Stephen Colletti Never Planned to Return to Reality TV. 'The Traitors' Scared Him Into Saying Yes (Exclusive)
Stephen Colletti learned early that being seen doesn’t always mean being understood. When Laguna Beach exploded on MTV back in 2004, the reality TV show turned his teenage years into a public spectacle—one that arrived faster and more personally than he was prepared to handle.
“We did not expect for anybody to actually watch,” Colletti, 39, exclusively tells Men’s Journal. “To have it be something that was so personal about our personal lives—but also a version of your personal life that wasn’t necessarily true—there was a lot at that age to metabolize and go through when we’re still forming our frontal lobes.”
The attention made him uneasy. “The reaction to the show and the feedback…made me feel very awkward about the attention that came from it,” he says. “I did not expect it to be as big as it was.”
That discomfort would quietly shape the next phase of his career. Colletti didn’t try to extend his reality TV fame or lean into the notoriety. “I think for me, early on, to think that I was something that I had worked hard to get to…would just have felt so silly,” he says.
Instead, he pulled back, focusing on what he wanted people to see him as—not the version constructed on television. “I just wanted to make sure I was putting my head down and focusing on the work that needed to be done to actually stick around in this business."
That work came through acting. After stepping away from reality TV, he built credibility slowly, most notably on the hit teen drama One Tree Hill, where he joined as a supporting character and grew into a larger role over several seasons. “It was such a pivotal moment in time for me to have the opportunity to get on a scripted show and show that this was something that I cared a lot about,” he says. “I learned so much during that time.”
Reality television, meanwhile, remained off-limits. “I swore off reality TV for a very long time,” Colletti says. “There was always in the back of my mind an opportunity in a competition-type show, something where I could pop in and have it not be so focused on your personal life.”
Even then, he wasn’t pursuing it. “It wasn’t something that I was chasing."
Peacock
That changed when The Traitors entered the picture. “When Traitors first came around, I was really impressed with the concept and execution,” Colletti tells MJ ahead of the Season 4 premiere on Thursday, Jan. 8. “The premium quality of it, the murder mystery vibe—it was really appealing to me. And it honestly scared me.”
That fear lingered and ultimately pushed him to say yes. “I think that fear is really what drew me to doing it,” he says. “It was kind of calling me—this is something that you know you’re interested in doing, but it scares you, so you might back out of it. But we should step into that and challenge ourselves and see what happens.”
The California native had already passed once on the Emmy-winning Peacock series. “There was a previous season I got an offer to do it, and thankfully I couldn’t do it,” Colletti says. “It was an easy pass at the time.” But the regret surprised him. “I was like, ‘You know what? I really wish I had done that show.’”
When the opportunity came back, his mindset had shifted. “My first reaction was like, ‘Oh, we know we’ve got to do this,’” he says. “This challenge is here.”
Rather than compete for airtime, Colletti chose restraint once he made his way out to the Scottish castle. “I always knew I was not going to be the loudest voice in the room,” he says. “I wanted to kind of sit back, let the game come to me.” He was intentional about how he presented himself, too. “I was not going to be a version of myself that would not be true to me and put on a character,” he says. “I really just wanted to go in as Steven.”
That approach aligned with what drew him to the show in the first place. “The show is about the game,” Colletti says. “First and foremost, what’s happening within the game—that’s the primary focus.” The personal dynamics, he adds, are secondary. “That also is something that appealed to me about this show.”
Returning to reality TV also forced him to reckon with his past in a healthier way—particularly as he prepares for the upcoming Laguna Beach reunion for Roku Channel that feels less like nostalgia and more like closure. “It felt bigger. It felt more real,” Colletti says. “This wild, full-circle moment.”
Time, he explains, has created distance. “You’re not invested in those storylines anymore,” he says. “You’re comfortable being able to go back and be grateful for the fact that you’ve come as far as you have.”
At nearly 40, Colletti is more at ease with where he’s landed. “I’m much more comfortable where I’m at now,” he says. “A little more wisdom under my belt.”