Following a first season that had viewers hooked, The Traitors Ireland returned in late August for another round of secrets, suspicion and dramatic roundtables. GCN caught up with winners Anna and Diego to hear all about life inside the castle, keeping secrets and making it all the way to the final together.

Hosted by Siobhán McSweeney, The Traitors Ireland sees contestants navigate suspicion, deception and plenty of twists as they compete for a jackpot of up to €50,000. In the end, Anna and Diego shared the €45,850 prize pot and took home €22,925 each.

Since the finale aired, suddenly being recognised in public has been quite an experience to adjust to for the two contestants.

“It’s been a very good response. Everyone is so lovely, so it’s nice,” Anna told GCN. “I’ve had random people handing me their children for photographs. Trying to walk into Tesco to do my weekly shop, I’m like, ‘Hello, child.’”

Long before their win, however, both had to keep their involvement in the series completely under wraps.

“I was super excited when I got the call to confirm,” Diego said. “I was at work and couldn’t really celebrate because you can’t tell anyone. You have only one person you can tell you’re going.”

“I had to contain my excitement. I really wanted to go home and chat with Denis to see if he got the same call, because we were going together.”

Anna found out she had been cast in a slightly more unusual setting. “I was away with my partner and a group of friends, and I got a call while on a boat in the middle of the sea. I don’t know how I had signal, but I did. I had to play it so cool.”

Anna said her partner “was covered by an NDA, so I could tell her. I whispered it to her, and she was like, ‘What the hell? Are you having a laugh?’ All our friends were there, about eight of them were within arm’s reach.”

That left Anna and Diego with another challenge of explaining where they were disappearing to while filming. Diego initially considered telling people he was travelling to Brazil, before deciding that lie might be a little too big.

“I was planning to say I was going to Brazil, but then I was like, ‘That’s a big lie.’ A lot of things could possibly go wrong if I said that. We decided to say we were going for a retreat, a detox. That was our lie.”

Anna, meanwhile, told friends she was going on a cruise for her birthday, which happened to fall during filming.

For Diego, there was an added secret to protect. He entered the castle alongside his husband Denis, with the other contestants unaware that the pair were married.

Diego said he was curious to see whether anyone would clock their relationship or notice anything unusual in their behaviour. He also reflected on how being queer had already made him accustomed to thinking carefully about how others might react.

“I think, as queer people, we have to think, ‘How are people going to react?’ Even thinking about where we’re going for our honeymoon, you can’t really go to a lot of places and be comfortable,” he said.

Once it became clear nobody had figured them out, they were able to have a little more fun with the secret. “Eventually, when you see nobody’s clocking you, you start enjoying it. It became a thing where he and I would get together when there was nobody around and have a quick time to talk.”

Denis was murdered (in the game) a few episodes into the series, leaving Diego to navigate the rest of the game without his husband.

“It was a bit difficult,” Diego recalled. “I remember that morning, he was already in the hot seat because he was so vocal at the roundtable.”

Even if Denis had walked through the door at breakfast, Diego worried it could have made things worse.

“I remember sitting down and thinking, ‘If he walks in, it’s going to be bad news,’ because everybody was talking about, ‘If he walks in, he’s a Traitor.’”

Diego eventually made it all the way to the final alongside Anna, something that might have seemed unlikely earlier in the series after the pair clashed over his decision to secretly accept a shield.

“Looking back on that episode, I’m like, ‘In fairness, Diego did save us all.’ But in that moment, it didn’t feel that way,” Anna said.

Her frustration came from seeing an agreement between the contestants broken. “We’d said we were going to do one thing, and immediately somebody went against it. I understand it was a game, and everyone’s playing it for themselves, but it was the point. That’s why I wasn’t too thrilled, let’s say.”

By the finale, however, things had come full circle. “Given that it was myself and Diego at the end, after everything, it’s insane,” Anna said. “To arrive at the castle side by side and to leave side by side is huge.”

We also asked whether constantly having to read a room as LGBTQ+ people may have helped Anna and Diego while playing a game built around observing other people.

Having several other LGBTQ+ contestants in the castle certainly helped both winners feel more at ease. “It definitely gives you some comfort,” Diego said.

Anna agreed: “It did feel a lot more comfortable knowing you’re not necessarily the only one.”

For Diego, appearing on such a major television series alongside his husband also came with concerns about how audiences might react.

“Because I was going with Denis, I was like, ‘How is the public going to see us? Are we putting ourselves out too much?’ But then in my car was me Anna and David. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ It definitely gives you some comfort,” he said.

Anna then told us about her initial fear upon entering the game: “It was definitely one of my biggest fears: how are people going to view me and see me? Are they going to be homophobic? There are people from all different walks of life. You’ve no idea.”

“Seeing six other queer people was amazing, especially for such a big TV show,” Anna said. “It was great representation for the community.”

Now that The Traitors Ireland is over, Anna and Diego have been able to take in the reaction properly, from strangers recognising them on the street to families getting in touch about watching the series together.

“It’s so mad. People shout when you walk in the street,” Anna said. “It’s a bit crazy, but it’s so much fun.”

“People are so excited about the show, and they should be because it’s fantastic. It’s kind of sunk in. Anytime someone shouts at me, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah!’”

For Diego, winning a game he already loved was an incredible experience, made even better by the response from viewers.

“The reception is so lovely,” he said. “I see parents messaging, saying, ‘My kid wants to dress as you for Halloween,’ and saying they’re watching the show as a family together. That’s very beautiful.”

“It’s something we used to do, and now not so much,” Diego added. “It’s nice to have that back.”