TV & Radio

Siobhán McSweeney of Derry Girls to host Irish version of The Traitors

‘The Irish have a charm and ability to deceive while smiling, which will make this version rather special,’ says McSweeney

Siobhán McSweeney said she was a huge fan of The Traitors and had 'jumped at the chance' to present the Irish version. Photograph: Philip Sharp
Siobhán McSweeney said she was a huge fan of The Traitors and had 'jumped at the chance' to present the Irish version. Photograph: Philip Sharp
Ella Sloane
Wed Dec 18 2024 - 13:03

Derry Girls star Siobhán McSweeney is set to host the Irish version of hit reality TV show The Traitors.

Best known for her role as Sister Michael in comedy series Derry Girls, McSweeney has some presenting experience under her belt already with The Great Pottery Throw Down on BBC Two.

McSweeney said she was a huge fan of the show and had “jumped at the chance” to present the Irish version. “I’m looking forward to meeting our loyal Faithful and delicious Traitors,” she said.

“The Irish have a charm and ability to deceive while smiling, which will make this version rather special, I think. And I’m the luckiest person in the world to watch them close up,” McSweeney added.

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Commissioned by RTÉ, Traitors Ireland will follow award-winning versions of the psychological reality gameshow in the UK, US and the Netherlands, pitting 22 strangers against each other. Contestants will battle it out in a nail-biting game of deception, betrayal and trust in the hopes of taking home up to €50,000.

Among them lie the chosen “traitors” who will attempt to secretly murder a “faithful” player every night. The faithfuls must come together to detect the hidden traitors and banish them ... before it’s too late.

Steve Carson, director of video at RTÉ, said: “We’re really looking forward to bringing The Traitors Ireland to RTÉ audiences and delighted that Siobhán is going to be at the heart of it. She is an incredibly talented actor with a great comic and dramatic range. We know that she is going to bring something really special to Ireland’s version of this fantastic game of trust and deceit.”

The series, produced for RTÉ by Kite Entertainment, which have licensed the format from All3Media International, will air on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player in 2025.

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