Expert Reveals the 1 Mistake Donna Kelce Made That Led to Her Early Exit on ‘The Traitors’
The NFL’s most famous mother, Donna Kelce, was cast on the new season of The Traitors.
Season 4 of the show, which premiered Jan. 8 on Peacock, featured Donna and 22 other celebrities battling it out for a prize of $250,000. However, Jason and Travis Kelce‘s mom was sent home in episode 3, and now an expert is sharing the big mistake Donna made that led to her early exit.
Expert points out Donna Kelce’s major mistake on the show
Darren Stanton is a body language and behavioral expert with a degree in psychology. He previously worked as a police officer and used his expertise to uncover the truth when interviewing hundreds of suspects. Stanton later moved into media and TV as a consultant and earned the title “Human Lie Detector.”
Speaking on behalf of Covers, Stanton told Showbiz Cheat Sheet, “With Donna Kelce, I think the problem was that she walked in already carrying a certain impression. She came across as too starstruck and too agreeable, almost to a fault. There was a real ‘rabbit in the headlights’ quality to her — very polished, very polite, very eager — but it also seemed like she wasn’t being fully herself. Instead of coming across as natural, it started to feel a bit performative.”
The expert continued, “When someone is that relentlessly pleasant, it can actually work against them. People instinctively start wondering whether they’re seeing the real person or a carefully managed version, especially on a show like The Traitors. She felt overly cautious about saying the wrong thing, while also seeming overly impressed by everyone around her, and that combination made it hard to connect with her in a grounded way.
“That gap between what we expect as normal baseline behaviour and what she was giving is where she undermined herself. She didn’t do anything obviously wrong — there were no clear non-verbal red flags or physical tells. It was subtler than that. The issue was mostly verbal: what she said sounded overly curated, almost rehearsed. It wasn’t her body language that raised eyebrows, but how carefully packaged her words were.”
Her son Travis’ fame may have also been a contributing factor to Donna’s exit
Stanton added that the Kelce family’s fame at the moment may have also had something to do with Donna getting knocked out of the competition early.
He explained, “Beneath the surface, I sense she might have felt a little out of her depth. When speaking about watching the show with her son, Jason, during the first episode, she raises both hands and clenches them into fists, which is revealing. From a non-verbal perspective, this is significant. Open, honest, and authentic communication is typically accompanied by open palm gestures. Here, however, the clenched fists suggest something more guarded. She knows a lot of attention will be on her because of her son’s fame and likely doesn’t want to say the wrong thing.
“This is reinforced by her comments about how, as sons grow up, they develop their own families and lives. Altogether, this suggests she may be experiencing some challenges in adjusting to a new role — no longer at the center of her sons’ lives while also being in a high-profile environment she didn’t necessarily choose.”
In conclusion, Stanton believes that “Donna may have been feeling slightly out of the loop amid the intense public attention surrounding both sons, particularly Travis. This project, then, might have been less about the content itself and more about creating a space for herself where she feels more comfortable in the celebrity world. Still, it’s clear that Donna is adjusting to this unfamiliar and highly public setting. This could also help explain her reserved and notably polite demeanor during her brief time on the show.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges that conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
