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Ballyholland woman Rachel Duffy continues to test her competitive streak on one of television's most popular game shows after landing a spot on The Traitors. Two episodes in Rachel is just warming up and you can check her out again tonight Saturday 3 January at 7.45pm on BBC1.
Rachel, 42, who works as Head of Communications at the Clanrye Group, has been a fan of the deception-based game for years and couldn't resist the chance to compete. The self-confessed games fanatic has been playing the similar game Mafia for around 15 years.
Speaking about why she applied, Duffy said: "I love the game. I've played the game Mafia for about 15 years, and I am a competitive person, through and through. My friends and family call me Monica from Friends. I just love games. I love challenges, so I thought I'm going to give that a go."
The communications expert reckons her professional skills will come in handy during the competition, though she's planning to keep her strategic communications experience under wraps. Instead, she'll be telling fellow contestants she works in marketing, leaving out the fact that speaking to people and getting her point across is second nature to her.
Duffy has clearly done her homework, even going as far as studying online classes from an ex-FBI agent about micro expressions and reading people. "I love human behaviour. If I'm not a Traitor, I'm going to be the best Faithful that you've ever seen," she explained, adding that she'd be watching everything from swallow patterns to blink rates.
Her game plan revolves around being fun, positive and lovely to be around, whilst secretly analysing everyone's behaviour. "I'm a really sociable person that loves finding out things, so I really enjoy genuinely building nice connections and finding out about people. That also makes me a great detective, because I can piece together if people are potentially covering over the truth with lies," she said.
When it comes to playing as a Traitor, Duffy admitted she'd relish the opportunity. "I'd love it. That is my go-to because I love being in control of a game more than anything. Kind of like being a bit of a puppet master. I have a lot of integrity in real life; I work for a charity that helps people. But I would love so much to play in a game where I get to backstab and lie to people's faces, as I don't get to do that any other time."
She's clearly not messing about either, stating bluntly: "It's very black and white for me. If it's a game, I would do anything at all to win. They've all signed up to a game with a very obvious name on it. If they don't get the memo, you're on the wrong show."
Even her husband struggles to tell when she's winding him up these days, with Duffy revealing he can't always work out if she's telling the truth.
Games are a regular fixture in the Duffy household, with Christmas night reserved for the ultimate family games night where things always get very competitive. She reckons she'll be strong in the missions too, describing herself as a logical thinker who's good with puzzles and patient enough to help struggling teammates when needed.
If she does manage to win the prize money, Duffy has heartfelt plans for how she'd spend it. Her mum, who has dementia, wants to go on holiday like she used to before Duffy's dad passed away. "I would make memories with the most important people in my life. That's all she wants. I just want to create memories with her whilst I'm still lucky enough to have her, and to create memories with my kids, because they just love their nanny."
