Cam Merchant first won hearts on Married At First Sight in 2019, as sparks flew when the former professional cricketer was matched with Jules Robinson.
The lovable couple became one of the experiment’s biggest success stories, legally marrying in November 2019 before welcoming sons Oliver in 2020 and Carter in 2024.
However, Cam’s The Traitors Australia experience proved to be far less fruitful. The reality TV favourite was dramatically eliminated just 18 minutes into the premiere when Olympian Shane Gould was forced to send someone home.
“I don’t think anyone thought just how brutal that could be, to just roll up excited for the game and then just be sent home. I was in disbelief,” Cam told Woman’s Day.
“At the same time, I guess I built my life around how silver linings happen,” he said. “Straight away, my mind went to: it’s my son’s birthday. At the time, I was missing it, and I’ll be home for his birthday. That’s how that played out for me.”
Of course, Cam didn’t actually get to go home. In a surprise twist, the 42-year-old MAFS star reveals that he only had to wait “five minutes” before producers told him he’d be brought back. He was later given a second chance to enter the game — only to be sent packing again by his co-stars on Tuesday night’s episode.
Months on from filming, Cam still believes that what unfolded was deeply unfair. “Yes, it’s a game. I get that. But I haven’t been able to come back in, they haven’t let me [play],” he said.
“We’ve all made the same sacrifices. We’ve all made the same time to get here… They put their values or their selfish characteristics ahead of that and made the decision they did — that was probably the most upsetting thing for me.”
Cam reveals his wife Jules’ reaction to The Traitors snub
Cam’s wife, Jules, ain’t happy with what played out. “She was quite furious, to be honest. She was like, I can’t believe it,” he told Woman’s Day.
“I was away for seven days — it was a full week with no contact. Then to go, hang on, you didn’t even get into the game? That doesn’t make sense.”
Cam admitted that Jules was especially angry at Survivor’s Henry Nicholson, the contestant who spearheaded the decision to block Cam’s return. “Very similar to me, she just saw that contestants in there had a very different moral compass and values compared to what I did.”
On her Instagram Stories, Jules labelled Henry and the gang as a ‘selfish bunch of pr**ks’, admitting she was ‘infuriated’ over their decision. “Where’s your humankind, mankind, moral compass in that moment?” she vented. “It makes no sense.”
Cam told Woman’s Day he thinks Jules would have performed better on The Traitors. “I think Jules would do better than I would, to be honest. Like, she’s got a proper game face,” he joked.
No love lost between Cam and Australian Survivor’s Henry
Cam still doesn’t quite understand why Henry Nicholson ‘swayed the group’ to refuse his return. “It’s the way Henry got on his ego horse,” Cam said. “He couldn’t even look me in the eye.”
Despite Henry telling Cam in the moment that he would discuss his reasoning at a later date, the ex-cricketer admits this never happened. “He actually didn’t,” Cam revealed.
“I told him my thoughts, and he still couldn’t really [explain it]… Now that I look back and actually see that episode, I’m left thinking, this still doesn’t make sense to me, and I don’t think it made sense to the whole country.”
That said, Cam is not holding any grudges against Henry. “That’s useless energy for me,” he admits. “He’s a really lovely fella. He’s a school teacher. I found out a lot about him. Everything he’s got going on in his life, I fully support, and he’s a good guy.”
Cam shares The Traitors cast who have reached out
Henry may have refused Cam’s reentry into the game, but the twins, Luke and Josh Packham, were firm supporters of Cam, with Josh even brought to tears in the episode.
“The twins were on the same wavelength. I saw it in his eyes when they walked away. They were like, ‘Man, so sorry.’ I’m like, ‘Mate, it’s okay. I get it.’ That’s the thing I align with,” Cam said.
A number of Traitors contestants have checked in on Cam. “The contestants that reached out were Rachel [Evren], the twins, Tully [Smyth]. She sent me a beautiful message during the day. And Rob [Farnham], you can see he’s an empath, as well. He was like, ‘Mate, I’m really sorry.'”
Cam isn’t just the reality TV ‘nice guy’
Ultimately, Cam being known as a ‘nice guy’ on reality TV was his undoing. The dad was hoping to show more facets of his personality on The Traitors — and he’s not just the nice guy.
“There is so much more to me. Look, those are my values — what you see is what you do get. But there’s a lot more that I stand up for,” he said.
“Reality television is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s The Traitors, MAFS, Bachelor — it is always a mirror to the contestant as a reflection piece to see themselves, and then for them to ask themselves really clearly: with my behaviour that I’ve just witnessed, do I accept that? Is that acceptable? Is that something I’m proud of?”
Cam is set to open up more about how he lives his life with focus and purpose in his upcoming book Clarity, which is coming out on August 26, 2026.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
