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*WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of The Traitors (Ireland) on RTÉ.*
THE FIRST CONTESTANTS to be knocked out of The Traitors have revealed which of the remaining players they would guess might survive murder or banishment to make it through to the final.
The hit TV competition show aired its first three episodes on RTÉ on Sunday, Monday and yesterday, and the number of players in Slane Castle trying to smooze and strategise their way to 50,000 has already started to whittle down.
David, a 48-year-old foreman gardener from Dublin, became the first ‘faithful’ to be ‘murdered’ by the ‘traitors’.
The small group of players secretly selected to be traitors get to meet covertly each night to choose a faithful – the non-traitor contestants – to evict from the game, and as they gathered in the dungeon on Sunday night’s episode, David became their first kill.
Reeling in the wake of David’s murder, the faithfuls tried throughout the next day to deduce who among them was a traitor before the evening roundtable, where they have an opportunity to vote to banish a player they believe to be a traitor.
However, they failed in their efforts to catch a traitor, with faithful Diane, a 54-year-old radio presenter from Galway, getting banished instead.
In an interview with journalists, David and Diane reflected on their time in the game, who they’re looking at as potential winners, and the unusual song choice that played while the contestants were blindfolded during the shoulder-tapping of the traitors.
Though he only spent a day in the castle, David had his eye on who he thought some of his biggest competition might be.
He told The Journal that he thought Nick, a 30-year-old estate agent from Wicklow, might have what it takes to get to the end of the game.
“I was looking at Nick. He’s a handsome lad – tall, dark and handsome – so I said, he could be [someone who does well]. Nick was standing back, he was being quiet,” David said.
“I could have done what Nick done, but no, I go in and start doing breakdance moves in the middle of the sitting room within a couple of hours.”
He said he’d love to see Ben, a 33-year-old from Dublin in the Irish Defence Forces, win the competition. “Ben felt like a younger brother to me. He was equally bubbly and a messer.”
Diane said she hadn’t had enough time with the other players to fully size them up but said she’s cheering on the faithfuls, hoping that they win out over the traitors.
“I wasn’t in there long enough – I wish I was there longer. I just took everyone and face value and then I was going to start eliminating them one by one, but I actually didn’t have enough time. Everyone is great,” she said.
On which side she’s rooting for to win, she said: “I’ll have to stick with the faithfuls! I’m a faithful!”
The Traitors format started in the Netherlands in 2021 and quickly became immensely popular. It has been adapted in more than 20 countries around the world, including the UK, where the BBC has produced three seasons to date.
Expectations were high leading up to the premiere of the Irish version, and so far, it’s done a decent job of living up to them. The first episode on Sunday night pulled in half a million viewers between RTÉ One, RTÉ One+1 and the RTÉ Player.
With Siobhán McSweeney leading the charge as host and contestants from counties all around Ireland, the RTÉ production has so far managed to deliver on what people love about The Traitors format internationally whilst also giving it a distinct ‘Irish feel’.
“Like you all, I haven’t seen all the episodes either, but already, it’s amazing,” David said.
“Without being too competitive – the English have had three seasons, and I honestly think we’re going to beat the English one. We can’t beat the English in the football, but we hope to beat them in The Traitors,” he said.
“I think it’s great for the Irish audience. People are going crazy about it already. It’s nice to lift the spirits and do something for people to talk about, have a laugh and interact about.”
David had a strategy, and part of it was to learn everyone name’s quickly and make them feel endeared towards him to build alliances. But it went astray; reeling off everyone’s name like a roll call, showing that he was a quick study and a big character, gained him a little too much attention. That and other antics put a target on his back.
“The game plan went out the window,” David said.
“I’m hyper and giddy by nature. I’m a big kid at heart. My plan was to tone it down, and that went out the window as soon as I got into the castle. I ran straight for the glass of champagne as soon as we got in the door,” he laughed.
He said he doesn’t blame the traitors for killing him, though he does think Eamon, the 36-year-old garda from Tipperary who is among the traitors’ ranks, might have been wise to keep him around after seeing his usefulness in the challenge portion of the first episode. “I thought me and Eamon had a lovely moment, pushing a big barrel up the hill together… but look, it wasn’t to be.”
Fellow faithful Diane went into the game hoping to be selected as a traitor and was disappointed not to get the tap – something which ended up being her downfall.
When everyone was taking off their blindfolds, Diane kept her eyes cast downwards towards the table, a moment of body language that was interpreted as suspicious behaviour by the other faithfuls.
“I did look at the table, that darn table. The reason for that is that I actually wanted to be a traitor, and when I didn’t get picked, I was disappointed,” Diane said.
“When I looked down, I was disappointed. Other people took it that I was a traitor,” she said, describing how a “conspiracy theory” that she was a traitor spread throughout the group.
“But in all fairness, I was surprised I wasn’t murdered on Day One,” she said. “You just take it from hour to hour in there, minute to minute. Somebody had to go.”
“I am privileged to be part of the history, the first Traitors done in Ireland. There were thousands of applications and just being selected as one of the people to get in there was a privilege to me,” she said.
The process for selecting the traitors involves the players sitting at the roundtable blindfolded while McSweeney circles the room, finally tapping the traitors on the shoulder to alert them to their role.
Contestants on the UK version have previously revealed that the music piped into the roundtable includes The Hanging Tree song from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay film – a chilling rebel song about executions.
We now know that the same is true for the Irish version.
“When I was sitting there with the blindfold on waiting to be selected as a traitor or as a faithful, that was tense,” David said.
“They played the Mockingjay song and I got goosebumps. Me and my daughter love those films and I got goosebumps listening to that song.”
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