Rachel’s ‘cool, calculated’ play praised as Newry woman wins £47,000 in Traitors

Supporters erupted and popped prosecco in Newry as the final votes were revealed in BBC’s The Traitors, and local woman Rachel was crowned victorious.

Traitors Rachel and Stephen remained faithful to each other in the endgame of the show, voting out all of the faithful players in turn to bag the prize pot.

They split the prize pot of £95,750, taking home £47,875 each.

Host Claudia Winkleman appeared emotional as she said: “Two traitors but totally faithful to each other. You did it. You absolutely did it.”

Kathy McCaughey, a lifelong friend of Rachel’s, who hosted a watch party at the Choir Dance Studio, said she knew she had it in her.

“She’s a very clever, cool, calculated girl,” she said.

“After last night’s show. I thought, no, she’s going out. I don’t know how she managed to turn that whole game around, but she did.”

Rachel’s supporters at the watch party in Newry had their first big thrill just a few minutes into the episode, when she won a shield in a 50/50 draw to secure her place in the final after a cliffhanger on Thursday’s episode.

She went on to fight off another two faithfuls, and in the final vote remained true to her traitorous partner Stephen.

Ms McCaughey said: “I think Stephen thought himself he might get her, but his conscience took over, thank goodness.

“They went into it together, and they’ve both emerged as the winners.”

In the final challenges contestants scaled a dam to add more cash to the prize pot.

Ms McCaughey said she believed Rachel’s touted FBI training was “legit”.

“She was always competitive at sports, amazing at sports,” she said.

“She was a gymnast when she was a wee girl. Then played netball, football, you name it, she’s done it. That challenge was wee buns to her, she was amazing.”

Asked how she felt about Rachel’s master class in deceit, Ms McCaughey said: “This is the God’s honest truth, if you could pick a friend to be faithful to you, and if you ever asked her to ‘please don’t say that’, she definitely wouldn’t.

“She is a really, really, good, good friend.”