Parvati Shallow Reveals How Her Time on ‘The Traitors’ Led to Her Coming Out

Paravati Shallow is a legend of reality TV, having first appeared on “Survivor: Cook Islands” in 2006. During her second “Survivor” appearance on 2008’s “Fans vs. Favorites,” Parvati became a millionaire when she was named the season’s “Sole Survivor.” Since then, “Survivor”s very own “Black Widow” has returned for an additional two runs on the show – on “Heroes vs. Villains” in 2010 and, most recently, “Winners at War” in 2020. 

In addition to her “Survivor” career, Shallow has also appeared on reality competition series like “Deal or No Deal Island” and “The Traitors” Season 2.

Shortly before she appeared on “The Traitors” in 2024, Shallow took to social media to publicly come out as queer. Now, the star has revealed that it was her time spent filming the murder-mystery competition series in Scotland that encouraged her to share her identity with the world. 

Shallow Credits ‘Traitors’ Production for Unearthing her Identity

To celebrate Pride Month 2025, Parvati Shallow appeared on “The Pride Has Spoken” podcast, a program in Rob Cesternino’s “Rob Has a Podcast” network dedicated specifically to interviewing LGBTQ+ “Survivor” alumni. Prior to Shallow’s appearance on the podcast on June 29, LGBTQ+ “Survivor” stars like Katurah Topps and Sabiyah Broderick, Teeny Chirichillo and Yam Yam Arocho also appeared on the program. 

In the recent interview, Parvati reacted to her viral 2023 New Year’s Eve coming-out post, as well as revealing that she felt encouraged to open up about her identity after competing on “The Traitors” Season 2, which aired two months later. 

“When I was on ‘Traitors,’ the show is about to air,” Shallow recalled. “They sent me, um, like a PR form for marketing and stuff. And they’re like, ‘Okay, well, tell us what your preferences are, so we organize your marketing and publicity for what fits you. And so they had a drop-down for LGBTQ+ and they said, ‘Are you? Are you an ally, or none of the above?’ And I was like, ‘I’m an ally.’ and Mae is like, ‘…No, you’re not.”

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In this case, Shallow is referring to comedian Mae Martin, whom she had been, at the time, dating since March 2023. Parvati’s most recent update on Mae came in a January 2025 interview with People, where the star revealed that their relationship was “in a flux situation.” Regardless, Shallow has heavily credited Martin with helping her come to terms with her sexuality. 

“Oh my god, it blew my mind,” she said. “I was like, ‘oh my god, I’m queer, exciting!’ And so then I just really went for it. I told everybody, and I’ve never put myself back in the box, and I never will.”

Shallow’s Identity Gives Her ‘More Manueverability’ in Future Competitions

Despite spending more than a decade on TV before coming out, Parvati similarly added that discovering her queerness has allowed her to compete in a way that is more authentic than ever before. 

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“It just gives me more maneuverability,” she continued. “There’s more ways to connect with people. I don’t know that it reduces my threat level in any way, but it does make people curious about me. They want to understand. So I think even though people know that I’m a threat and that I’m a dangerous player, they still want to get close to me because they want to figure me out. So I think adding in the layer of now I’m queer, people are like, ‘Wait, what? She wasn’t before, now she is?’ And it sort of boggles people’s minds. So they can’t wrap their head around me and contain me, and they can’t put me in a box. How do you fight a shadow? You can’t.”

Parvati Shallow will make her latest reality TV appearance on the cast of “Australian Survivor: Australia vs. The World” alongside “Survivor” legends Tony Vlachos and Cirie Fields later this year. In the meantime, Shallow’s debut memoir, “Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power,” is set to hit bookshelves nationwide on July 8.