How Ron Funches Underestimated the Fury of the Housewives: "All Her Friends Hated Me"
The comedian and latest Traitors Roundtable victim explains his tough time making up for his Porsha mistake.
SPOILER WARNING: This story reveals major plot points from Episodes 1-6 of The Traitors Season 4.
In life, we all know making mistakes is human, but you can't tell that to contestants on Peacock's The Traitors.
If you incorrectly whip up votes for a Roundtable elimination or screw up a challenge, there will be a target on your back. Comedian Ron Funches learned that the hard way this season as his seemingly solid Roundtable evidence in Episode 2 that The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Porsha Williams was a Traitor did not pan out as he expected.
Instead, he earned the ire of Housewife alums Lisa Rinna, Candiace Dillard-Bassett, and Caroline Stanbury, as well as former Real Housewife of New York City's Dorinda Medley. And then became the focus of ousting by other players like Colton Underwood.
Already a self-professed introvert, Ron found himself a bit separated by the majority but really well-liked by a minority of like-minded players: Rob Rausch, Johnny Weir, and Tara Lipinski.
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Peacock Blog had an exclusive chat with Ron this week to review what he considers the highs and lows of his experience, underestimating the sway of the Housewives, and the friends he made along the way.
Peacock Blog: Did you want to be a Traitor or Faithful going in the game?
Ron Funches: Going into it, I was just excited. Any type of project that I wanna be involved with I just try to see if it will give me a new experience, or will take me to a new place, or allow me to work with people that I wanted to work with. And this accomplished all three. I had never been to Scotland before, and it’s so beautiful. To be part of that culture and see some of the local people as I was being shuttled around... I guess I didn’t see anybody because I was blindfolded most of the time. [Laughs]
And then getting to work with Alan Cumming. I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time. He’s such a great actor and such a great host. I myself want to host in the future on shows and have hosted some in the past. The ability to watch and learn from such a great host who shows such ownership and care for the show, as well as kindness towards me, I learned so much from him.
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But as far as my role, I really was just open to whatever they wanted me to do. I certainly felt more comfortable being a Faithful. But I kind of feel that maybe I would've been better as a Traitor. It would have forced me to be “on” more. It would have forced me to interact with people and be more social. As a Faithful, I am like, "be yourself," which is quiet and chill with these moments of like, 'That was really funny!' or 'That was smart.' I don't feel the need to fill dead air. I'm happy to be silent and being by myself, and I think that was taken as being suspicious and traitorous. If I had been a Traitor, I certainly would have been more outgoing.
You assume he’s more simple, and he’s not as smart, so I related to him very much as this deeper pool of people who just see certain things in [him] because he sounds Southern, and he’s super hot. But he’s more than that.”
We also saw that you have this great friendship with Rob. How did that develop? And were you surprised when you found that he was a Traitor?
Friendship, like anything with me, I like things to build natural and chill. I allow people to be themselves, and I observe a bit. The main things we hit it off, as you can see on the show, is over the game of chess. The chessboard was sitting there every day. I love playing chess. I’m not the best at it, but I love games of strategy. It makes me think a bit more. I’d ask around if anybody could play chess, and Rob was the only one who felt confident to say, “Yes, I can play chess.” And he sure could. He beat the crap out of me just about every day. I could see right away this man is smart. He’s a thinker.
Similarly to me, you hear his voice and you assume things. You assume he’s more simple, and he’s not as smart, so I related to him very much as this deeper pool of people who just see certain things in [him] because he sounds Southern, and he’s super hot. But he’s more than that. He’s a great, great person and good to his family and smart as a whip — as we’ve been seeing because nobody is on his tail yet.
Was that shocking to you?
Yes! Because I wasn’t on his tail either! [Laughs]
Were you close to anybody else on the show aside from Rob? Anybody that you felt like you would like to attach to getting towards the end of the game?
