“We are normies,” Leawood writer Sherry Kuehl tells her Instagram followers about her inclusion in the cast of NBC reality show “The Traitors: New Blood.”
Normies, in that no one on the 22-member cast of competitors this fall is a celebrity.
“We are people you wouldn’t probably look twice at in the grocery store. But I’d like to think you would look twice at me,” she said on a recent Instagram post to her nearly 250,000 followers there (plus another 150,000 on TikTok).
But then, how normal is it to have to sneak off to the Scottish Highlands to live among strangers while following the instructions of extravagantly dressed actor-filmmaker Alan Cumming?
And what about the psychological trauma of the endless skullduggery and betrayals amongst the cast members, all in pursuit of a $250,000 prize?
Can normie status be maintained after that?
Kuehl known as “Snarky in the Suburbs”
In fact, it’s been a distinctly abnormal year for Kuehl, who podcasts and writes books about the trials of suburban life under the handle “Snarky in the Suburbs.” She describes herself as “middle-aged, uncool and not bringing sexy back.”
Some of her commenters have compared her to Dear Abby and Erma Bombeck. To her Instagram followers, she doles out advice to readers with problems like “Spoiled Adult Child Alert!” and “Behold the Horror of My ‘Man Baby’ Husband!”
She made the cut for “Traitors” from more than 80,000 applicants.
According to NBC’s recap of the first four episodes, she still survives. The fifth episode is scheduled to air this Thursday. Previous ones are available on Peacock.
“Traitors”’ premise is that a Scottish laird, played by Cumming, invites a set of contestants to his castle in the highlands. Some are designated as secretly “traitors” who figuratively murder the other contestants. The non-traitors, known as “faithful,” are meanwhile working together to figure out who the traitors are.
That’s the basics. But like other reality game shows, there are all kinds of side quests, shields and missions to muddy the waters.
Former journalist and editor
Since interview requests had to be cleared through the network, Kuehl was not immediately available to talk about her experiences on the show, but she’s promoted it on social media.
Kuehl has been a television journalist and was formerly editor of Kansas City’s 435 Magazine but is best known for her “Snarky” humor posts and podcasts.
She’s also written five self-published books. One of them, “Killer Dance Mom,” is a murder mystery.
According to her bio on the NBC show website, Kuehl referenced her experience observing people as a journalist in explaining her game strategy.
“I’m used to listening to what people have to say and then drawing conclusions from that. I think one of the best things I have going for me is that I’m an excellent listener. I learned a long time ago, you learn more from listening than talking,” she wrote.
“You need to know how to work a room, but yet nobody knows you’re working the room. You have to remember what you hear, but you also have to think about what people aren’t saying — which is just as important as what they are saying. Sometimes more.”
On Instagram she says, “It’s going to be in my obit that I was on Traitors.”
