The Comeback’s Traitors Scene Was Inspired By Linda’s Ill-Fated Stint

This article contains spoilers for the latest season of The Comeback.

It turns out Lisa Kudrow found inspiration in some unlikely places while putting together the third and final season of her Emmy-nominated comedy The Comeback.

While promoting the latest iteration of The Comeback, Lisa previously disclosed that one episode would see her character taking part in a fictitious series of The Traitors US, alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Trixie Mattel.

During the latest episode, this scene finally aired, with Valerie struggling every bit as much to hide the fact she was a Traitor as you might expect.

However, during an interview on Traitors UK host Claudia Winkleman’s talk show before this episode aired, Lisa disclosed that watching Linda on the infamous third season of the British reality show had given her the idea for how Valerie’s stint in the castle would pan out.

“Linda was the person who, when I said, ‘Traitors you’ll meet each other later’, looked at me and nodded,” Claudia reminded viewers, before asking Lisa: “There was a bit of Linda in [your performance], wasn’t there?”

“A bit?!” the Friends alum responded. “Oh my god! Yeah, we had Valerie going, ‘oh I can tell you 100% he’s a Faithful’, ‘how do you know?’, ‘just… I have a feeling’.”

Claudia then surprised Lisa with a visit from the woman herself, with Linda admitting it was “absolutely crazy” to have inspired a scene in The Comeback.

“On our show, she was voted out that night,” Lisa pointed out. “What was wrong with your group?! They took a very long time!”

Watch the moment for yourself in the video below:

The third season of The Comeback comes more than a decade after the second instalment.

In the years since, viewers have so far seen Valerie trying her hand at playing Roxie Hart on Broadway and half-heartedly taking part in the 2023 Hollywood strikes, while future episodes will see her grappling with the surge of AI in the entertainment industry and promoting a project on Hot Ones.