He’s been dubbed The Paudfather and there’s been plenty of Paudie-for-president chatter, but on a Zoom call alongside fellow contestant Christine Duff, 68-year-old retired prison officer Paudie Maloney insists he thought he’d be among the first booted out of The Traitors Ireland series.
“I’m saying this with my hand on my heart. I did not expect to get so far,” 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 – “I’m not a f**kin’ hugger” will surely find its way onto T-shirts – and Irish Everydaddy vibes.
Until he was banished by his fellow contestants on Tuesday night, 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. “I’m not playing the age game. I’m genuine when I say this, I did think it would be, ‘we’ll get rid of the aul lad, and we’ll move on from there, he’ll be collateral damage’. But it didn’t work that way, and I was thrilled, to be honest”.
Cork 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’ll be one of his officials making sure the Áras is kept well stocked with crisps.
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“He’s mad for the Tayto,” the beauty therapist from Ballincollig, who lives with multiple sclerosis, reveals. She says she wasn’t bothered by the coffin being closed on her. “The coffin that we were lying in had a lot more room than the MRI machines in our hospitals have … it was comfortable, and it was an experience … I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Apart from president, Liveline presenter is another future role for Paudie that has been discussed, but he knows his limits. “I definitely wouldn’t have the intelligence for that. I’d have to say it would be way above my bar.”
Why does Paudie think he was so popular? He seems genuinely stumped by the question so Christine interjects: “Can 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.”
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“If I did that, that’s brilliant,” says Paudie. “But it was accidental. I didn’t set out to kind of give that image … to be honest, I was being myself.”
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. “Working as a prison officer is a stressful job,” he says. “You were always under stress, because you’re watching yourself, but I never felt as stressed as I did for those two weeks.”
What kind of a prison officer was he? “Well, you know what? I was very fair. I’m not blowing my own trumpet when I say this, but I was very fair, and that’s all I wanted to be … and nobody can say anything different.”
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.
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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’t 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 RTÉ, 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. “Absolutely brilliant,” says Paudie. “That will be grandchild number 10.”
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’s been gratifying to see the support. She hopes her appearance on the show has given other people with the illness hope.
“They’ve said that I’ve encouraged them, that I’ve 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’s 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’s affecting you, you do have a choice.”
As for Paudie, he has no choice but to get used to people calling him a legend and an icon. “Oh, Jesus … it’s hard to hear words like that in relation to myself … I would never see myself like that. I’m just happy that this has turned out so well for me, and there’s no negativity whatsoever.”
His newfound fame does have one downside: it’s been taking him a bit longer to navigate his way around Limerick. “I was in the Crescent Shopping Centre last week in Limerick, and we were just walking down the aisle; it’s about 40 or 50 yards long. It took me about 20 minutes to get down to the other end … it was strangers walking past you saying hello Paudie … it’s excellent.”
What other opportunities might he pursue off the back of his Traitors experience? “Look, at my age, I should probably step back, but there’s no door closed … I’ll try anything once, if it goes wrong, it’s gone. That’s it,” he says, not ruling out, say, a stint on a show such as Gogglebox. “That’s up to the Gogglebox people,” he says which is handy because “the Gogglebox people”, Kite Entertainment, are also the people behind The Traitors.
The series is about to conclude. Asked who he wants to win the up to €50,000 prize money, Paudie says he has no preference. “To be honest, any of them, and I’m not sitting on the fence here … because they’re all excellent people.” Christine is happy with whoever wins as long as it’s a woman and singles out gamer Oyin for special mention. “Team Girlies all the way.”
Does Paudie have any advice for future contestants on the show? “Go in and play your game. Be honest, be true to yourself, and enjoy, because it is a very enjoyable experience. It’s very stressful, but it’s very enjoyable.”
The final episodes of The Traitors Ireland can be seen on RTÉ 1 on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 9.30pm
