Derry Girls star to host The Traitors Ireland

Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney will present the forthcoming series of The Traitors Ireland for RTÉ.

McSweeney, who also hosts The Great Pottery Throwdown on Channel 4, will oversee events as 22 contestants arrive at a remote castle in Ireland where they will work together on challenges to help grow the €50,000 (£41,000) prize pot.

But among them are the Traitors who will attempt to secretly murder a ‘Faithful’ player every night without alerting suspicion to their identity. Traitors can only leave the game if they are banished by their fellow contestants at the round table every evening.

Faithfuls who survive to the end will share the prize pot – unless there is still an undetected traitor among them who will scoop it all for themselves.

Broadcast revealed in October that RTÉ had ordered a local version of the format, which has been adapted in more than 30 territories since its launch on Dutch broadcaster RTL 4 in 2021.

It was developed by All3Media label IDTV and RTL Creative Unit, with Studio Lambert behind the UK and US editions of the show for BBC1 and Peacock, respectively.

The Traitors Ireland is being produced by Gogglebox Ireland indie Kite Entertainment and will follow the UK’s format of casting ‘civilians’ rather than celebrities. It is set to TX in autumn 2025 on RTÉ1 and RTÉPlayer.

The show, which marks McSweeney’s first presenting role with RTÉ, was commissioned by Gráinne McAleer, commissioning editor for documentaries and series, and will be executive produced by Kite’s managing director Darren Smith.

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.”

McSweeney said of her appointment: “Like everyone, I am a huge Traitors fan so when I was asked to host the Irish version I jumped at the chance. I’m looking forward to meeting our loyal Faithful and delicious Traitors.

”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.”