The Traitors Winner Rob Rausch Bought Maura Higgins a $16,000 Birkin — With Help From Jake Shane
Rob Rausch, the Season 4 winner of The Traitors, followed through on his promise to buy Maura Higgins a Hermès Birkin bag after betraying her on the show — and the behind-the-scenes story involves Lisa Rinna and podcast host Jake Shane.
On The Traitors Season 4, Rob and Maura — both Love Island alums — formed a tight bond in the castle, even making a pinky promise to win the game together. The catch was that Rob was a Traitor the entire time.
Rausch was a Traitor alongsid Rinna and Candiace Dillard Bassett. He later recruited Eric Nam to be a Traitor after both women were banished from the castle. Donna Kelce was also a secret Traitor.
When Rob revealed his true identity on the Season 4 finale, Maura’s reaction was one of utter shock. The pinky promise meant everything to her, and he shattered it on national television.
At the reunion, Maura laid down her terms: she’d forgive her fellow Love Island alum if he bought her a Hermès Birkin. With $220,800 in prize money in his pocket, the ball was in Rob’s court.
On the March 4 episode of Watch What Happens Live, Rob kept his promise. During their joint interview, host Andy Cohen polled the audience on whether getting a Birkin bag is enough to forgive someone — and 90 percent voted yes.
Rob presented her with a burgundy Togo Birkin bag in a size 30 with gold hardware, which retails for $16,000. He kept his gloves on throughout, telling Maura, “Only the owner’s supposed to touch it first.”
She was thrilled, posing with the bag before jumping up to hug Rob and shout, “You’re forgiven.”
Rinna provided the full explanation on how it all went down.
“Let’s talk about the Birkin bag!” Rinna, 62, said via TikTok on Sunday, March 8. “I’m so excited about the bag. I’m so excited that we got to come full circle,” she said. “You can see how happy Maura is.”
Purchasing a Birkin is not as simple as walking into a store and handing over a credit card. Customers can only acquire one if they have a relationship with a sales associate and spend a significant amount of money on other products.
That’s where Lisa stepped in. “Of course” she helped Rob buy the Hermès bag, Rinna explained. “I said I would, and we did it. We got it for her.”
She detailed how the connection worked: “It was so fun helping Rob. My friends Isaac Boots and Jeffery helped with that connection because they had the connection in New York, so we were able to make that happen quickly,” Rinna explained. She noted they would have otherwise had to travel to Paris to get the bag, which is estimated to cost between $16,000 and $22,000. “It would have taken a bit longer.”
Lisa also revealed the chain of events that brought Jake Shane into the fold. Rob reached out to Rinna and wrote “important” to get her attention. Jake and Rob then FaceTimed Lisa to help them get the Birkin.
“So they’re doing the podcast, and they tell me that Jake is gonna go with Rob to get the Birkin. Cause he should have a gay with him,” Lisa explained in the video.
Rob filmed an episode of “Therapuss,” which will be released on Wednesday, March 12, and then took Jake along to secure the bag as he needed another opinion.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
