Siobhán McSweeney hosts The Traitors Ireland - but would she rather be a traitor or a faithful? She tells John Byrne about that as well as her approach to her latest television role.
"I had an answer before I started filming, and the answer has changed." Siobhán McSweeney’s been asked what’s probably the ultimate Traitors Ireland question: would you rather be a faithful or a traitor?
As the Irish version of the international TV hit lands on RTÉ One this Sunday night, viewers will soon find out who among the contestants is a genuine team player (the faithful) or one of the traitors plotting against the rest.
Siobhán freely admits that getting a first-hand look at the show was quite an eye-opener. "I thought that I would have liked to have been a traitor, and then I've started watching the filming process. And, in all honesty, what I've discovered is that I will never apply for this game, because it is terrifying!
"The mental gymnastics, the treachery, and that's only the faithful. Do you know what I mean, the personas, the consistency of your stories, or whatever. I'm in awe. I'm in awe of our cast. I would be rubbish at it. As you can already see, I have no filter."
It’s hardly a state secret that Siobhán is quite a character. If she has any sense of shyness, she hides it rather well. She’s also quite good at self-deprecation.
"I have a face, well, that's good for radio, but I also have a face that has no filter, which is going to be my biggest challenge while doing this," she says. "Maintaining a supportive yet stern neutrality when I want to go (makes gagging noise) or exclaim, that's going to be my biggest challenge."
When asked if she’s afraid of slipping up on The Traitors Ireland, she admits "I haven’t slept in a week" and also acknowledges that the rumoured Traitors ‘bible’ hasn’t been shown to her in respect of how she pitches her presenter role.
"Basically, no one has said 'no' yet," she says. "But I have felt that I've been able to bring myself - and by myself, I mean this character of the host that I've created, because if I brought myself, I'd just be trembling and weeping in a corner.
"And there is, there is a book, there is a formula, you're right, but it's confident enough to allow you make it your own [choices]. So I don't feel I'm following in anybody's footsteps in that way. If you know what I mean."
It probably helps that Siobhán’s a fan of The Traitors. It means that, even before she got the gig as host of Traitors Ireland, she understood this show. As she puts it: "Well, I was doing research before I had the job. I was a fan of the show before I got the job."
But getting the hosting gig changed her perspective as a fan. Understandable, really.
"After that, I felt funny watching it," she admits. "After that, I didn't know what to do, whether I should or shouldn't, so I sort of, I have been watching it, but sort of with a little bit of a remove."
Pre-Traitors Ireland, McSweeney is undoubtedly best known for playing Sister Michael in Lisa McGee's Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls. Outside of acting, she also made guest appearances on TV shows including Sunday Brunch and Front Row Late.
Since January 2021, she's been the presenter of The Great Pottery Throw Down on Channel 4, which begs an obvious question of comparison.
"Schedule wise, it's a completely different show," she says. "We don't have to wait for the contestants to drive so much in and out of the castle. But also the host takes on a different job here. In Pottery, I'm there to support them and to cheer them on and to distract them, or to do whatever. And the main focus is on the ceramic.
"In this show, the main focus is the contestants themselves. And in a weird way, my job is to stay out of their way, to give them information. Sometimes put the fear of God into them, and then step back."
Indeed, it's part of the show’s genius that the contestants - for better and worse - are basically left to their own devices when it comes to attempting to unearth the traitors in their midst.
"It’s an incredibly successful show because there is very little involvement or any interference," she confirms. "It's about our cast and the cast we have in this show - you can hope for a good cast, but you can never tell.
"And also, it’s the first season . . . We have an extraordinary cast for this series - yeah, they're really interesting. They're all incredibly different from each other, and it's creating some magnificent television."
The added curiosity about this Irish version of The Traitors is how Irish the contestants are. When it’s pointed out to Siobhán that we Irish are really good at fake bonhomie and make excellent liars, and that these factors could make The Traitors Ireland fascinating TV, she agrees.
"I think that's a really good point," she says, before quoting Shakespeare. "You know that quote from Hamlet, ‘Smile and smile and be a villain’. I think there's something really . . . we have a reputation for being a friendly people.
"But we all know at this table, we're smiling and smiling and we're thinking something else, aren't we? And as journalists, you know full well what I'm talking about. So yes, I think, I think we're bringing a specific flavour to it, - perfect, absolutely."
Being an actor, Siobhán gets that The Traitors Ireland gives the various contestants an opportunity to step outside of their personality. You can pretend to be someone you’re not. You can pretend to be the kind of person that you're not
In the BBC version, there was a woman who pretended to be Welsh, as well as a mother and son who hid their relationship. Pretending to be a faithful when you’re a traitor, though - what about that Siobhán?
"Is it harder being mean? . . . it's more fun," she says with a grin. "Every actor will say it's more fun being a villain. And I think watching the show, you always have people who want to be the traitors. Very few people want to be the faithful. What is it about human nature, which makes the show so fascinating, is exploring this.
"It's a safe way to be your shadow self, isn't it? It's a safe way to be a treacherous, backstabbing person without consequences - and perhaps with rewards. That's what makes it fascinating from a psychological perspective.
"Our cast aren't donating their precious time and incredible intelligence, and, you know, all the gifts that they have. They know that this is a really interesting experiment."
With that, Siobhán McSweeney’s time for talking comes to an end.
"I'm off to kill somebody," she says as she heads for the door and back to Slane Castle.
I can only hope she’s pretending.
The Traitors Ireland begins on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Sunday August 31 at 9.30pm.
