{"id":40243,"date":"2025-09-24T07:42:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/40243\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T07:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:42:06","slug":"poetic-justice-say-the-winners-but-will-show-return-to-rte-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/40243\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Poetic justice\u2019 say the winners, but will show return to RT\u00c9? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The twists and turns are over, at least as far as events at Slane Castle<\/a> are concerned. The first series \u2013 but surely not the last \u2013 of The Traitors Ireland was \u201ca win for women\u201d, plus a victory for instinct, loyalty and some of the most on-the-money reasoning ever seen on television\u2019s most compelling reality franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing against the boys,\u201d hastily adds Kelley Higgins, one of a trio of faithful, alongside Oyin Adeyemi and Vanessa Ogbonna, to triumph in the show\u2019s ceremonial endgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys\u201d, aka the traitors\u2019 alliance of Nick O\u2019Loughlin and Ben Donohue, are sitting right beside them, their heads held high after performing the role that was asked of them in a show where treachery is the name of the game.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no escaping the fact that after 12 episodes of highs, lows, fights, tears, lies, betrayals, air-punches and hugs that were not what they seemed, a strong sisterhood defeated an enduring bromance, and the traitors\u2019 chance of winning went up in literal flames.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got too big for our boots. Later on, we got too eager, thinking we could do it. But the girls played an amazing game in the sense that they kept their heads. They were evaluating every situation,\u201d reflects Nick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it is poetic justice,\u201d says Vanessa. \u201cBecause if you watch the timeline of the show, the girls were at the centre of a lot of the findings. I think the boys closed a lot of the deals for us, but I think we laid down a lot of foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve known the outcome for five months, but spirits among the three winners at RT\u00c9<\/a>\u2019s finale screening event at Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge on Tuesday night were understandably high, and there were whoops and applause from the audience as they rooted out both traitors.<\/p>\n

Each will now receive \u20ac14,300 \u2013 their share of \u20ac42,900 collectively gleaned through various cast missions from a possible prize pot of \u20ac50,000. It\u2019s not as much as the \u00a394,600 (\u20ac108,000) shared by two contestants on the most recent BBC series, but it\u2019s nothing to sniff at either.<\/p>\n

Past iterations of The Traitors have seen some faithful contestants fluke their way to a win. Satisfyingly, each of the three Irish winners contributed to the final result.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Traitors Ireland contestant Faye: \u2018When everyone\u2019s coming at you, it\u2019s hard not to take it personally\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Kelley was the holder of a crucial \u201cswing vote\u201d in the final episode and chose correctly. \u201cI actually would rather have been played by women than played by men,\u201d she says. Phew!<\/p>\n

Oyin \u2013 who astutely pinpointed traitor-on-traitor clashes earlier in the series \u2013 was detective-in-chief. (\u201cAre you clairvoyant?\u201d Kevin McGahern, host of spin-off show Uncloaked, wondered.) Why does she think she read the game so well? <\/p>\n

\u201cI put it down to having a lot of time to reflect on how the day went, and just putting things together, with my journal. My strategy going into the game at the beginning was to listen more than I speak because that way I feel like you\u2019re really able to take things in,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Vanessa says she momentarily doubted Oyin after \u201cthe second mistake\u201d \u2013 referring to a banishment of Faye Brennan, a faithful, in the penultimate episode \u2013 but their support for each other ultimately proved unbreakable.<\/p>\n

In the jubilant concluding moments, before she confirmed her faithful status, she also delivered the best dramatic pause of the entire series.<\/p>\n

Kelley admits to being thrown by this. \u201cIt was so iconic the way you did that,\u201d she tells Vanessa. \u201cBut at the time I thought, \u2018She\u2019s going to turn round and take all the money, isn\u2019t she?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

I enjoyed my time as a faithful. You can be yourself, you can be honest. You\u2019re not being a bad person. Whereas as a traitor, it\u2019s a deeper game on a deeper level, and unfortunately you upset people, and it\u2019s not nice for anybody<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Contestant, Nick<\/p>\n

As a result of the three-way split, Oyin is now off to Japan, Kelley is helping to pay off her parents\u2019 mortgage \u2013 luckily, \u201cthere\u2019s not a lot left\u201d \u2013 while an elated Vanessa\u2019s plan is \u201cto just blow it\u201d.<\/p>\n

But what of the defeated traitors?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted for the girls. We\u2019re all really good friends and really close, so we actually couldn\u2019t be happier for them. Honestly,\u201d says Ben.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience was, in total, amazing,\u201d says a sanguine Nick.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst part is nearly not losing the money, it\u2019s getting the abuse off the three of them now,\u201d jokes Ben.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drinks are on them,\u201d chimes in Nick.<\/p>\n

His friendship with Ben, though it might have been his undoing, was \u201csomething special\u201d, he says. \u201cObviously it wasn\u2019t good enough to beat the three girls, but it was a nice thing to have in an intense environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Nick and Ben were initially designated as part of the faithful before being blackmailed into becoming traitors, with Nick having previously rejected an attempt to recruit him to the traitors\u2019 side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed my time as a faithful. You can be yourself, you can be honest. You\u2019re not being a bad person. Whereas as a traitor, it\u2019s a deeper game on a deeper level, and unfortunately you upset people, and it\u2019s not nice for anybody,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to ever turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several standout members of the 24-strong cast are now adjusting to the reality-TV spotlight. Paudie Moloney, one of the original traitors, has even signed up to do panto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was easy obviously before the show aired. Nobody knows you\u2019re on it. As soon as the show was on air, you have people coming up asking you about it,\u201d says Ben. \u201cBut, no, it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

For RT\u00c9, it\u2019s better than fine. The Traitors Ireland, presented with aplomb by Siobh\u00e1n McSweeney<\/a>, was a great success from the outset and soon became an intergenerational, appointment-to-view phenomenon, while also raking in on-demand business via the RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors craic, wit and wolfhounds has restored my pride in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e1inne McAleer, its commissioning editor at Montrose, says about a million people watched each episode across platforms, describing this as being \u201clike 12 All-Irelands\u201d.<\/p>\n

Darren Smith, managing director of production company Kite Entertainment, which makes the series and owns the Irish rights to the format, says he has the feeling it was \u201clike 12 Toy Shows\u201d, with the series galvanising RT\u00c9 after \u201ca bumpy few years\u201d and pulling off the elusive trick of getting teenagers watching television with their parents again.<\/p>\n

Is this his biggest ever hit?<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, yeah. This time too will pass. We\u2019ll be back to making shows where we blame the scheduler and marketing for nobody turning up. But while this is happening, we\u2019re going to love the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

One cliffhanger remains. Will The Traitors Ireland return for a second series?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so, yeah, subject to contract,\u201d says RT\u00c9 director general Kevin Bakhurst<\/a>, speaking outside the Clayton as we\u2019re surrounded by extras in gold masks and hooded robes standing impassive guard at the entrance. (Irish wolfhounds are soon to make an appearance for a photoshoot.)<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is being very grown up. They want it and we want it,\u201d says Smith of its prospects of renewal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be very optimistic that we\u2019ll be making a second series. My absolute complete belief and strategy is that it will be [on] RT\u00c9, but I\u2019m very optimistic that we\u2019ll be making a second series either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cast go through \u201ca spectrum of emotions\u201d while filming the show, as Oyin says in the final episode.<\/p>\n

But for the architects of the Irish version of The Traitors, the overwhelming feeling as the TV dust settles is sheer joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The twists and turns are over, at least as far as events at Slane Castle are concerned. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,16580],"class_list":["post-40243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-traitors-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}