Trishelle Cannatella of The Traitors explains why she left the challenge and returned to reality ten years later

The reality star tells PEOPLE that she chose to join “The Traitors” because “that is the ideal game for me.” She last featured on MTV’s “The Challenge” in 2013.

The Traitors have brought Trishelle Cannatella back into the picture.

With the exception of two All-Stars episodes in 2021, the previous Real World: Las Vegas celebrity has been dominating the Peacock competition, having taken a break from The Challenge for over a decade.

The Challenges had gotten physically too difficult for me at one time, Cannatella, 44, tells PEOPLE, explaining her decision to leave the MTV program. After I reached a plateau, I simply stopped being good. However, this [The Traitors] is a whole different story. I’m still capable of contributing to this game.

Cannatella’s decision to discontinue competing was also influenced by her fellow Challenge cast members.

She claims that because I failed to like the folks, I stopped caring. Although there are superior people on this show, the competition is primarily about mental and emotional toughness. And I’ve always believed that my mental and emotional toughness is unmatched. I therefore thought that this was the ideal sport for you because it allows me to just survive and thrive.

Cannatella wasn’t immediately comfortable with the opponents Chris “CT” Tamburello or Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, despite the fact that they had previously worked together on the second season of The Traitors.

She claims that nobody in the Mission house can be trusted. It’s not actually possible. Up to a certain point, you might have confidence in your alliance, but that’s it. Although I do believe that we can abandon the idea of “trust no one,” I also believe that this is a more laid-back place to meet people than The Challenge.

In actuality, traitors assisted her in mending her bond with Tamburello.

Cannatella acknowledges, “CT and I did our last show about 14 years ago, but I just did not enjoy him.” He is so different now. I thought to myself, “Oh my god, we’ve grown up!”

Cannatella describes Devenanzio, 41, or Tamburello, 43, as “my brothers” now.

In season 2, every Challenge veteran turned Faithful, with the Traitors taking Devenanzio’s life first. Although they have progressed further in the game, Cannatella and Tamburello’s names have been raised as potential traitors. Cannatella had a hand in Peppermint’s early elimination, which resulted to the 44-year-old RuPaul’s Drag Race veteran being exposed as a Faithful.

I didn’t have a strategy at all, but after watching every season, I realized that this one would be really different because there would be layperson opponents in addition to the reality people, Cannatella recalls, referencing season 1. I had hopes for something other than TV.

Cannatella believes that The Traitors & The Challenge are “night and day” different from one another.

Cannatella states, “The show is completely different.” “Wow, this is something I can get used to!”

Peacock airs fresh episodes of the television series The Traitors every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.