Traitors journey comes to an end for Athlone's Sam

Athlone's representative on the hit reality TV show The Traitors Ireland, Sam Omukoro, saw his involvement reach an untimely end on the episode which aired last night (Sunday).

As a popular figure who had shown good instincts during previous episodes, Sam, a member of the 'faithful', was regarded as a threat by 'traitors' Carla and Pauric O, who duly decided to 'murder' him.

A 28-year-old IT support analyst, Sam is a former footballer with Athlone GAA Club who also represented Westmeath at minor level.

He was one of 23 players who stepped inside Slane Castle for the second series of The Traitors Ireland, which got underway on RTÉ One at the end of August.

In Sunday night's episode, the remaining players were shown gathering for breakfast without Sam, who said he was "gutted and disgusted" to be given a letter the previous night telling him he had been 'murdered'.

When they realised that Sam had been banished from the show many of the other players didn't take it well, with his closest ally, Pete, a 43-year-old Defence Forces member, becoming emotional.

"It was very upsetting," Pete said. "He was a good guy." Pete added that his son was named Sam and that the Athlone man had been like his "adopted son" in the castle.

In a post-elimination interview on The Traitors Uncloaked, Sam said Pete's affinity for him was mutual.

"From the first day we hopped out of the cars, Pete was one of the first people I saw and straight away we gravitated towards each other," he said.

When asked if he would approach the game differently if he was given another shot at it, he wasn't so sure.

"It's hard to say you'd play it differently because there's a lot of luck involved as well," said Sam. "You could be having a conversation and not realise you've said the wrong thing, and the next thing they're out to get you!"

He said that he was hugely surprised when it was revealed to him that Carla, a 27-year-old early-years educator from Dublin, had been a traitor on the show from the outset.

"I thought I was very good in there getting suspicions (about people), but Carla never once crossed my radar," said Sam. "She never changed. She kept her personality and showed no sign of nervousness."

The second series of The Traitors Ireland is continuing on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player, with episodes each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evening.