Christine Duff: ‘Being behind the camera feels like where I’m supposed to be’

Wed, 15 Oct, 2025 - 06:31

“I didn’t take part in The Traitors for the money, but to show my kids that you should never give up on your passions.”

So said mum-of-two Christine Duff, who nearly made it over the finish line in the massively popular series, which reached 2.1m people, when it aired last month.

Christine, 39, said she wanted to show her children that, regardless of your age, you can achieve your dreams.

“My dream as a child was to be on television, and I’d have gone to drama classes for years, but then when I hit my teens, I started to take on board the opinions of my peers, and it started to feel that the dream was hard to reach so I just gave it all up,” she said.

However, in the past 12 months alone, she’s been on The Traitors, The Late Late Show, and also had a role in the last Christmas edition of The Young Offenders.

Christine Duff with her fellow contestants from The Traitors Ireland

“How do I top that? That’s not too bad for a little girl growing up in Ballincollig who wanted to be on TV!

“My motivation to audition in the first place was so I could show Sophie (16) and Cameron (15) that you can realise your dreams,” said single-mum Christine.

The Cork woman opened up about her diagnosis of MS while on The Traitors and is hosting an awareness event at the Montenotte Hotel on October 19.

“I was diagnosed in 2019 after suffering from constant numbness and tingling in my hands and fingers. The type of MS I have is relapsing, remitting MS (RRMS) which means it comes and goes. To my knowledge, I haven’t had a flare-up since 2019, but I do feel there’s a certain stigma around the diagnosis and that sometimes people aren’t listened to, so I want to help others as much as I can,” she said.

The event at The Montenotte, which takes place from 1.30pm, is called ‘MS and Me’. Christine says it will be an “uplifting afternoon, a perfect mix of creativity, connection and inspiration”. Among other things, it will feature “some Castle secrets and will be a chance to support MS Ireland”. There will also be a few surprises on the day, and perhaps a special guest from The Traitors too, Christine teased.

Reflecting on her time in the Castle, Christine said she enjoyed every minute.

“We had eight months of auditions before confirmation that I was selected, and there were two weeks of filming back in March. We were only allowed to tell a few people, with strict conditions, what was happening, so it was just my kids and my parents, Eileen and Michael, who I’m really close to, that were in on it.

“As well as being an example for the kids, I treated my time there as a bit of a social experiment.

“I’ve always intuitively felt things but might have been dismissed in some circumstances, so I wanted to work on my gut instinct in a controlled environment.”

The cameras rolled for up to 18 hours a day, and, obviously, there’s acres of footage that the audience never got to see.

“But I’m really happy with what was shown. I clicked with Fay and Amy, and also Linda and Kelley, and we’re in touch probably every second day, but I felt like I had a connection with everyone in there,” she said.

One of the hardest things for Christine, who lives in Carrigaline, was being away from her beloved chihuahua.

“I knew my parents and children were fine, but I was worried about Pepsi, who is on heart medication,” she said.

Christine said it was difficult to be away from her dog, Pepsi, while on the show.

On the plus side, she said that not having to think about dinners for a fortnight was pure bliss!

“I’m used to driving people around and doing all mom stuff, so being handed my three meals a day and being driven everywhere was unreal! I think I enjoyed that aspect a bit too much.”

The qualified beauty therapist would love the chance for more TV work, but right now she’s still digesting the past few months.

“I feel very comfortable behind the camera, it feels like where I’m supposed to be. I’m just so grateful for the experience.”

Christine says she’d encourage people to consider taking part in The Traitors.

Not surprisingly, there’s been a huge increase in applications for the next series of The Traitors and Christine would urge everyone to consider giving it a go.

“I’d definitely recommend it. But my advice is to be your authentic self – don’t try to be like us, make it different. Financially, don’t quit your day job, but it’s a really unique and enjoyable experience.

“My kids said they couldn’t be prouder of me – seeing me do what I love - and I was able to joke to my mother how all the drama classes she paid for me as a child finally paid off!”