{"id":76489,"date":"2025-09-21T05:37:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T05:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76489\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T05:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T05:37:10","slug":"the-paudfather-breakout-star-of-the-traitors-on-winning-hearts-with-his-irish-dad-energy-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76489\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paudfather, breakout star of The Traitors, on winning hearts with his Irish-dad energy \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

He\u2019s been dubbed The Paudfather<\/a> and there\u2019s been plenty of Paudie-for-president<\/a> chatter, but on a Zoom call alongside fellow contestant Christine Duff, 68-year-old retired prison officer Paudie Maloney insists he thought he\u2019d be among the first booted out of The Traitors Ireland<\/a> series. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m saying this with my hand on my heart. I did not expect to get so far,\u201d says the breakout star of the Irish version of the show that has gripped audiences from day one. Paudie won hearts with his plain talking \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m not a f**kin\u2019 hugger\u201d will surely find its way onto T-shirts \u2013 and Irish Everydaddy vibes. <\/p>\n

Until he was banished by his fellow contestants on Tuesday night<\/a>, the Limerick man had displayed wily cunning, successfully managing to hide the fact that he was a Traitor from his fellow contestants who are mostly in their 20s and 30s. \u201cI\u2019m not playing the age game. I\u2019m genuine when I say this, I did think it would be, \u2018we\u2019ll get rid of the aul lad, and we\u2019ll move on from there, he\u2019ll be collateral damage\u2019. But it didn\u2019t work that way, and I was thrilled, to be honest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cork<\/a> woman Christine, a Faithful who was murdered and the lid put on her coffin in the unforgettable funeral episode, says that if Paudie does run for president she\u2019ll be one of his officials making sure the \u00c1ras is kept well stocked with crisps. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s mad for the Tayto,\u201d the beauty therapist from Ballincollig, who lives with multiple sclerosis, reveals. She says she wasn\u2019t bothered by the coffin being closed on her. \u201cThe coffin that we were lying in had a lot more room than the MRI machines in our hospitals have \u2026 it was comfortable, and it was an experience \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t change a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from president, Liveline presenter is another future role for Paudie that has been discussed, but he knows his limits. \u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t have the intelligence for that. I\u2019d have to say it would be way above my bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why does Paudie think he was so popular? He seems genuinely stumped by the question so Christine interjects: \u201cCan I say why? I know why. Because a lot of my friends were at the age where they have actually lost their dad. Their dads are no longer alive. And you brought that, you brought that feeling of their dad being in their lives, back to them.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors craic, wit and wolfhounds has restored my pride in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I did that, that\u2019s brilliant,\u201d says Paudie. \u201cBut it was accidental. I didn\u2019t set out to kind of give that image \u2026 to be honest, I was being myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his most quoted contributions to the show was the fact that he found being a Traitor on the show more stressful than being a prison officer in Limerick Prison. \u201cWorking as a prison officer is a stressful job,\u201d he says. \u201cYou were always under stress, because you\u2019re watching yourself, but I never felt as stressed as I did for those two weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Traitors Ireland contestant Paudie Maloney: ‘I\u2019m just happy that this has turned out so well for me.’ <\/p>\n

What kind of a prison officer was he? \u201cWell, you know what? I was very fair. I\u2019m not blowing my own trumpet when I say this, but I was very fair, and that\u2019s all I wanted to be \u2026 and nobody can say anything different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The father of four and grandfather of nine seems stunned by his popularity and by the Paudie fever that has gripped the nation. His life until Traitors had been simple and centred on family. He retired 13 years ago from the prison service and has spent a lot of the time since travelling around Ireland in a camper van with his wife of 47 years, Bernadette. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Letters to the editor: Addicted to The TraitorsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A huge fan of the UK version of The Traitors, he decided to enter even though, at the age of 68, with two hip replacements, he didn\u2019t fancy his chances. He entered the Irish version oblivious to the fact that his son Andrew was also being cast in the show. That entertaining plot-twist was another reason people were captivated by the series which has been a huge ratings grabber for RT\u00c9, with 600,000 people tuning in for launch night alone. Recruited by his daddy as a Traitor and then banished at the round table, Andrew has since revealed that he found out just before coming on the show that he and his partner are expecting a baby. \u201cAbsolutely brilliant,\u201d says Paudie. \u201cThat will be grandchild number 10.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paudie is not the only contestant who has gained fans. As a single mother with teenage children and a woman living with MS, Christine says it\u2019s been gratifying to see the support. She hopes her appearance on the show has given other people with the illness hope. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors cut loose: Paudie\u2019s son Andrew lifts lid on hug-gate – \u2018he was being pure cute\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve said that I\u2019ve encouraged them, that I\u2019ve given them, I suppose, a glimmer of light that just because you have a diagnosis, and just because you automatically think the worst case scenario when you do get a diagnosis with MS … it\u2019s not the end of their world. You get a choice in life. You get a choice with your thoughts. Every day you wake up, you decide what kind of day you want to have. Just because you have this illness or you have this condition or you have something in your life that\u2019s affecting you, you do have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Traitors Ireland contestant Christine Duff: ‘You get a choice in life. Every day you wake up, you decide what kind of day you want to have’ <\/p>\n

As for Paudie, he has no choice but to get used to people calling him a legend and an icon. \u201cOh, Jesus \u2026 it\u2019s hard to hear words like that in relation to myself \u2026 I would never see myself like that. I\u2019m just happy that this has turned out so well for me, and there\u2019s no negativity whatsoever.\u201d <\/p>\n

His newfound fame does have one downside: it\u2019s been taking him a bit longer to navigate his way around Limerick. \u201cI was in the Crescent Shopping Centre last week in Limerick, and we were just walking down the aisle; it\u2019s about 40 or 50 yards long. It took me about 20 minutes to get down to the other end \u2026 it was strangers walking past you saying hello Paudie \u2026 it\u2019s excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n

What other opportunities might he pursue off the back of his Traitors experience? \u201cLook, at my age, I should probably step back, but there\u2019s no door closed \u2026 I\u2019ll try anything once, if it goes wrong, it\u2019s gone. That\u2019s it,\u201d he says, not ruling out, say, a stint on a show such as Gogglebox<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s up to the Gogglebox people,\u201d he says which is handy because \u201cthe Gogglebox people\u201d, Kite Entertainment<\/a>, are also the people behind The Traitors.<\/p>\n

The series is about to conclude. Asked who he wants to win the up to \u20ac50,000 prize money, Paudie says he has no preference. \u201cTo be honest, any of them, and I\u2019m not sitting on the fence here \u2026 because they\u2019re all excellent people.\u201d Christine is happy with whoever wins as long as it\u2019s a woman and singles out gamer Oyin for special mention. \u201cTeam Girlies all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Paudie have any advice for future contestants on the show? \u201cGo in and play your game. Be honest, be true to yourself, and enjoy, because it is a very enjoyable experience. It\u2019s very stressful, but it\u2019s very enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final episodes of The Traitors Ireland can be seen on RT\u00c9 1 on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 9.30pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He\u2019s been dubbed The Paudfather and there\u2019s been plenty of Paudie-for-president chatter, but on a Zoom call alongside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17,51769,43564],"class_list":{"0":"post-76489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-paudie","13":"tag-traitors-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}