AN IRISH CONTESTANT who appeared on the latest rendition of the hugely popular BBC reality show The Traitors has spoken of the “intense” atmosphere.

Anna Duke, a 28-year-old Wicklow native, was *SPOILERS* ’murdered’ in last night’s episode of the show, which features a group of contestants from the UK and Ireland trying to find the ‘Traitors’ among the ‘faithful’.

In the competitive reality show, hosted by Claudia Winkelman, contestants try to win £120,000 (€142,000) while completing challenges and weeding out the the Traitors in a Scottish castle.

Anna, the only Irish contestant in the latest season of the Traitors, was eliminated from the show in its eighth episode last night after the Traitors voted to ‘kill’ her.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BBC iPlayer (@bbciplayer)

Speaking on RTÉ’s Oliver Callan show this morning, Anna described how she had enjoyed the reality show experience.

“It’s a really good show, you never get the opportunity as an adult to just spend a month totally engrossed in a game, you know? So that just really appealed to me,” Anna told host Callan.

While Anna did not feature much in the first four episodes of the show, the spotlight turned to her in the fifth episode.

“It’s really intense when you’re in there and these people you’ve just met are all turning on each other,” Anna said.

“You constantly think ‘everyone’s gonna vote for me’ – it feels like your heart is in your throat, your hands are sweaty, the paranoia is next level.

“I would not have described myself as an anxious person before, but I felt massively anxious at points in the show,” Anna added. 

Anna described how surreal it was watching herself on television, saying that the show had been recorded months ago in Scotland.

“It was actually recorded ages ago, so it has been mad watching it back – even when I knew I was going to get eliminated, I was watching and saying “I hope they don’t pick me,” Anna said.

New Irish show

RTÉ announced in December that an Irish rendition of the popular UK reality show will be produced this year.

Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney will host the Irish version of the show, which will be filmed on location in Ireland and feature a cast of contestants from around the country.

The Traitors Ireland is coming to RTÉ VERY soon…

and here is your host… @siobhni 🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/ZNJAbvV8G1

— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) December 18, 2024

The series will see 22 constants arrive at a remote castle to play a game of deception, betrayal and trust, with a prize of €50,000 up for grabs.

The rules of the game will stay the same as the UK, US and Dutch versions of the show – among the contestants are the Traitors, who will attempt to secretly murder a player every night, without getting caught.

Each day, the group will complete a series of challenges as they work together to add more money to the prize pot, but if a Traitor remains undetected throughout the game, they’ll steal all the money.

Speaking on the new Irish show, Anna advised constestants to “just be yourself”, adding that “you have no idea what they’re looking for every year”.