The Traitors, Niall put his early elimination down to the ‘triple threat’ of the ‘wild seductive’ Tyrone accent and his being a ‘good-looking gaeilgeoir… if I can quote someone – not my words’. But he was ‘humbled’ again by a recent incident in the gym, when a woman approached after glancing over several times. ‘I was like, “Hello, can I help you?” And she goes to me, “Are you still using that machine?” ‘I thought she was looking for a photograph or something.
The Traitors Ireland’s ‘good-looking gaeilgeoir’ has revealed he was happy to sacrifice himself for the cause of the Irish
language on last week’s show – and he could land a TV job out of it.
Primary school teacher Niall McKeown’s command of Irish was the reason the group were able to complete the task in episode two of the hit reality show. But the adulation he received from his fellow Faithfuls in the aftermath led the Traitors to eliminate him from the game.
The Co. Tyrone man said the episode showed ‘that the Gaels are still here in the North’ where the Irish language is ‘going from strength to strength’.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The language really put me in the spotlight. But listen, I’m from the North, so if I had to do it for the language, I think I’m nearly happy to go down for it.’ The 25-year-old added: ‘I always said, if even for two seconds of that mission I could get a young child to think, “Oh my god, the Irish language is cool…”
Which has happened, because I’ve had teachers text me saying, “I’m going to use this as a learning tool of what you can do and here the language can get you”.’
Niall has been capitalising on his newfound profile through TikTok videos and – in what sounded like a come-and-get-me plea to RTÉ Junior – gave an example of his creativity in a university assignment.
‘[The inspector] said to me it was like watching an RTÉ children’s TV show. So I think it’s always been in me, and this has just given me a platform, thank God, to just entertain people.’ And the múinteoir, who was on holiday last week and missed the Traitors Uncloaked after-show, said if Patrick Kielty is reading, he is ‘ready for The Late Late Show, to get on for that interview’.
Laughing that his ‘head has just got 10 times bigger’ from The Traitors, Niall put his early elimination down to the ‘triple threat’ of the ‘wild seductive’ Tyrone accent and his being a ‘good-looking gaeilgeoir… if I can quote someone – not my words’. But he was ‘humbled’ again by a recent incident in the gym, when a woman approached after glancing over several times. ‘I was like, “Hello, can I help you?” And she goes to me, “Are you still using that machine?” ‘I thought she was looking for a photograph or something.
The young contestant hit it off with Michelle on The Traitors, who he said has ‘so many qualities that my own mother has’ and is his preferred contestant to win.‘I always said she was like mó Mhamaí in there.’
Fellow contestant Nina Shelton is rooting for Oyin, who she said would ‘do really good things’ with the prize money, based on the ‘lovely conversation’ they had in Slane Castle. ‘You haven’t seen a lot of her yet in the episodes,’ Nina told the MoS.
‘She’s been very quiet, but she’s actually a really lovely human and I’d love her to get to the end.’ The clothing business owner was incorrectly booted out as a Traitor by her peers, having brought suspicion on herself by mentioning too many names to other players. She admitted: ‘I’m just a suspicious person, and I’m a bit gobby. So that wasn’t down to editing at all.’
The mother of four said ‘nobody’ knew about her appearance on the show until it went out, even her children, who are aged six to 19. ‘My kids found out when they went to school on Monday that I was on the television on Sunday,’ she said.
‘[Their schoolmates] were like, “Was your mam on the television?” ‘And they were like, “Ehh, maybe?”’
Nina has ‘no regrets’ about her confrontational gameplay or ‘grudges’ against other players. But she noted: ‘I don’t live my life wanting to rub people up the wrong way. I’m not actually a very confrontational person. I don’t go seeking drama and arguments and fights, but I’m well able for it if it comes my way.’
Though she conceded she ‘probably tripped myself up six times a day by getting people’s names wrong’. ‘I definitely confused
Niall and Nick on occasion. And so if you’re telling a story, “Oh, I was sitting beside Niall in the kitchen…” and everybody there knows you were sitting beside Nick – all of a sudden [‘So I can see where Michelle was coming from [in her rounding on Nina in episode three].’
Nina admits she was ‘flummoxed’ on learning who the Traitors are. Niall had suspected Eamon and Katelyn but said Paudie floored me’.
And neither of the two evictees had a clue that Paudie and Andrew are father and son. ‘I asked for DNA tests,’ Nina said. ‘I was like, “Are you actually kidding? There’s no way.” ‘I didn’t even think they looked or sounded similar.’ ‘I’m still waiting for the Jeremy Kyle [paternity test] results to come through,’ Niall said.
