The battle between the faithfuls and the traitors is in full swing on The Traitors, as another season of one of Peacock’s best series is currently airing on the 2026 TV schedule. However, as the residents of Alan Cumming’s castle attempt to weed out the murderous members, there’s another story brewing regarding the celebrities’ eating habits. After Michael Rapaport spoke out about his viral eating and drinking, Kristen Kish defended herself for her own actions.
For those unfamiliar with The Traitors Season 4 cast member Kristen Kish, she is a Top Chef winner who went on to succeed Padma Lakshmi as the new host of the Bravo competition. So, when fans took issue with the way she buttered her bread — using the opposite side of the serrated knife she’d just cut her bread with — the chef spoke out vehemently on Instagram in her own defense:
Listen, I feel judged, and I feel unfairly judged, in fact, because a couple things: You’re telling me you have never spread butter with anything but a butter knife? You’re bullshitting me.
OK, I admit that I clocked the way Kristen Kish was buttering her bread when I first watched the episode with my Peacock subscription, but I figured I was the odd man out for not thinking to do this. I mean, who the hell am I to question this culinary genius on anything food-prep related?
Kristen Kish went on to absolutely school her critics, because what I would have called a “butter knife” is actually just a regular dinner knife, and as proof, she showed off the butter knife tattooed prominently on her arm. So yeah, I would say she’s familiar with the utensil. She continued:
Second point is people are like, ‘She’s got a butter knife on the side of her plate.’ That’s not a butter knife. That was my entrée knife, if you want to get technical, and that had already cut very dry chicken that I was eating in my mouth. So you want me to use that knife to then put in the communal butter? I think I’d get roasted probably more for that.
OK, subtle shade with the “very dry chicken” comment, but I think we can all agree that effectively double-dipping into the butter would have been way worse than using the back of a knife to spread it, right? No arguments here. Please continue, chef:
Lastly, if you’re not efficient in the kitchen, what are you doing? You cut the bread, flip it over, and spread the cold butter. That’s just what happened, I don’t understand what the big deal is. I really don’t.
Why use two knives when one will do? If we’ve been doing more dishes than necessary, it’s not Kristen Kish’s fault. Say what you will, but I’ll defend anybody over their eating habits after having to watch Michael Rapaport literally shovel food into his mouth.
Tune in to see who becomes meme fodder next (and who gets the coveted salmon at breakfast), with new episodes of The Traitors dropping at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on Peacock.
