The Traitors Ireland winner Kelley Higgins has said fans ‘screamed’ in her face for photos – as she opens up about stepping back from the spotlight after winning the show.
Last September, faithful Kelley along with Vanessa Ogbonna and Oyin Adeyemi were victorious over traitors Nick O’Loughlin and Ben Donohue, in the finale of the RTÉ One show ‘Traitors Ireland’.
The marketing executive said the first few months after the show were ‘complete chaos’ with fans ‘screaming in my face’ on the street for photos.
‘People got so invested. As much as that part of it was so nice, I was happy to come to Belfast and step away from that and come back to normal. I don’t think it was a life that I could live forever you know, being in the public eye and having everyone know you and know your face.
Kelley left her job working for her dad and moved to Belfast in the new year to take on a role in Rory’s Travel Club.
‘The show only came to the BBC recently so not a lot of people knew it so there’s not as much “oh, you’re that girl from the Traitors”. It’s more like “You’re that girl from Rory’s Travel Club”.’
Kelley revealed what she did with her winnings after the trio scooped €14,300 each.
‘I’m so boring.. all of mine is sitting in stocks and shares and savings and stuff. I spent maybe €1,000 on shopping buying stuff that I wanted.
‘I have it in my savings and it is nice for it to be there because I came straight from college and I didn’t have much money to my name. But now, I can pay for my rent in Belfast and I know that money is there, rather than blowing it all.
‘They didn’t tell us when the money was coming. I just checked my bank account one day and I had five figures instead of three. It was after the final aired.’
Sharing some show insights, Kelley said contestants had no phone for two weeks so she had to lie to friends and family about her whereabouts.
‘I had come home from those two weeks mentally drained and exhausted. I said at the time I had to work from Galway and because I worked for my dad, I just told the girls that my dad has bet me that I couldn’t go without my phone for two weeks.
‘When we were away it was over Mother’s Day. My nanny was doing a big dinner for the day and she was disgusted that I wasn’t there. I couldn’t even call her,’ she said laughing.
‘We don’t have our phones. On day one, they take your phone, put it in a bag and you don’t see it until you’re back. And you’re given these old school alarm clocks and that is how you wake up in the morning and know the time.’
But Kelley admitted she actually missed her TV debut as she was attending Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co Laois when it aired.
‘With it being the first season, I definitely didn’t expect it to blow up as much as it did and obviously we never seen a single episode. I didn’t know how it was produced, how I was coming across, how it looked and the day that it aired was the Sunday of Electric Picnic, so I didn’t even get to watch it.
‘I was in a field in Stradbally so I didn’t even watch it. There was definitely no time to reflect,’ she said laughing.
And she said everyone is till in contact after the show as she shares her pearls of wisdom to the new batch of contestants appearing on season two later this year.
‘Everyone is still in contact. We all still talk. I see Christina and Amy quite regularly. It’s nice because these are the people who know what you went through.’
Her advice for the new batch of contestants this year, Kelley said viewers need to be ‘mindful’ about the show when they get invested.
‘Think before you type. Social media is forever. It’s so hard to put yourself out there in the first place.’
‘I’d actually like to see a Traitor win it, just to switch it up.”
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