How being Minnesotan shaped Carolyn Wiger’s time on ‘The Traitors,’ ‘Survivor’

All eyes were on Carolyn Wiger when she was picked to be one of the first traitors on Peacock’s newest season of “The Traitors.”  

Wiger stood out as a Midwesterner among a crowd of reality TV stars from the coasts. She’s lived in Minnesota her whole life and currently resides northeast of the Twin Cities in Hugo. She grew up playing hockey and she loves fishing on the lakes and gardening during the spring and summer. 

She competed in season 44 of CBS’s “Survivor,” which aired in 2023, where she finished in third place. She became a fan favorite because she competed using her emotions and held strong alliances in a game that is typically built on strategy and betrayal.  

Like “Survivor,” “The Traitors” tests contestants’ trust and deception in a game where they vote each other out. Wiger, who said she was addicted to drugs and alcohol before getting sober and becoming a drug counselor, said her experience helped her read people, which got her to episode nine in “The Traitors.” 

Wiger has gained national attention for her exuberant, outspoken personality on “The Traitors,” so MPR News sat down with her to talk about representing Minnesota on the international stage. She said that while she’s heartbroken she didn’t win, she’s grateful for the experience — even if the weather in Scotland was almost as difficult as in Minnesota. 

The following is an edited version of our conversation at the American Swedish Institute’s Turnblad Mansion, chosen for its resemblance to Ardross Castle from “The Traitors.” Watch the embedded video to hear the full conversation. 

You live in Minnesota, just outside the Twin Cities in Hugo. Did you grow up here? How long have you been in Minnesota? 

My whole life. It, It’s beautiful here. The weather — I’m not going to lie — I did used to complain a lot about the weather, and I still do.  

I told myself in Scotland, I’m never going to complain about the weather here again, because once spring hits, even spring and spring to summer, my favorite seasons and I love just like the smell of the melting snow, when the soil is starting to get soft again, and I can start, you know, planting my tomatoes. 

I always say, like, “I’m leaving!” But it’s like, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Truly, I can’t.

Has that been what kept you here, just kind of like, or is it family?  

My son, my family 100 percent. It’s cool growing up here, you know, I played hockey growing up. My son plays hockey. It’s fishing in the summer, all of that. So I love going out on the lakes, taking him fishing, all like the traditional Minnesota things.

Does being a Minnesotan help in some ways or hurt when you’re in these reality TV settings?

I just feel like, I mean truly, a fish out of water. Is that the saying?

Not everybody lives in LA or New York who does these shows. But yes, for the most part, it’s a different way of life. The people are just so used to being in front of the camera, and so, like, they have their persona or their character, especially with “Traitors.” And so I really had to prepare myself for that.

But being from Minnesota, I mean, I don’t think anyone had even visited Minnesota, who I was with. And so another person on the cast, Britney Haynes, she’s [from] Oklahoma, so like, we were both the moms where it’s like, OK, we cannot relate to a lot of these lifestyles.

Like, I’m not going to Paris on the weekends. It’s just like, such a different lifestyle. I don't live like that.

How was that experience going from ‘Survivor,’ where no one was on TV before, except Jeff Probst, to ‘The Traitors’ where everyone had been in TV in some form?

I’m just so myself, and, like, I don’t put on, like, an act or a character, or I’m not, like, playing it up for the camera or anything like that.

And so it was really hard to like, I had to mentally prepare myself. Like, Carolyn, OK, there’s going to be a lot of different personalities here, and some of them might bother you.

Before ‘Survivor’ and ‘The Traitors,’ you were an alcohol and drug counselor and a life coach. How did those experiences professionally make their way into your game?

I don’t want to give you like the stereotypical like, “I can read people really well.” I would say just like life experience in general, I do have this like intuition. I believe, with people, I have a good like — can we swear on this thing?

I’m editing. So, yes.

I have a good shit detector! I really do think that's just like, from experiences in my life, getting older. It's like there’s a radar that just goes off when something is just “OK, you’re lying to me.” I mean, I worked in the jails, I’m in recovery myself.

I just have a good radar when it comes to people, when it comes to just honesty and just reading people.

You’re known for being unapologetically yourself. You’re exuberant, and that’s maybe not the most Minnesotan quality. How did you become so confident and outspoken?

I wouldn’t have ever known that anything was wrong with me until people started pointing it out, like, “why do you talk this way?” Or “why do you make that face?” Or “did you have a stroke?”

I’ve read enough stuff that says I’m on crack or my brain’s fried from drugs. I don’t care. Like, I expect it. If I were to, like, focus only on the negative, and I’d just be crying. I don’t read it, I don’t soak myself in that.

So many people just pointing out things that were wrong with me and things and then, OK, going through the period of like, “I’m gonna try to change these things, to be more liked.” That’s exhausting.

Even growing up in an elementary school, it was, “you’re too hyper, you’re too this.” Then pretty soon I’m addicted to drugs, alcohol. Once I got sober, it was like, I didn’t even know who I was, because it was like, “is my personality like this from drugs, or is this the drug like, who am I?”

So I went through this whole period of just self-discovery. I did so much therapy. I was in treatment, and I just truly looked at myself. What made me happy? I was able to just fully examine all of like, my flaws, all of the things that I didn’t like, all the things that I did like.

And I just said, to hell with everyone, like, I want to be happy. I want to be OK with me. And I know that trying to appease other people, like, none of that works!

I’ve heard that I give bad first impressions. truly, if people don’t know me, I do. I think I kind of like rub people the wrong way sometimes. I’m just very blunt. I don’t have a cute voice. I’m this way because I’ve been every other way and it hasn't worked.

That’s beautiful, but I understand the frustration.

It’s just like, not worth it. And I just truly believe it’s like the people that are supposed to be in our lives, it’s like, we should be able to be our 100 percent true selves. I freak people out. I know I do. 

And it’s like, truly, if you’re supposed to be in my life, you’ll be in my life, if not, bye! I just don’t have the energy for it. 

On ‘Survivor’ and on ‘The Traitors,’ as you said, you were underestimated, but you had these deep runs in both shows. Final three [on “Survivor”] and so far in ‘The Traitors.’ Do you think if you do another show, would people underestimate you as much? 

They’re gonna be kind of on to me at this point. So it’s like, what do I do now? Oh, God, I have no idea. Like, here I am again, making goofy faces. Like I can’t just keep doing that.  

So I have no idea. I haven’t even thought about it. 

I was hard on myself about, like, do I need to take speech classes or what? Because I don’t articulate well, but I speak from the heart, and that’s me and if I changed, it wouldn’t be me, so then I probably wouldn’t even be cast on a show.  

So I can’t be some articulate speaker. It is what it is. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, both times it hasn’t. 

You made it farther than most though!  

After “Traitors,” I was heartbroken because I really saw myself winning.  

I saw like, my paths at the end. I was heartbroken, and I just put so much pressure on myself. I was really hard on myself.  

Oh, it takes me a few weeks, and then I get over it, or a week, or whatever. And then, of course, you watch it back, and it’s just the whole thing all over again. If I just am, you know, a zero-vote finalist and banished at episode nine, whatever. I had a good run. 

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