After an emotional Sunday night in the castle, Sam has said that he was left reeling after one of his friends murdered him on The Traitors Ireland.
The 28-year-old IT support analyst from Westmeath exited the hit show and speaking about how he felt when one of his close confidants turned around and betrayed him, he said, “Oh god, I nearly collapsed.
“I was like ‘NO way’ because we all had a conversation and we said we’d never backstab each other. If one of us was recruited, we’d find a way to look after each other so I was absolutely shocked.”
He added: “I wasn’t right for two weeks after that but it’s only a game at the end of the day. You come out of the castle and your emotions are high and you are attached to the game but he had to do what he had to do to protect himself and go further.”
Sam’s departure from the show left his good friend Pete in tears. As he said on last night, “It was very upsetting. He was a good guy… Sam’s the name of my son. I said, ‘Sam’s my adopted son in here’.”
“He was very upset when I was gone, I didn’t realise how upset he was,” Sam said. “He’s a gentle soul and I think that’s just his personality.
“He did say it me that it took a toll on him because I was the closest thing he had to a son at home, who is called Sam too. But he’s in good spirits now and we speak every day.”
It was also a bad night for David, who made a fateful slip of the tongue that saw him banished from the castle.
“I arrived in with a good idea that my time was up,” he said. “John pulled me aside and said everyone is talking about you today. I felt liberated. I said what I had to say and I did make a slip-up but I was ready for the Round Table and ready to fight my corner.
“Obviously I didn’t win it in the end but I was geared up to give it everything. It’s funny because when you know, you know.”
In sharp contrast to the weeping Pete, Janet didn’t seem all that moved by last night’s shock banishments – and Sam says he wasn’t one bit surprised at her lack of concern.
“Pete was crying at breakfast when I left and Janet was having a party in the corner,” he laughed. “I wasn’t surprised at her reaction because we weren’t actually that close in there.
“She was upset the day before because Denis had just been murdered and he was one of her close pals. So when I was murdered the next day, it didn’t really take a toll on her.”
Sunday’ s show was certainly the most emotional of the series so far and David is left in no doubt as to why feelings can run so high in the castle.
“When you watch reality shows on tv, you ask ‘why are they saying they love each other?’” he said. “But honestly, as a logical-thinking person and as someone who has seen it up close, it is the reality of it – you form bonds really, really quickly. I’ve made friends in there that I know are going to be friends for life.
“You’re forced together in this extreme situation and you have to band together. It’s a very unusual situation to be in and I can understand why people were tearing up.”
The Traitors Ireland continues on Monday and Tuesday at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player