Tipp Traitor Eamon O'Keeffe on becoming Irish TV's latest villain and the abuse that followed

One unfortunate consequence of television’s streaming era is that fewer people are tuning in to watch the same programmes as their friends and family.

The quantity of choice across an ever-increasing number of streaming platforms means that it takes something truly special to turn the heads of the masses.

Enter The Traitors Ireland, which has had a chokehold on family dinner table discussions and office water cooler chats like nothing else in the Irish entertainment world so far this year.

RTÉ have done a commendable job in adapting this tried and tested reality franchise that pits murderous ‘Traitors’ against a larger group of ‘Faithfuls’ who must try to identify and banish the Traitors one-by-one to win a cash prize.

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The first episode of the programme, watched live on RTÉ One by over 600,000 viewers, saw Cahir native Eamon O’Keeffe selected by Siobhán McSweeney to be a Traitor; a choice that the self-confessed TV villain couldn’t have been happier with.

Eamon, who chose to keep his vocation as a member of An Garda Síochána a secret from other players throughout the show, sat down with the Tipperary Star to discuss his aggressive Traitor tactics, and the subsequent online backlash that has left him scratching his head.

“I’m a huge fan of the show, I’ve watched all the previous seasons and I’d be armchair quarter-backing other player’s tactics,” Eamon said on his motivation to apply for the Irish version.

“So I was one of about 10,000 people who sent a video application to try and be on the show, and actually the timeline between finding out I was selected and the start of filming was less than two weeks. It was tricky in terms of getting time off work without telling people what’s going on!”

Eamon was insistent from the get-go that he had no interest in playing as a Faithful, and that the chance of playing as a Traitor was too alluring to pass up on.

“Well firstly could you imagine the pressure of being a guard on the show and not having a clue who the Traitors are...you’d be the laughing stock of the country, although I probably am anyway!

“When do you get the opportunity to go on TV and be the villain, honestly if I’d have been a Faithful I’d have probably zoned out fairly quickly.”

Eamon’s pivotal role as a traitor alongside Katelyn Divilly (pictured above) and retired prison officer Paudie Moloney is the catalyst for much of what happens in the first five episodes of the season; an opportunity for chaos that the Cahir man grabbed with both hands.

“I can’t complain about how I came across in the show. I set out to be almost the pantomime villain or the heel in a pro-wrestling event.

“I get a lot of slack for saying this, but I had no intention of winning the show, there’s no way you can win it playing the way I did. But I knew everytime I did something that it was making good television, and I wanted to be talked about and remembered.

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“People were always going to love me or hate me, I think the majority hate me, but I gave them a great moment when I went out, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Viewers of the show will be familiar with how busy a standard episode is; a dramatic entrance to the breakfast table, a prize-pot building challenge, a roundtable banishment, and a murderous meet-up in the Traitor’s conclave.

Eamon says being a Traitor means long hours and having to perfect your poker face.

“The filming days were long and as a Traitor you’re doing overtime compared to everyone else. There’s no set structure for each day because it depends on what happens in the game, but for example there was one night we didn’t wrap up filming in the conclave until 3am, and you’re back up at 6:30am. That’s a challenge in itself because you’re trying not to appear tired and people are definitely looking out for that.”

Eamon’s aggressive playstyle as a Traitor brought with it some in-house fighting and onscreen backstabbing, particularly between himself and Paudie.

What has followed Eamon’s exit from the show is a tirade of online trolling and abuse messages from faceless social media profiles, some involving Eamon’s daughter, which he says is completely unjustified.

“The idea that someone will sit down, pick up their phone, and send someone a lot of personal abuse over what is a TV show and essentially a bit of fun entertainment, I don’t understand that mentality at all.

“I can’t wait to have a pint with Paudie. There’s no beef there. I regret what I said on Uncloaked, I probably went a bit too over the top and was still in ‘castle mode’ and went a bit heavy on him to be fair.”

The Traitors S1 cast will reunite in Dublin to watch the finale together next week.

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