The Traitors contestant Matthew Hyndman has shared a harrowing account of his escape from so-called gay conversion therapy in Northern Ireland, a practice he has since campaigned to have outlawed across the UK.
A 'Catastrophic' Coming Out and Church Pressure
In a deeply personal column for The Independent, the creative director detailed how his life unravelled after coming out while working as a church missionary in his twenties. Hyndman described growing up in a tight-knit church congregation where he was taught that his sexuality would lead to 'eternal damnation'.
His coming out, which he labelled 'catastrophic', was met not with support but with immediate demands from mission leaders. He was told to undergo therapy and to publicly confess and repent in front of 400 fellow missionaries. 'It felt as if everything that I knew had imploded,' Hyndman wrote, 'I had nobody to turn to.'
Refusing 'Cure' and Founding a Movement
Matthew Hyndman refused the coercive 'counselling', a decision he is now profoundly grateful for. He recognised that he did not need to be changed or cured. Instead of conforming, he left his old life behind, moving to London where he faced years of silence from his family.
Turning his experience into action, Hyndman founded the Ben Conversion Therapy movement in 2020. The campaign calls on the UK government to ban any effort to change, suppress, or modify a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Political Promise of a Ban and Traitors Twist
The issue of conversion practices entered the political arena in 2024 when the Labour Party revealed draft legislation to ban the 'abuse' of conversion therapy for gay and transgender people. The proposed law aimed to create new offences and allow people to freely explore their identity. However, the promise of a UK-wide ban has since been delayed, leaving campaigners like Hyndman waiting.
Hyndman's revelation comes after he made The Traitors history on the BBC One show, asking the hidden Traitors to 'seduce' him during a tense questioning round. The contestant, who took a 'massive risk' with his strategy, told the Traitors to reject seducing another player and instead murder fellow Faithful Jessie, with a promise to recruit him later.
His personal bravery on screen mirrors the strength he showed in rejecting the harmful practices of his past, as he continues to advocate for a future where no one else has to endure what he did.
