‘It really knocked me for six’ - Irish Traitors star says online abuse left her in tears

A former Irish contestant of the BBC version of The Traitors has said it breaks her heart to see the online abuse current stars of the series on RTÉ are being subjected to after Katelyn Divilly revealed the extent of online harassment she has received since being banished from the castle last week.

Galway woman Katelyn was banished by her fellow contestants in last week's show after finally being caught out as a Traitor. The 32-year-old was a big star in the show and since leaving, she has said she's received "disproportionate hostility" as a woman on social media.

Katelyn even said she was forced to block some people who were continuously leaving personal comments on her posts and messaging her daily.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Monday morning, Anna Duke who participated in the BBC version of the show said she had a similar experience with online abuse.

Anna said: "I did The Traitors in January, and I was absolutely shocked about the amount of abuse that we got online. Going into it, I think because I hadn’t really engaged on online critiques of shows before, it’s not something I even thought happened, because if you’re not looking out for it, you don’t really notice it.

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"But I was absolutely stunned by the amount of people who messaged me horrible things, who were making videos making fun of us, who were writing these big think pieces on how we’re bad people on Twitter and Reddit. It really, really took me off guard; it really knocked me for six."

Anna said it's easy to accuse contestants of being too competitive, but it is just a game. The former contestant said: "You’re allowed to get into the spirit of the game, and you know, play. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it doesn’t really say, I don’t think, too much about your character."

Anna said there was one particular video online which was impersonating her and other players which left her in tears. "My personality had never been up for public debate – and I wasn’t even one of the most hated or most critiqued characters on our show,” Anna said.

"I wouldn’t even say I was one of the breakout stars on our show; that’s why I was so shocked by the amount of abuse that I got. I just remember opening my phone one day, and it wasn’t even like I was looking for it, it was just on TikTok.

"This girl made a video just kind of making fun of me – I think women sometimes get it a little bit tougher – but of me and three of the other women on my cast."

Anna remarked that "it genuinely felt like I was being bullied."