Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir have made a big name for themselves as a duo in the popular reality show, Traitors. Was their casting a marketing tactic to bring a more diverse audience to Figure Skating as they commentate?
Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir have made a big name for themselves as a duo in the popular reality show, Traitors. Was their casting a marketing tactic to bring a more diverse audience to Figure Skating as they commentate?
Two retired Olympic figure skaters from my hometown, Philadelphia, have been a point of discussion for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Tara Lipinski, a 1998 Olympics Gold Medalist, and Johnny Weir, 2008 Olympics Bronze Medalist have been commentating for all the figure skating events in the Olympics for the last 12 years, immediately clicking when they met the first year.
Now they’re also competing in Peacock’s popular “The Traitors” TV show, where a group of reality stars are designated either a “faithful” or a “traitor.” It’s the faithfuls’ goal to filter out the traitors through round table banishments before they get “murdered” by them — kicked out of the Scottish castle, or the game ends. If any traitors are at the round table at the end of the game, they win.
The show coincidentally is airing at the same time as this year’s winter games. Or is it a coincidence?
NBCUniversal owns Peacock, where “The Traitors” is featured, and is also the streaming home of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Online, there’s much speculation that Lipinski and Weir were casted to star on “Traitors” as a marketing tactic to bring more viewership to the Winter Olympics.
As I’ve seen, there’s been an increased amount of discussion about the two stars, especially after they put on a facade during the show that they didn’t know each other coming into it, despite their decade long friendship.
The 2026 Olympics viewership has increased 93% since the 2022 Beijing Olympics in their first five days, according to Front Office Sports. Figure skating had eight events in this time period, likely contributing to a major portion of those viewings.
Recently, Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting at NBCUniversal Christine Cowan confirmed their Olympics presence was a factor for casting them as they’re great personalities for TV.
She didn’t mention whether it was specifically for marketing or viewership purposes, but it’d be truly brilliant if it was.
In the most recent episode of “The Traitors,” faithfuls Lipinski and Weir decided to reveal the truth about how close they really are, creating drama in the castle and increasing discourse among viewers.
The two are quite a dynamic duo.
“Tara and I have been through so much together,” Weir said in episode one. “We’ve gone through a divorce and infertility struggles.”
He really displays their tight bond and how they’ve been through it all, especially as he describes them as a “we” and not just saying he’s been there for her.
While they might not be playing the best game of “The Traitors” I’ve seen, they’ve become a point of entertainment in the show, meeting up to chat in private to hide their close friendship and then dramatically announcing it to everyone.
The funniest part is it actually worked. Many players in the castle suspected Weir to be a Traitor, but after their show of coming out as best friends rather than just distant coworkers, they really threw the castle off and voted to keep Weir in.
Having been commentating together since 2014, they’ve truly become inseparable, living life together and even sharing an Instagram account.
Many avid viewers of Olympic Figure Skating have watched Lipinski and Weir’s commentating for years, but “The Traitors” was a smart way to bring their name to a brand new audience.
Additionally, as the show only comes out once a week on Thursdays, there’s plenty of time for discussion about the recent episodes in between.
People who’ve fallen in love with Weir and Lipinski may want to see even more of them, and their commentary on the Olympic Figure Skating gives fans the perfect opportunity to do so in between episodes.
My social media feeds have been filled with videos of the duo commentating, participating on the show and skating when they were younger. I can only imagine how Weir and Lipinski have taken over other fans’ feeds..
As a fan of the show and now the duo, my attention has definitely been grabbed, and just like everyone else, I can’t get enough of them.
With the incredible figure skaters from Team USA making big names for themselves, including Amber Glenn and Ilia Malinin, there’s no doubt many new viewers have tuned into the Olympics this year.
It’s an added bonus to get to hear Lipinski and Weir’s opinions on it.
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