The first season of The Traitors Ireland came to a thrilling close on Tuesday night at Slane Castle, after 12 nights of suspicion, alliances and betrayals. Host Siobhán McSweeney presided over the tense final as the series wrapped up its debut run.
The last episode brought together the remaining Faithfuls and Traitors after weeks of secret "murders" in the night and dramatic round table banishments that saw 24 contestants reduced to a handful of finalists.
The format, which quickly became a talking point among viewers, relied on paranoia and persuasion as players tried to decide who they could trust.
***SPOILER ALERT!!***
When the outcome was revealed, Kelley, Vanessa and Oyin were confirmed as the winners after outlasting the Traitors and securing their share of the prize pot of €42,900.
The trio had stuck together throughout the series, building trust and managing to avoid suspicion in a game designed to sow doubt at every turn.
"I cannot believe it," said Kelley. "I am speechless. I have no words."
Vanessa described the victory as "so insane! My God!" while Oyin added: "The fact that we all had each other's backs and to be able to win with your girls! I don’t know, there’s just something sweet about it. Amazing!"
Reflecting on the experience, Oyin said: "I’ve actually learned so much about myself. I’m so much more resilient than I thought I was."
Kelley added: "It’s crazy to know that we were Faithfuls from the very start. Nothing changed that."
The final also saw Nick and Ben revealed as the last remaining Traitors, whose efforts to steer suspicion away from themselves were ultimately exposed at the closing round table.
Watch: This is the moment Oyin, Kelley and Vanessa find out they have won The Traitors Ireland
Their downfall followed some of the biggest shocks of the season, including the twist that father and son duo Paudie and Andrew Moloney were both secretly Traitors, and the late-game recruitment attempts that unsettled even the most confident Faithfuls.
Those twists, combined with challenges that tested teamwork and trust, kept players and viewers second-guessing until the final episode.
Vanessa, Oyin and Kelley, appeared on The Traitors Ireland Uncloaked following the finale on Tuesday night.
Asked by host Kevin McGahern how she was feeling, Vanessa said it was "unreal" to be one of the winners. "I am really happy and excited."
Asked if the three winners had strategized much in the final episode, Oyin said, "We didn't really talk about game plan and we were grasping at straws at the Round Table and we were trying to pin it on Nick because I really thought it was Nick at that stage."
Asked how she kept the fact that she was going on the show a secret, Kelly said, "It was easy for me - I just told my friends and family I was going to work in Galway.
"I had been planting that seed because the whole thing for me was that none of my friends would believe I would go off my phone for two weeks willingly so I started planting seeds early on."
Vanessa added: "I was done three days before. I was begging to go home. I just wasn't having any more. It got so much tougher in the last few days and I was so deflated. It’s very emotional in there. I thought Nick was going to win.
"I know it’s only a game but it really got to me and I just wanted to go home."
Speaking on The Traitors Ireland Uncloaked, host Siobhán McSweeney said she was particularly proud of the Irish tastes and twists to the show - from the cúpla foca to the Irish designers she wore throughout the twelve episodes.
Asked by host Kevin McGahern who her favourite contestant was, she said, "Diane but I also really enjoyed Joe."
Told that she had been a "mother figure" on Traitors Ireland, she joked, "And that is why we are a nation of dysfunctional people."
"I've never done a job like this before," she added. "You’d start your day in the middle of the night and you did not know when the day would end. You just couldn’t tell what would happen"
With the first series proving a ratings and social media hit, attention now turns to the future of the Irish version of the format, which originated in the Netherlands and has since spawned successful editions in the UK, US and Australia.
An RTÉ spokesperson said: "We are delighted with how Irish audiences have reacted to The Traitors Ireland Series 1. Discussions regarding the commissioning of Series 2 will begin in due course."