A couple people for sure. I’d say Kristen Kish, who I knew from before the show. I’ve always been a fan of her work. I’m always a big fan of hardworking people. Whenever I run into her, I tell her, ‘I know I must have picked a good project because you are a smart person doing smart things.’
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And then Tara [Lipinski]. She went back-and-forth about whether she thought I was a Traitor but she always was so kind and so sweet to me. We had this moment in the cabin when she was so scared, and I just held her hand. It sent me into this dad mode, and I said, "I’ve got to protect this girl." She’s one of the people I’m still very close with outside of the show. But most of the people I think I’d get along with, they died in the first two days! [Laughs]
How do you feel now about making a bold move early against Porsha Williams? Would you still have played it that way at the first Roundtable or would you have maybe held back?
The only thing I would have done differently is present both sides of the argument. From that argument, we knew that either Porsha or Candiace was a liar. I think I focused so much on Porsha and her misspeaking, and the way that she defended herself, which seemed flustered and like she was lying to me, it only allowed me to focus on her. But if we had just taken a moment to say, “One of these two is lying, so one of these two are a Traitor,” then I think my gameplay would have been a little bitter better.
Also, she was so popular! I didn’t know how popular she was so when I voted her out, all her friends hated me. But I wouldn’t change anything because I’m a big believer in life and the game: If you see something, say something. That was the game. I saw something and other people around me saw it and confirmed it. And then we saw multiple things so I had to say something. I was wrong, and I certainly regretted it for the next day or two, but then I got over it because it’s a game.
We talked about Rob, but with Lisa and Candiace, did you feel any Traitor ripples coming off of them?
Absolutely. On my last Banishment, I did vote for Lisa. People ask me now, "Why didn’t you vote for Colton and get him out?" I was like, "I thought Lisa was a Traitor, and I think that’s the game. Get rid of Traitors." I’m not getting rid of people who want to get rid of me. I’m getting rid of people I think are the Traitors. There were inconsistencies in the way that she spoke and how fearful she says she was about being chained to that tree. I know her background and I know she’s from Medford, Oregon. I’m like, 'Girl, you’ve been tied to a tree before. Don’t act like this is first-time.' [Laughs] So, I thought she was a Traitor, for sure. And I had some inklings before that.
A lot of times, when I am putting out who I thought was a Traitor, it was people being like, “You tell us what you think!” and I didn’t have it yet! But if you’re going to force me, I’d say it and then they’d get mad at me! I can’t win for losing here.
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But Candiace, the only inkling I had about her was that every outfit she wore reminded me of someone who's dressing to be a super villain. I was clocking that. I was like, ‘Oh you’re a stewardess today. You’re something else tomorrow….”
Your individual goodbyes to everybody changed some hearts. Did that come to you in the moment or was that planned?
I had a couple of plans. One of my plans was just come in and do the scene from Half Baked. [Laughs] But overall, I knew I didn't wanna argue or go back-and-forth. I was done with that. I wanted to show appreciation and gratitude for the things that I did enjoy. And to show my heart. Like said, "If you really think I'm a Traitor, put my name down. But if you don't like me, don't put my name down. Put it down because you truly think I’m a Traitor."
I’m happy to stand on my own on that. It’s one of the things I’ve gotten so much great feedback from people online, my own family and people on the street who are like, “As an introvert myself, as a person with anxiety or as a neurodivergent myself, to see you stand up for you and not bend to other people because of how they want you to act was inspiring.” And that makes me so proud.
Did it feel good to call out Colton's mistakes and point out his own hypocrisy?
You know it felt good, girl! You know you watched his little lips pucker back in like he wanted to say something, but his mind is telling him, “You better stop!” It was beautiful because you run into that in the workplace all the time. There’s always that person who is so confident and aggressive about things. Maybe sometimes they are right, but they go about it the wrong way. I may take things too literally, but if I'm Faithful, I’m a Faithful. I would never go to a Traitor and try to team up with them.
News episodes of The Traitors Season 4 air Thursdays exclusively on Peacock.
