'I’m gonna have to try to make it my own': Siobhan McSweeney to host ‘Traitors’

Actress and television presenter Siobhán McSweeney has said she will make The Traitors “my own” when she hosts the Irish version of the hit reality series.

The 45-year-old, who won a Bafta television award for playing Sister Michael in the hit sitcom Derry Girls, said that Claudia Winkleman — who hosts the UK version — has made the show “so iconic”.

The concluding episode of series three of the tense game show, in which members of the public attempt to identify who among them are ‘faithfuls’ and ‘traitors’, was seen by an average audience of 9.91m, according to official ratings, published by the research organisation Barb.

Speaking to Josh Widdicombe on BBC Radio 2, Cork native McSweeney said: “The idea of trying to do anything, to do the sort of supermarket’s own-brand version of anything that extraordinary woman does, is just, it’s impossible, so I’m gonna have to try to make it my own.

“But she’s made it so iconic, just the silhouette, just the look.”

Widdicombe asked listeners to come up with ideas for phrases that McSweeney could say on the show, and McSweeney said that the winner was “hello plotters”.

“I genuinely love that,” she said, adding that she likes the fact that it cross-references Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, where she is also host and addresses the contestants with: ‘Hello potters’.

The Traitors will be filmed in Ireland, with 22 contestants from across the country competing to win a chunk of the €50,000 prize pot.

The series will be produced for RTÉ by Kite Entertainment, who have licensed the format from All3Media International.

The Traitors has been adapted for more than 20 countries, including the Netherlands, the US, and also Australia.