Age: 35
Occupation: Creative Director
Location: Edinburgh
Why did you apply to be on The Traitors?
It's an adventure and just seems fun. My New Year's resolution was to have more adventures, and what I meant by that was more hiking, canoe trips, and camping, that sort of thing, but I've watched The Traitors and absolutely loved it, so I just thought why not give it a go.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you think you'll bring to the show?
Having watched the show, I think that I'll be the first Northern Irish man to be on The Traitors, which is really fun. I've worked in an office in London, and people don't really know anything about Northern Ireland, and they don't know much about what it means to be Northern Irish, so the view that they do have on me and my accent is probably going to benefit me. I grew up in the countryside on a farm in Northern Ireland, which immediately creates this warm, fuzzy feeling.
What do you think you'll bring to the game?
I'm really competitive. I've played a lot of sports in my life and I love games, so I'm going to play to win. I'm not over emotional and I really want to be a Traitor as I think that I can stay true to my own values whilst still playing the game. I'm a good person, and in normal life, if I saw someone in trouble on the street, I would be the first person that would step in to help them. However, this is a game and I'm very capable of compartmentalising, so if I must get rid of someone because that's what the game's saying, I won't think twice about it, I'll just do it.
Do you have a game plan going in?
Anyone but me - that's my simple plan, as long as it's not me. I do not care whether they're a Traitor or a Faithful, as long as it's not me. I think The Traitors is a social game, and if you've got favour with people, or if someone has a warmer feeling towards me than someone else, then that's the way that the vote will go. I think my biggest tactic is to always be part of the bigger group. No way am I getting off the train or getting in a coffin. I won't do anything that separates me from the wider group because I think that leaves you in danger. You're playing two games essentially - murder and banishment. If you're too much of a threat, you get murdered and if you're not popular enough, you get banished. It's tricky to get that balance.
What are you like playing games with friends and family, would you say you're competitive?
Yes, I couldn't be more competitive. I play lots of board games and sports. I love Settlers of Catan, and I've been playing a game called Dominion recently with friends. I think I allow myself to become a different person when I play games, and I allow myself to be brutal, in the way that you must be if you want to win.
Do you think you'll be good at the Missions? What strengths do you think you might bring to them?
Yeah, that's what I'm really excited about. That's one of my strategies as well, to be valuable. I'm not afraid of anything, I'm sporty and I cold swim all the time, so the physical missions will be fine. I do a lot of bouldering and climbing, so the heights are also fine and I think I would relish all of them. The missions are what I'm really excited about, and I hope that's a way to also prove that you're trying to win money for the team and maybe even get a shield.
If you're a Traitor, how do you think you'll feel?
Really excited. I feel like being a Traitor may knock me down a peg or two because I think if I'm not a Traitor, I might be getting mouthy. Whereas if I am a Traitor, maybe I can fly under the radar a little bit more than I would if I was a Faithful.
Would you say you've got a good poker face?
I think so! I'm not showing it now, but we're not in the game.
If you're a Traitor, how far are you prepared to go to win the game?
It's a game, so there's no limit. I can't express this enough because I am quite moral and I want to do the right thing, but this is a game, and so the moral dilemma that I see people face, I don't quite get because there's no morality in this at all. We all know that we're entering a game.
If you're a Faithful, what do you think your game plan would be?
I'll maybe try and figure out who I think is a Traitor and just get close to them.
How good are you at spotting a liar?
I feel like I'm quite good at it, but in this game, you don't know people, so it's hard. I don't have any history with anyone to know what their tales are, so who knows? I think I'm quite good at noticing subtle shifts in behaviour towards me, so I think I would very quickly spot if someone was to create distance with me or didn't make as much eye contact.
If you're a Faithful what qualities do you think you're going to need to make it through to the final?
Just to not be annoying. My strategy is to be myself and build meaningful relationships, which I think is actually the core part of it. It's about genuinely finding out things, talking to people, and building that sort of trust by being curious.
If you win the prize money, what do you think you'll spend it on?
There are many things that I've imagined spending the money on. I really want to buy a little cottage in The Highlands somewhere. I go up there so much, and I just kind of imagine myself there so that's probably what I would do. Me and my partner got engaged during COVID, and I had campaigned for marriage equality in Northern Ireland - they had civil partnerships, but they never had same sex marriage until 2020. At the time I was campaigning, I didn't think that I wanted to get married, but now I feel like I do. So having campaigned for marriage equality in Northern Ireland, I think that's a better story for the last Round Table if I get there because it's not cool to go against the gay who wants to get married! I think that I would probably say that I'm going to get married back home in Northern Ireland on my family farm. And then if I win, I might just have to do that.
