Since its premiere in 2023, Peacock’s murder-myster reality competition series “The Traitors” has taken fans and critics by storm. Hosted by legendary Scottish actor Alan Cumming , the series has seen reality stars from shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Real Housewives” compete in the ultimate cloak-and-dagger game of good (The Faithfuls) versus evil (The Traitors).
While the series has risen to prominence in the U.S. over the last few years, earning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Competition Program in both 2024 and 2025, some fans might not know that countless other international versions of the show have taken the world by storm since the very first iteration of “The Traitors” debuted in the Netherlands in 2021.
Most recently, the series travelled to Ireland for its latest international installment. Despite following the same general premise as its predecessors, “The Traitors Ireland” has since been praised as the “better than any other version” of the series to date. But what makes the Irish version so special?
From the U.S. to Ireland, ‘The Traitors’ is a Global Reality Phenomenon
Though “The Traitors” certainly hit its stride in the U.S., due in no small part to Cumming’s Emmy-winning hosting skills, the series, which challenges a small group of hidden “Traitors” to “kill off” their competitors – The Faithfuls – without being detected, has actually seen successful iterations all over the world.
The very first “Traitors” season aired in the Netherlands in 2021. Then called “The Mutineers,” the pilot version of the reality competition was inspired by the real-life tale of a 17th Century Dutch shipwreck. Subsequent Belgium versions of the show were launched in Fladers and Wallonia later the same year before the series travelled to locales like France, Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom in 2022.
The U.S. version followed in January 2023, joined by spin-offs in Sweden, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Finland, and Denmark. In 2024, even more international versions of the show were launched in countries like the Czech Republic and Poland. Canada’s Quebec province also got its own French-language version in April 2024.
This year, “The Traitors” added still more spin-offs to its franchise, including series in Bulgaria, India, Israel, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, and, perhaps most notably, in Ireland.
Additional global spin-offs based in Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and South Korea are currently in production.
What Makes ‘Traitors Ireland’ Different from the American Series?
Out of the dozens of “Traitors” spin-offs around the world, however, the recently-wrapped “Traitors Ireland” has been gaining traction since its August 2025 premiere, with many fans calling the series the “best version” of the franchise to date.
Hosted by “Derry Girls” star Siobhan McSweeney, the spin-off follows the same basic rules as the American version. On the first day of the competition, McSweeney invited 24 Irish civilians to County Meath’s Slane Castle for the opportunity to compete for a prize worth up to 50,000 Euro (approximately $58,7000). Unlike other series, however, the host began the series, not by selecting her “Traitors,” but by forcing the players to eliminate two competitors before even stepping foot into the castle.
From the spin-offs uniquely Irish-inspired challenges to the excellently-casted contestant’s impassioned and colorful arguments around the Round Table, the RTE-sponsored series racked up impressive viewership ratings across its three-week season. More than 2.1 million viewers – nearly 40% of the island nation’s population – tuned in to watch the drama unfold on the season, which crowned its winners last month.
While stand-out characters stole the show as Traitors – including no-nonsense police officer Eamon, retired prison officer Paudie, and development consultant Katelyn – it was the Faithful’s expert gameplay that lent the Irish spin-off its record-breaking edge as they became the first group in franchise history to successfully vote out three Traitors in a row.
From secret father-son relationships in the castle, to Traitor-on-Traitor bickering in the turret, the record-breaking season saw its players “murder” in plain sight, attend their own funerals, and trek across the Irish countryside to unearth coveted prize money.
Fans Praises ‘Traitors Ireland’ as ‘Better Than Any Other Version’
Described as “a gladiatorial blitz of brutal mind-games, full-contact gaslighting and ruthless exchanging of insults,” by the Irish Times, fans are already clamoring for a second season of what they’re calling the “best” version of “The Traitors” anywhere in the world.
“Hats off to RTE for producing the best series of reality television I’ve ever seen,” wrote one fan on X, while another added, “#TraitorsIRL was the best version of Traitors broadcast anywhere.”
While plenty of this praise came after the show had aired its epic finale in September, other fans were already labelling the series as the “best ever” after its first week on the air.
“I’ve watched every series of Traitors UK, USA, Australia & New Zealand. That was – hands down – the best episode ever!” wrote one fan after the series’ third episode, while another added, “Only been 3 episodes, but I think the Irish Traitors is comfortably better than any other version.”
Another wrote: “Huge Traitors fan! I was afraid this series would be too copycat to work, but my god, it is so mind-blowingly uniquely Irish. We really are the best craic and brutal liars.”
Irish broadcaster RTE has already begun the casting process for a second season of “Traitors Ireland,” though it remains unclear when the series could make its vengeful return. In the meantime, fans of the murder-mystery series can look forward to the UK’s “Celebrity Traitors” series, debuting this Wednesday, October 8 on BBC One.
The fourth season of the American “Traitors” is similarly slated to air in early 2026. While an official release date for the Emmy-winning series remains unannounced at present, you can check out the official cast for the upcoming season here.
