TV

The Traitors and The Challenge star Trishelle Cannatella wants to get an unconscious bias coach

The reality TV star reveals she's looking into educating herself "about things that have happened on the show."

By

Published on March 15, 2024 05:49PM EDT

Trishelle Cannatella is ready and willing to educate herself after a couple controversial moments throughout her long reality TV career.

The Challenge alum and recent winner of The Traitors season 2 was a guest on Watch What Happens Live on Thursday, and when host Andy Cohen asked her if Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Dorit Kemsley and Garcelle Beauvais will be able to move past their issues and become friends, Trishelle said that was "tough" to answer because Dorit has some "things she needs to work out on her own," just like herself.

Trishelle Cannatella on season 2 of 'The Traitors'.
Euan Cherry/Peacock

"For me, personally, I'm looking into going to unconscious bias coaching and doing classes," Trishelle said. Andy asked her if that was as a result of being on The Traitors, and she said yes. "About things that have happened on the show," she added. "I think Dorit can probably benefit from something like that, and if she did, then Garcelle would be completely receptive to it."

When Andy asked if there was unconscious bias training available, Trishelle clarified, "There's training, but I would like to get like an actual coach. I think that everybody can stand to work on themselves a little bit."

Dorit and Garcelle's issues came to head last season on RHOBH when Dorit, a white woman, accused Garcelle, a Black woman, of "attacking" her during a verbal fight. Garcelle believes that Dorit has a lot of unconscious bias and called her a "Karen."

Trishelle has had similarly racially insensitive moments throughout her career, first on The Challenge: Rivals 2 in 2013 when she got into a fight with fellow cast member Aneesa Ferreira, drunkenly yelling at Aneesa for being "Black and Jewish." The argument turned physical, and prompted Aneesa to yell at her, "You are the trash-elle you were, and you're always going to be trash." Trishelle then started yelling about Aneesa, "She's a stripper! She's a f---ing stripper!" Trishelle quit the show the next morning, forcing her partner, Sarah Rice, to be disqualified as well.

Trishelle apologized to Aneesa more 10 years later on The Challenge: All Stars in 2021. "I have felt bad about it since the day it happened ... and this was the first time I had seen her in person, so I thought it was a good opportunity to do it face-to-face," Trishelle told EW at the time. "I give all the credit to Aneesa because she didn't have to accept that apology and she made me feel comfortable coming forward and talking to her about it ... I want other people to see that and be like, 'You know what, maybe I said something, even if it was 10 years ago, that hurt someone's feelings and they deserve an apology.'"

While Trishelle recently won The Traitors with fellow Challenge alum CT Tamburello, she had another controversial moment earlier in the season when she caused RuPaul's Drag Race season 9 runner-up and trans rights activist Peppermint to be the first one eliminated, even though she was a Faithful. Since Trishelle led the charge against Peppermint due to a seemingly innocuous comment about fashion, many fans believed Trishelle was coming from a place of bias.

Speaking to EW recently, Trishelle revealed Peppermint's banishment was the only thing she regretted from the entire season. "I was just like, 'Every single person here is competition: Bananas, CT, everyone is competition,' and I failed to look at people for if they had a platform that they wanted to express and things like that," she said. "I just was in such game mode that I overlooked all that stuff, and then when Peppermint stood up and said that she was a Faithful, and not only she was a Faithful, she was talking about how she really wanted to bring awareness for the community, I was just like, 'Oh my God, I've made a massive mistake. This is such a great person. She deserves to be here and share her platform with the world, share herself, basically.' And so I do regret that."

Watch part of Trishelle's Watch What Happens Live appearance in the video below:

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: