Fiona Hughes, the 62-year-old from Swansea who became the first secret traitor in The Traitors, has spoken out about her dramatic feud with fellow traitor Rachel, which ultimately led to her banishment. Appearing on the Welsh special of The Traitors: Uncloaked, hosted by Ed Gamble, Fiona addressed her decision to betray Rachel at the roundtable.
During the episode, Fiona admitted she knew Rachel was telling the truth when she accused her of lying, but chose to attack anyway. “I absolutely knew she was saying the truth, and I trusted her explicitly. However, I’d had my suspicions on Rachel, and I thought that if anybody’s going to throw me under the bus, it’s going to be Rachel,” she explained. She compared her strategy to poker, saying, “If you play poker and you have a rubbish hand, you’re not going to keep putting money in the kitty. You throw the hand down, isn't it? And I thought: ‘That’s what I’m going to do here. I’m going to throw a grenade in the room and let’s see who comes out of it unscathed.’ Unfortunately, it was me who came out.”
Fiona also reflected on being the first secret traitor, describing the moment Claudia Winkleman handed her the red cloak as “elated, thrilled, chuffed.” She joked, “Women of a certain age normally have Tena. I don’t... Honestly, it was just amazing.”
Celebrity Traitors star Charlotte Church praised Fiona’s performance, calling it “iconic and wonderful” and noting she “beautifully represent[ed] the crones.” Series one traitor Amanda Lovett added she was glad Fiona “had the balls to go head-to-head outright with another traitor.”
