Rob Rausch Reveals Why He Made His Relationship Public: 'I Didn't Want Her to Feel Like She Was a Secret' (Exclusive)
Rob Rausch Reveals Why He Made His Relationship Public: 'I Didn't Want Her to Feel Like She Was a Secret' (Exclusive)
Brianne TracyThu, March 5, 2026 at 10:13 PM UTC
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Rob RauschCredit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty -
Rob Rausch is opening up about why he made his relationship public during the Traitors season 4 reunion on Feb. 26
While Rausch tells PEOPLE he "never wanted to say that I had a relationship," he also didn't want his girlfriend "to feel like she was a secret and that I wasn't proud of her"
Rausch describes his girlfriend as "a private person"
Rob Rausch is still adjusting to life in the public eye.
While speaking with PEOPLE about his Crown Royal partnership on Wednesday, March 4, the Traitors season 4 winner, 27, said he didn't intend on revealing to the world that he has a girlfriend during the reunion on Feb. 26, but he also didn't want it to seem like he was hiding anything.
"I mean, I really never wanted to say that I had a girlfriend," Rausch says. "But, I didn't want her to feel like she was a secret and that I wasn't proud of her. So, I decided, 'Yeah. You know what? I'm gonna say I have a girlfriend.' But I don't want people in our life, in our business... and she doesn't either. She's a private person."
While Rausch has kept many details of his relationship under lock and key, including his girlfriend's identity, he told Interview magazine recently that they met in a bookstore while he was shopping for a travel guide to Europe.
And despite his stints on reality shows like Love Island USA and Traitors, Rausch says he's naturally "very private."
"I don't tell people my business," he says. "That's a big reason why this is such an interesting job for me."
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Rob Rausch on 'The Traitors' season 4Credit: Euan Cherry/PEACOCK
Since season 4 of The Traitors began airing, Rausch has been everywhere (he recently made his Tonight Show debut), and he's even locked in a number of brand partnerships, including one with Crown Royal. "There's a lot of doors being opened," he says.
But, he's cautious to fully embrace public life.
"I am reluctant in this life," he says. "I was talking to my friend today about it, and it's just like, I don't want to look back and regret not moving with the momentum and making as much money as I possibly could for my future, my family's future. Then, on the other hand, it's like, where do you draw that line? Like, is it ever enough?"
"I don't want to get stuck into the cycle of success and money because I really truly believe those things will destroy you as a person and they'll corrupt you," he adds. "I don't want that. I really don't. I'm a very simple person, and it doesn't take a lot for me to really be happy. So I guess I'm just trying to navigate the best way to do that and capitalize on my success."
While he says he's yet to get his $220,800 prize money from his Traitors win, he's already invested in an apology gift for runner-up Maura Higgins — a burgundy Hermès Birkin — with full approval from his girlfriend.
"She said that Maura deserves it," he says. "So, she's supportive."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
