The Traitors star Matthew Hyndman, a creative director from Northern Ireland now living in Edinburgh, has become a fan favourite on the BBC series. In the latest episode, he hatched a plan to be recruited by the Traitors after the banishment of Secret Traitor Fiona Hughes, leaving viewers impressed by his cunning.
Off-screen, the 35-year-old has a dramatic personal history. In 2015, at age 24, he was subjected to gay conversion practices after private conversations about his sexuality were exposed to his church congregation. The email was shared with over 100 members of his Northern Irish religious community. He was pressured to undergo conversion therapy in front of 400 fellow missionaries but refused, later writing in The Independent that he was proud to recognise he didn't need to change or 'cure' himself.
Following his 'catastrophic coming out', one of his former churches cancelled his membership due to 'lifestyle choices' and his refusal to undergo 'counselling'. Conversion practices remain legal in the UK despite a 2018 government pledge to ban them. Matthew co-founded the Ban Conversion Practices group with activist Harry Hitchins, backed by organisations including Stonewall, to campaign for a ban. He hopes his visibility on The Traitors will amplify the urgency of the issue.
Before fame, Matthew sold photos of himself performing headstands nude in scenic locations, with prints priced at £1,180 from gallery Bard Scotland. He runs an Instagram account @headstandmatty for these images, which has nearly 17,000 followers. However, BBC bosses reportedly gave him a strict warning after discovering the account, though a source noted his posts are tasteful and he was even commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts.
