Chrishell Stause Reveals Where Things Stand with Nikki Garcia After Voting to Banish Her on Traitors (Exclusive)

Warning: This story contains spoilers from season 3 of The Traitors.

Chrishell Stause has remedied her friendship with fellow Traitors “Bambi” Nikki Garcia, despite her shocking betrayal.

The Selling Sunset star, who was featured on the third season of The Traitors, spoke to PEOPLE about her friendships and alliances on the Emmy-winning Peacock series. The show assembles a group of reality TV stars competing to solve a murder mystery game in exchange for $250,000. The stars range from famous “game players” on Survivor, Big Brother and The Challenge to Bravo andBachelor franchise stars, and many more famous faces — including Stause and Garcia.

“Luckily, Nikki has forgiven me for my bad judgment,” Stause, 43, tells PEOPLE. 

At the start of the season, Stause formed an alliance with Garcia, 41, and fellow contestant Gabby Windey — which they named the “Bambis.” But during the season’s fifth episode, Stause suspected her friend was not as faithful as she originally believed. As the episode came to a conclusion, Stause offered up Garcia’s name as one of the traitors, and soon Garcia was banished and pushed to ultimately reveal she was one of the many faithfuls.

“Looking back on it, I don’t think even if I had stayed quiet, I wouldn’t have been able to save her that night,” she tells PEOPLE, acknowledging that “obviously, it just hurts more when your own friends didn’t have your back.” 

Stause confesses she “just let a few things get in my ear,” noting that her suspicions began when traitor Bob the Drag Queen was successfully banished.

“I started creating this whole thing in my head once I saw a look she gave,” she says, referring to the suspicious look she believed Garcia made in reaction to Bob the Drag Queen’s final day. “Obviously, all of it was about nothing and in bad judgment.”

“I think it ended up wounding my game because it kind of killed my confidence,” she continues. “I was so terrified to have anything like that happen again. I was just thinking, ‘It’s not worth it. I’d rather not, I’d rather be wrong on a friend that is a traitor, than do that again.’ ”

Despite that tense banishment, Stause confirms their friendship is still going strong. 

“We have a group chain as we’re watching the show or talking about things,” she says of herself, Garcia and Windey, 34. “We’re excited to all be together soon for the reunion. We’ve definitely been in touch and supporting each other throughout watching the show.”

“They’re lovely. I love these girls,” she adds. “I’ll be friends with them way past our time. I feel like we really bonded in the castle.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

New episodes of The Traitors stream Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.