'Being a Traitor? I'd love it; I love being in control of a game more than anything': Northern Ireland woman Rachel Duffy on donning a green cloak for the hit BBC game show
A Co Down woman who has become one of the latest devious Traitors in the hit BBC game show says she’d “love so much to play in a game where I get to backstab and lie to people’s faces”.
Newry’s Rachel Duffy works as head of communications for a charity; having been chosen as one of the three cloaked contestants secretly out to take down their fellow castmates on the new series of Traitors, which returned to screens on New Year’s Day, she was looking forward to taking a break from her normal job to plot the downfall of her televisual rivals.
And she’s bringing a secret weapon to the show’s plush Scottish castle – her poker face.
"My husband can’t even tell if I’m telling the truth anymore, not that I lie to him all that often, but I could wind him up and say something off the cuff, and he’s like, ‘I don’t even know if that's true’,” she said, speaking in advance of the broadcast.
Adding that she’d do anything to win, she said: “It’s very black and white for me. They’ve all signed up to a game with a very obvious name on it. If they don’t get the memo, you’re on the wrong show.”
Asked how she’d feel to be in one of the Traitor roles, Rachel said she’d enjoy being “kind of like a puppet master”.
“I’d love [being a Traitor],” she said. “That is my go-to because I love being in control of a game more than anything.
“I have a lot of integrity in real life; I work for a charity that helps people. But I would love so much to play in a game where I get to backstab and lie to people’s faces, as I don’t get to do that any other time.”
The 42-year-old also says that when it comes to winning the game “nothing is off the table”.
“I’m really competitive in challenges, so I’ll do whatever I can to get money in the bank,” she stated. “I’m a really sociable person that loves finding out things, so I really enjoy genuinely building nice connections and finding out about people. That also makes me a great detective, because I can piece together if people are potentially covering over the truth with lies.”
One of Rachel’s potential victims is Matthew Hyndman. Originally from Northern Ireland but now living in Edinburgh, he believes his competitive nature and background in sports will boost his chances on the show.
“I allow myself to become a different person when I play games, and I allow myself to be brutal, in the way that you must be if you want to win,” he said.
“The Traitors is a social game, and if you’ve got favour with people, or if someone has a warmer feeling towards me than someone else, then that’s the way that the vote will go. My biggest tactic is to always be part of the bigger group – no way am I getting off the train or getting in a coffin.”
Stating he wants to figure out who’s a Traitor, Matthew says he’s good at detecting liars. “I would very quickly spot if someone was to create distance with me or didn’t make as much eye contact,” he stated.