The winner of The Traitors Australia 2026 has officially been announced, and Kirby Bentley has left the manor with the $200,600 grand prize.
While audiences only discovered this news for the first time during the Grand Finale, the contestants — as expected — have been keeping this secret safe ever since production officially wrapped around a year ago.
For Kirby, this meant her job as a traitor, that is, lying to those around you, didn’t quite end when she revealed her identity and popped some champagne with host Gretel Killeen at the finale.
Instead, she had to dodge questions from friends, fans, and family right up until the final episode aired.
Speaking to WHO, Kirby revealed how she never could have predicted winning the show, what her plans are with the cash prize, and why it would take a lot to make her return to The Traitors again.
Kirby ‘genuinely didn’t know’ how the game would end
Kirby had no regrets about the way she played.
“I feel like because of the way that I’ve grown up, and in the world that I walk in as well as an Aboriginal person, I connect well with a range of different people,” Kirby reflected on her experience. “And I think navigating relationships and getting on your level is what I do.”
However, when it came to the Grand Finale, she admitted that she could not predict what was going to happen next.
“I genuinely didn’t know,” she confessed when talking about the fire pit voting with Keira and Krissy. “So I was trying to guess if she was going to end the game or do the banishment.
“I was purely picking from what I thought Keira was going to do.”
While she knew Keira thought a traitor was remaining in the group, she still didn’t know if she thought it was her or Krissy.
“The fact that Krissy had picked green to end the game, I think that sort of sealed the deal,” she confessed. “But I still didn’t know until she revealed that she had written Krissy, and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe this just happened.'”
“It had me on edge the whole time. I’m sure even Gretel was shocked.”
It would take a lot to convince Kirby to go on The Traitors again
This former Survivor Australia player had an incredible game, dodging suspicion since day one when Kween Kong heard her jacket rustle during that very first round table.
“I don’t even know how I got past the second episode, to be fair,” Kirby told WHO. “I have never worn that jacket again. It sounds like a rubbish bag. It was so loud and so obvious, and I was like, ‘Jesus!'”
While there were many hard moments on the show, Kirby confessed that one of the most difficult parts of the experience came after the show finished filming.
“There have been mixed messages,” she said about everyone’s response to her time on the show. “I’ve had a lot of even friends and family be like, ‘I don’t think you’re going to get past this episode, but we’re proud of you anyway’, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if I will either.’
“I’m so glad that I don’t need to keep playing the game with people. But I’ve loved that people have watched Traitors, and jumped on board, and can see how incredible this game is. It’s back, baby. Traitors is back. It’s pretty cool.”
When asked if she’d go on The Traitors again, she responded with a hard and fast, “No.”
“The only way I would is if we were either all faithfuls returned or all actual traitors, or if the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada came together to play a World All-Stars; that’s probably the only way I would play again,” she confessed.
“This is a hectic game. I was exhausted. I was ruined,” she told WHO. “People wanted me out day one, which is purely on Survivor before we were even selected.
“And then I wore that stupid jacket that sounded like a rubbish bag. So I just had the heat on, and I played an aggressive-style game anyway.
“I’m glad to rest now.”
What does Kirby plan to do with the $200,600 cash prize?
Kirby has a couple of plans with the prize money.
“My sister got married the day I was blindsided on Survivor, and I was devastated about missing the wedding,” she revealed. “I think there were a whole lot of emotions on that day.”
On top of “paying for [her sister’s] wedding”, she’s also giving some of the money to her mum.
“Obviously we’ve got mortgages and other things that we need to do in our human life, but yeah, I might need a holiday,” she joked.
While she joked that she’ll take Keira, Rhys, Krissy and the rest of the cast on a holiday, there’s no doubt that this winner deserves every ounce of rest she can get.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Share this post