Spoilers for season four of The Traitors
The fourth season of The Traitors wrapped up last week with Rob Rausch beating Maura Higgins. In The Traitors, there are 20-something contestants, but only three or four of them are secretly selected in the first episode to be Traitors. The remaining contestants are called the Faithfuls. There are usually two eliminations per episode: whoever the group decides to “banish” (vote out) for being a suspected Traitor and a Faithful that the Traitors decide to “murder.” If a Traitor makes it to the end without being identified, then they win all of the prize money. If the last contestants standing are Faithfuls, then they split the pot evenly.
Rob had been a Traitor since the very first episode and masterfully convinced Maura that he was a Faithful that she should take to the end. When he revealed in the final moments that he was actually a Traitor, Maura was absolutely stunned because she’d just gone from believing she was going to win roughly $100K to realizing that she’d be going home empty-handed. During the reunion show that aired post-finale, Rob promised to buy Maura a Birkin Bag to make it up to her. Since then, fans have been on Birkin Watch. Well, the watch is over! During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Rob presented Maura with the very burgundy Hermès Togo with gold accents that she’d requested.
“See this is my win,” Maura exclaimed. “I knew I’d have my moment.”
And when Andy asked if there was a chance that Maura wouldn’t like the bag Rob chose, the Love Island: UK alum confirmed, “No, he knows what bag I want.”
Rob then presented Maura with a burgundy Hermès Togo Birkin 30 with gold hardware, which estimates at a whopping $16,000.
As Rob presented the gift to Maura—his white gloves on—he affirmed that she’s the first person to hold the bag, noting, “Only the owner’s supposed to touch it first.”
Holding her prize, Maura posed with the bag before jumping up to hug Rob and shouted, “You’re forgiven.”
But the pair also made sure to give credit where credit is due: Rob’s fellow Traitor Lisa Rinna helped him secure the bag, which he purchased from New York City’s luxury boutique Madison Avenue Couture. “So Lisa,” Maura said, “thank you very much for this.”
Offering one more take about her bag, Maura said, “I love her. She’s beautiful.”
As for believing that Rob is a man of his word after his shady game play? Maura had the last laugh.
“Everyone laughed at me for that,” she said. “And I was like ‘We’re not in a game anymore.”
Maura’s gift came just one week after Rob made the public declaration that he would purchase her Birkin with a portion of his $220,800 prize money.
Noting he’d “probably save it for the future,” during the season’s reunion, Rob did tease of his winnings at the time, “And I have to buy Maura a Birkin Bag.”
And when it came time to finally purchase the luxury bag, Rob employed the help of his friend Jake Shane.
In a March 4 Instagram Reel, Rob and the Therapuss podcast host were presented with the box containing the bag. Remaining humble, Rob expressed his gratitude to the sales associate for her help.
“I’m very, very grateful,” he said. “And I hope she loves it, I think she will.”
Confirming that Rob was correct, Maura wrote in the comments, “All is forgiven. I think I won.”
I was so invested in Maura getting her Birkin, and got really excited when I saw that he’d followed through and bought it for her. I love that Lisa Rinna was the one who hooked him up with the connection at the Hermès reseller. It’s a really nice-looking bag. I would not turn down that gift, either. Maura chose wisely. $16,000 is a lot of freaking money for a purse, but it’s also a small price to pay when she could have turned on him and taken Rob’s fellow traitor Eric Nam to the end instead. Then he’d have been out of a whole lot more money! (During the reunion show, Eric also jokingly asked for a Rolex as a mea culpa for Rob betraying him, but there are no updates on whether that will actually happen.) As for Rob’s gameplay, besides murdering Rob Cesternino so early into the season, I have no issues with how he played. It was masterful and second only to Cirie Fields’ win in the first season.
Here’s the clip of Rob giving Maura the Birkin:
photos credit: The Hapa Blonde/Backgrid
THAT’S Maura from Love Island these days?? She looks completely different. A whole new face and body. Wow…
For me she’s Maura who a guy from a British boyband I used to listen to when I was a teen cheated on his wife with like last year. She basically ran away to the States and nobody talks about it anymore which is hilarious because the DM was all over it when it happened.
I’ve never watched this show and know nothing about these people but I will say that was a stupid thing to do financially. The amount won sounds like a lot but in this day and age, it’s not and to blow such a large chunk of it, on a purse for someone else, is so fiscally irresponsible. Good luck, I guess.
I doubt he actually paid for it. It’s a PR game, surely?
That’s a very nice Birkin, that color is a classic