The second season of The Traitors has begun filming in Rajasthan, bringing together a fresh mix of contestants for the high-stakes psychological reality format. Hosted by Karan Johar, the show is based on the popular party game Mafia and adapted from the Dutch series De Verraders, which has spawned successful international versions across the UK, US and Australia.

Mumbai Mirror has learnt that the makers have curated a diverse line-up this season. Among the key names is Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, known for films like Jalebi, Chehre, Sonali Cable, Bank Chor. After appearing as a mentor on Roadies, she will now make her debut as a contestant on the show, marking a shift into competitive reality television and a new phase in her career.

Joining her are Parul Gulati, who has featured in projects like Girls Hostel and was last seen in Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 alongside Kapil Sharma, and veteran actor Dalip Tahil, known for films such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Baazigar, Raja, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke and Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. While Tahil has not participated in reality shows before, Gulati has previously appeared on Shark Tank India.

The first season of The Traitors featured a diverse mix of personalities from television, social media and entertainment, creating a volatile blend of strategy and drama. Contestants included Uorfi Javed, Nikita Luther, Raj Kundra, Anjali Arora, Jannat Zubair, Karan Kundrra, Harsh Gujral and Sudhanshu Pandey, among others. The mix of seasoned performers, influencers and wildcard players ensured constant shifts in alliances and suspicion, which became central to the show’s format.

Ultimately, Uorfi Javed and Nikita Luther emerged as winners, successfully navigating the game as “innocents” and outsmarting the traitors through a combination of instinct, strategy and timely alliances.

Apoorva Mukhija has known both spotlight and shadows intimately this year. Popularly known as the Rebel Kid, she carved a space for herself on the internet with bold content that mirrored the chaos of Gen Z life. But earlier this year, things spiralled out of control. A clip from India’s Got Latent went viral for all the wrong reasons, setting off a storm of hate, threats, and moral policing. And just like that, Mukhija went silent. Now, with her return on Amazon Prime Video’s The Traitors, she’s speaking but not to explain herself. In this exclusive conversation with mid-day, the social media star reflects on what it means to survive the internet’s ugliest side and why she was no longer trying to be understood. This is Apoorva 2.0, unbothered, but on her own terms.

Excerpts from the interview:

Apoorva 1.0 looked confident but doubted everything. I didn’t know how to take compliments. If someone said, “You’re smart” or “I love your content,” I’d assume they were being sarcastic. I had low self-esteem, even when things looked great on the outside. I’d read every comment, DM [direct message], roast and let it eat away at me. After everything that happened, I just stopped. Not because I stopped caring, but because I finally proved to myself that I can survive things. Now I trust myself more. I make content because I enjoy it. I’ve found the people who really matter to me. For the first time, I felt I didn’t need the internet to tell me who I am. I read this quote that said, “You accept the love you think you deserve” and I just never thought I deserved any. I realized I am not the comments I get on Instagram.

I am not going to say I meditated, did yoga, and reconnected with nature. I mostly just doom scrolled Instagram, watched everything being posted about me, and fought with God in my head. But after a few weeks of that chaos, something weird happened — I almost forgot about the internet. I started living the way normal people live, when their lives aren’t being consumed by [social media]. I took a few trips. I wasn’t vlogging or performing, I was just there. I realized I had completely lost touch with who I actually was. And during those offline weeks, I found her again.

I think we’ve forgotten that the internet was meant to be fun, for expression, and play. But now, everyone takes everything personally — like it’s their full-time job to hand out moral report cards. If someone doesn’t agree with you, it’s not just disagreement; it’s suddenly an attack. We’ve turned the internet into a courtroom, and somehow, women always get the worst verdict. If we cry, we’re playing the sympathy card. If we don’t, we’re cold. If we clap back, we’re toxic. If we stay quiet, we’re guilty. People say they want accountability, but what they really want is control, especially over women with opinions.

I didn’t come back because I wanted people to forgive me. I came back because I needed to forgive myself for saying something stupid, for getting caught in something so messy, for going through all of it and somehow still blaming myself for it. That’s what took time. It was about release, about letting go of the shame, the overthinking, and the what-ifs. The comeback wasn’t a statement to the world. It was a promise to myself: that I am allowed to grow, to move on, to not let one moment define the rest of me.

Some people just make for great villains, because all great villains are smart, sassy, and they stress everyone out. I don’t mind being edited as the villain. I know exactly who I am, and I am extremely confident in that. They can edit me however they want and that’s not in my control. What is in my control is showing up, being unmissable, undeniable, and playing the game while serving reality TV gold. That’s why I said yes to The Traitors. I wasn’t scared of being misunderstood. I was excited because it was unforgettable.

If you’re going through something good, enjoy it. But if you’re going through something horrible, that’s also okay. One day, it’ll make for a great story. The people with the most depth often come from the hardest chapters. I try to live my life like it’s a story I’ll tell when I am 80. Whenever I am unsure about what to do next, I ask myself — what would I do if I knew someone was listening to this story later? What decision would make it worth telling? If it ever feels like your story is heading toward a sad ending, just remember, it’s not over till you say it is.