Ask Jill Braithwaite what turning 50 has been like and she’ll say it’s been completely life-changing. With her youngest daughter having left for university and her relationship of more than 30 years just ended, receptionist Jill was determined to seize life by the horns and show her two girls how empowering independence could be.
As an avid fan of reality TV, applying to be on the third series of Three’s popular show The Traitors NZ was among her first bold moves.
“It was surreal and so exciting to find out I’d been cast because it was a dream come true!” she exclaims.
“I’ve always wanted to do reality TV, especially The Traitors. Watching it had been my form of escapism. Never in a million years did I think I’d be picked – I’m just a nobody, a mum with an ordinary job. I’m nothing extraordinary.”
Like all the contestants, Jill was committed to secrecy about being picked, but luckily filming coincided with the time she’d booked off work for a solo trip to a retreat in Thailand to celebrate her birthday.
“It was crazy because five days before flying to start filming, I’d moved house. It was the third time I’d moved after leaving our family home five months beforehand, so I almost didn’t end up taking up my place on The Traitors because everything felt so overwhelming.”
Manifesting her moment
But as she bade farewell to friends and colleagues who thought she was leaving for Thailand, she recalls feeling hugely conflicted, setting off instead to join the other contestants.
“People say they admire that I’m authentic,” laughs Jill, who grew up in the UK but emigrated to New Zealand in 2007 with her partner and daughters, Izzy, now 21, and Phoebe, 19. “So to have to lie about where I was going made me spiral and I ended up with a massive headache.
“I got permission to tell my girls, though, because I didn’t want to do anything that might embarrass them. My whole life had revolved around them, so when they left home, I felt I needed to prove to them I wasn’t going to crumble in a mess. They were so excited for me.”
Izzy and Phoebe were already used to seeing their mum on screen through her TikTok jillsreals.
“I started those because I knew applications would open at some point for another Traitors, and to stand a chance of getting on, I felt I’d need more than a two-minute audition video for them to see who I am.”
A game plane gone wrong
Arriving to film the show, Jill had a strategy in place.
“I decided I’d keep my head down and play the dumb card.”
But that was thrown out the window the moment host Madeleine Sami tapped her shoulder, turning her into a Traitor.
“It changed my whole game plan,” Jill explains.
“I never thought I would be a Traitor because that’s a main character – and that’s not the kind of person I am. “It was surreal, especially with all the other changes happening in my life. I constantly had imposter syndrome and my brain was spinning out.”
A whole new outlook
A self-confessed overthinker, Jill recalls struggling with the alliance-driven aspect of the game and having to conceal who she was.
“Doing things on a game show with cameras and headaches is a whole different ball game. “I loved the challenges – they were great, but the lies and mind games took their toll. As did having to ‘murder’ people at night.”
After leaving the competition to return home to Motueka, Jill felt emotionally drained, but says she learned so much about herself.
“It changed me,” she tells.
Making up for lost time
“It’s given me a new lease of life and the feeling that nothing is impossible. I’d been wishing I’d done more, like go to uni and do something else I felt proud of – and now I feel I’ve achieved that.”
And Jill plans to continue embracing every opportunity that comes her way. She’s since been on an acting course, had braces fitted, won a photography competition, gone rock climbing, had a Traitors-themed tattoo and flown a helicopter. She’s also planned her first trip back to the UK since emigrating – to attend her brother’s wedding – and is considering taking a year off to travel New Zealand in a campervan or see more of the world working on a cruise ship.
“I’d love to be crew on The Traitors if there’s another season too,” she adds.
“I’ve always encouraged my girls to aim to do whatever they want. Now I say, ‘Look at me, I’m 50, so there’s nothing stopping you.’ It’s never too late to be true to yourself.”
The Traitors NZ screens Sundays and Mondays at 7.30pm on Three and ThreeNow.
