that he thought John was the host when they first arrived. After a good laugh, the show cut to John's confessional. The politician said: "I'm a retired politician. Backstabbing, deception are all parts of the politician life. Over the years, I've developed a knack for detecting who, frankly, is trying to deceive, to cheat, for material gain."

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The politician was accused of being a traitor due to his heavy breathing (UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)

The show involves a group of celebrities, including experienced reality competition show icons, who must work together to figure out who are the traitors among them. They complete challenges in an effort to up the prize pool, but if any of the traitors make it to the end, then the faithful members lose out while those "evil" competitors will win it all.

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It looks like John will need to put those skills to the test. He was not chosen as a traitor, so he'll need to start keeping his eyes peeled and trust his gut to get rid of the wrongdoers. Instead, Dan Gheesling from Big Brother, Phaedra Parks from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Parvati Shallow from Survivor were selected. Host Alan Cumming said: "The traitors now sit among you. You may never know who they are or how many."

However, John does seem to have a target on his back. Right away Big Brother's Janelle Pierzina was getting suspicious and started to grill the political powerhouse. "You were having some breathing problems. Were - are you okay?"

John Bercow claimed his past in politics gave him advantage on the show (PA)

John said he's just asthmatic and it was nothing to worry about, but Janelle kept going, citing that he was he slightly hesitated as everyone left the roundtable to head into the lounge area. He seemed a bit confused about what direction she was heading in with her speculation, but he played it cool and reiterated it was nothing to worry about.

Later, Janelle went running to Johnny Bananas and Phaedra to further discuss her theory. "I was sitting next to that John guy and he starts hyperventilating," she said as she mocked his breathing pattern. "It was not asthma. I'm asthmatic, too."

Janelle was worried about getting called off the show because of John (PRU/AFP via Getty Images)

Johnny felt that John was trying to defend himself "a little too much." Janelle then said that if she died, it just had to be John who did it since she called him out so publicly. She said: "If I get murdered tonight, it's because I'm the only one sitting next to him that heard that. I'm telling you guys right now. Like, if I'm gone, you have to vanish him."

While Phaedra certainly could have used this as a strategy to axe Janelle and push blame to John, a twist prevented her from doing so. Janelle secured a "shield" meaning that she was safe from the first night of murders.

Alex West