“We Were Attacked from All Sides”: Winning Traitors contestants speak out on online hate

When The Traitors Ireland hit screens a few weeks ago, it didn’t take long for the drama inside the castle to spill out into the online world. While the mind games and betrayals are part of the format, three contestants say the level of abuse directed at them went far beyond entertainment.

Sitting in for Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1, Dermot Whelan spoke to the winners of the series Vanessa Oyin and Kellie, who opened up about the toll of being subjected to a wave of online hate.

“Myself and the girls… we were attacked really from all sides,” Oyin recalled. “We had our whole identity brought into a situation that was just taken out of proportion. It was really anxiety-inducing, I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”

For Kellie, who had lived a private life in Donegal before joining the show, the sudden attention was overwhelming.

“I was never in the public eye, people at home knew me, but not the whole country,” she said. “So just for people to make assumptions… and especially after comments around Joanna’s exit, it was blown completely out of proportion. The ‘Mean Girls’ tag stuck, and people used that as their reason to dislike us.”

The controversy stemmed from a tense moment on the show when fellow contestant Joanna called Vanessa, Oyin, Kellie and Faye “Mean Girls” as she was being banished from the castle. This sparked a wave of online speculation about supposed cliques among the women. But both Vanessa and Kellie insist the reality was far different.

Read More: “It’s Nice to Be Nice”: Joanna urges people to be kind, after Traitors Ireland fallout

“The day it all happened, the reason Oyin and I were so upset was because we’d shared a lot of very intimate moments with Joanna,” Vanessa explained. “We were the only three immigrant girls on the show we understood each other. That’s why it felt like a betrayal in the game, not because of any so called clique.”

Oyin agreed, saying that editing and outside perceptions fed a narrative that didn’t match what was happening inside the castle.

“It wasn’t a clicky thing at all it was just me and Oyin who were close. People saw us going after something passionately and assumed it was a gang up, when really it was just about the gameplay. If someone lied or acted suspicious, in the logic of the game, you believed they were a Traitor.”

While both women acknowledge that signing up for reality TV comes with scrutiny, they question whether personal attacks should be brushed off as “part of the job.”

“Putting yourself out there is difficulty you’re taking a leap of faith,” Vanessa said. “But that doesn’t mean you should just have to accept people tearing you apart online. It’s not nice at all.”

The experience has opened up a broader conversation about how female contestants, in particular, are treated by audiences of reality television. What might seem like casual commentary to viewers can carry lasting impact for those on the receiving end.

As the dust settles on The Traitors Ireland’s debut season, Vanessa, Oyin and Kellie’s reflections serve as a reminder that behind the strategies, betrayals, and viral moments are real people navigating the fallout of national attention and the sometimes cruel court of public opinion.