The castle games did not end when cameras stopped rolling on Peacock’s “The Traitors” Season 4. When the cast reunited to film the post-season special, Lisa Rinna arrived with questions, and Colton Underwood was suddenly facing far more than a parlor game.
TLDR
At a Traitors reunion taping, Lisa Rinna reportedly challenged Colton Underwood over his hostage wording and her stalker jab, colliding with his past legal troubles and sparking fresh debate about reality TV boundaries.
Reunion Tension in the Castle
According to Page Six, insiders at the “Traitors” reunion say Rinna, 62, confronted Underwood, 34, about his use of the word “hostage” when he talked about her during the season. On the show, he played as a Faithful, she played as a Traitor, and their alliance was complicated from the start.
During filming, Underwood had declared on camera that he intended to keep Rinna “hostage” in the game once he suspected she might be a Traitor. He pulled the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum aside and promised to protect her from banishment at the round table if she would, in turn, help keep him from being “murdered” in the game’s terminology.
Rinna denied being a Traitor and turned down the offer. Underwood then helped lead the charge to have her banished, only to be “murdered” by Traitors later in the season, a twist that became one of the more talked-about reversals among fans following the series.
Page Six reports that at the reunion taping, Rinna pressed Underwood directly about that “hostage” language, a move described by one source as the veteran Housewife “holding his feet to the fire.” Rinna has spent decades in the reality arena, and by all accounts, she treated the reunion stage like another charged dinner table.
Accounts differ on how Underwood responded. Some insiders told Page Six that the former “Bachelor” star stormed off the set in frustration. Another source pushed back, characterizing it instead as a more subdued, emotional walk-off that happened in tandem with a planned production break. The same source said he returned after taking a moment, getting some air, and drinking water.
Reps for Rinna, Underwood, and Peacock did not respond to Page Six’s requests for comment, leaving the play-by-play of what happened between them on that stage to the people who were in the room.
Why the Hostage Line Mattered
On a show built around treachery, accusations, and theatrical language, “hostage” could have easily blended into the background of dramatic gameplay. But Rinna’s reaction at the reunion and her later choice of the word “stalker” to describe Underwood turned one throwaway line into a flashpoint.
Within the context of “The Traitors,” Underwood’s “hostage” remark appeared to be strategic trash talk. The goal was to secure his place in the game by locking in Rinna’s support. Yet outside the castle, words like hostage and stalker carry heavy real-world implications, especially when aimed at someone who has already lived through a very public legal ordeal tied to those themes.
Rinna, known from “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” as someone who wields language like a weapon and a punchline at the same time, did what she has always done on camera. She called out the line, pushed his buttons, and left room for viewers to interpret whether she was playing the game, sending a message, or both.
It is that overlap between reality TV performance and real history that has given this reunion moment so much oxygen online. Fans are not simply debating who played the better game. They are weighing how much of someone’s past is fair game when cameras are rolling.
Colton’s Past and Public Image
The reason Rinna’s “stalker” comment reverberated so strongly is that Underwood has already been publicly linked to that word. In 2020, his former girlfriend and “Bachelor” winner, Cassie Randolph, sought and obtained a temporary restraining order against him.
According to People, Randolph’s filing accused Underwood of unwanted visits to her home and alleged that he placed a tracking device on her car. The outlet reported that Randolph later asked the court to dismiss the restraining order after she and Underwood reached a private agreement, which ended the legal case.
In the time since, Underwood has repeatedly tried to reshape his public image. He came out as gay in a high-profile interview, participated in a Netflix reality series about his life, and has spoken about struggling with his identity, mental health, and how his behavior affected others.
Reflecting on that chapter, he has publicly expressed regret. As quoted in coverage of his introduction to a new audience, he said, “I wish that I would’ve been courageous enough to fix myself before breaking anyone else.” Statements like that are part apology, part explanation, and part rebranding effort for a man who went from football player to Bachelor frontman to lightning rod.
For viewers who know this backstory, Rinna’s decision to press him at the “Traitors” reunion did not exist in a vacuum. Her questions about “hostage” and her use of “stalker” landed against a backdrop where Underwood has been trying to move past one of the most difficult periods of his public life.
Rinna, Peacock, and the Backlash
Once clips of Rinna’s “stalker” jab began circulating on social media, the conversation quickly jumped from game strategy to morality plays. Some fans applauded her for refusing to soften her language with someone who has faced serious accusations. Others felt she hit below the belt by invoking a painful chapter that had already been addressed legally and publicly.
Lisa Rinna confronts ‘stalker’ Colton Underwood over ‘hostage’ comment during ‘Traitors’ reunion https://t.co/g3FMe5ULfu pic.twitter.com/XVcmQXL1G6
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 15, 2026
Rinna then added another layer. After the moment went viral, Page Six reports that she used her Instagram Story to urge viewers to pull back. She explained that she had been playing in “Housewife mode” and asked fans to “be gentle” with their online commentary, effectively acknowledging that her words might be inflaming passions beyond what she intended.
Her plea was specific. “Do not send death threats or do anything to jeopardize somebody’s family,” she told followers. It was a striking pivot from sharp on-camera confrontation to off-camera damage control, an acknowledgment of how quickly reality TV conflicts can fuel hostile behavior against real people.
Peacock also stepped into the conversation. The streamer issued a statement condemning “cyberbullying” and “personal attacks” aimed at cast members, making it clear that the network wants the intense fandom surrounding “The Traitors” to stop short of harassment.
For Rinna, the episode underscores the tightrope she has walked for years. Her brand is built on fearless confrontation, barbed asides, and lines that get replayed in GIFs and taglines. At the same time, she is savvy enough to know that comments made in a castle set in Scotland can spark very real consequences in Los Angeles, Denver, or anywhere else her castmates call home.
For Underwood, the reunion moment is another reminder that his previous controversies are not easily left behind. Every new show, every new role, arrives with the history he carries, and every charged word on a reality soundstage can reopen a story he has spent years working to reframe.
Between them sits “The Traitors” itself, a series built on deception, paranoia, and high drama that now finds its most explosive twist happening off the main season and in the echo chamber of a reunion. The game is over, the castle lights are off, yet the reputational stakes for both Lisa Rinna and Colton Underwood are still very much in play.
Join the Discussion
Do you think reality stars should be able to call out each other’s pasts on camera, or should certain real-world chapters stay off limits when the game is on?
