She has divided the nation with her manipulative and ruthless behaviour as she murders her way to The Traitors’ top cash prize.
But while many viewers have accused Rachel Duffy of being ‘smug and cocky’, others are hailing her as one of the hit show’s best-ever traitors.
When the BBC cameras aren’t rolling, Rachel, a mother of three from Newry in Northern Ireland, is a fun-loving party animal with a penchant for knocking back shots, performing karaoke and dolling herself up in glitter.
An associate of the 43-year-old communications director told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Rachel is the life and soul of any party. She gets on with everyone and just loves having a good time.
‘She is not afraid of being the centre of attention. She loves the craic and a giggle.
‘She’s definitely got a penchant for shots and karaoke. She takes the view that life is for living and enjoying yourself. She loves nothing more than a big celebration.’
For her 40th birthday, instead of blowing out the candles, she plonked her head into her birthday cake to take a big bite as her husband Seamus – a lawyer – looked on.
In the video uploaded to her Instagram account, someone is heard saying, ‘Rachel, behave yourself’ as if they knew exactly what she was going to do before she did it.
Friends say she enjoys nothing more than a ‘girls’ trip’ away, and in one picture on Instagram is seen wearing a pair of white heart-shaped sunglasses during a trip to Paris.
She was also the life and soul of Marbella’s star-studded Ocean Beach club where she knocked back champagne with friends.
Rachel Duffy in Marbella in 2019… where she was the life and soul of the star-studded Ocean Beach club
An associate of the 43-year-old communications director said: ‘She’s definitely got a penchant for shots and karaoke’
For her 40th birthday, instead of blowing out the candles, Rachel plonked her head into her birthday cake to take a big bite as her husband Seamus – a lawyer – looked on
In another picture, she is shown enjoying a day out at a tea party, where she posed with a teapot on her head, before heading to a gin party.
And she is much the same at work events. As the head of marketing and communications at Clanrye Group, she helps to plan overseas youth programmes and to manage community family support services.
At the Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards 2022, she performed a handstand in the ladies’ toilets to mark the occasion, with the picture captioned: ‘Who doesn’t love a good awards ceremony?! Although when they ask for creative tweets I find it very difficult to sit in my seat. Maybe this year I’ll behave.’
So it was only right that Rachel got all her friends and family together for the opening episode of The Traitors, where they discovered she had been chosen by host Claudia Winkleman to be one of the traitors.
It is this friendly, happy-go-lucky demeanour that has helped her gain so many friends among the Faithfuls.
Despite the efforts of both Fiona Hughes, 62, and Harriet Tyce, 53, to try to get her to reveal her game plan, there appears to be no stopping her. Rachel is one of the favourites to win in this Friday’s finale. And she has steely resolve.
She has made no secret of the fact that she wants to win the six-figure prize money. So determined is she to succeed that she has revealed she had four months of FBI training before filming.
She told fellow contestants at least part of this guidance was in ‘the beauty of micro-expressions and people’s ability to lie’.
In a poignant photograph, Rachel’s mother Anne, who has dementia and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she was in her 40s, is seen proudly holding up a T-shirt which says ‘My daughter’s a traitor’ on the front
On her Facebook profile picture is a photograph of her beloved father walking her up the aisle on her wedding day. He died in 2016, aged just 67
Rachel poking fun at her time on the show posted on Instagram
But heartbreak lies behind her drive to win. She revealed on last Friday’s show that she wants to do it for her beloved mother Anne, 70, who has dementia and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she was in her forties.
In a poignant photograph, Anne is seen proudly holding up a T-shirt which says ‘My daughter’s a traitor’ on the front.
Rachel said: ‘Mummy was just 47 when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, four years older than I am now, and faces dementia, but still amazes me and my family every single day.’
She said that if she were to go all the way and win the money, she would spend it on Anne. Rachel added: ‘I just want to create memories with her while I’m still lucky enough to have her, and to create memories with my kids, because they just love their nanny.’
Rachel also lost her beloved father, Raymond Mullen, in 2016 when he was 67. Her Facebook profile picture is a photograph of him walking her up the aisle on her wedding day.
The pair were exceptionally close and she was devastated when he died. Her older brother is Darren Mullen, who was the manager of football club Newry City, and she also has two other brothers, Neil and Shane, and a sister called Joanne.
The whole family are said to be ‘larger than life’. A family friend revealed: ‘The Mullen family are all very well known in Newry.
‘Darren was at the heart of the city when he managed the football club but the whole family were too.
‘They are all very close and supportive of each other, so of course they hired a local venue to watch Rachel become a traitor.
‘It was a big deal for them all. She’s got the backing of the whole city. Everyone is behind her, although we don’t know how she managed to keep it quiet for as long as she did.
‘She’d told everyone she had to go to England for work when in reality she was in Scotland filming The Traitors.’
Rachel is now in the final stages of the fourth series of the show, which was filmed last summer at Ardross Castle near Inverness. Her last scenes are – say insiders – set to be explosive.
While she is being tipped to win, eagle-eyed fans have spotted clues that suggest Faithful Jack Butler might snatch victory.
The 29-year-old said on last Friday’s show that if he won the prize money, he would like to put a deposit down on a house and propose to his girlfriend.
Jack did indeed pop the question in Santorini in July after the series was filmed, sharing a series of photographs on social media.
But should he snatch the title, he would have had to cross Rachel – and she’s not to be messed with. Just ask her local friends.
One meme that is being shared on Newry groups supporting Rachel says: ‘You come for a Newry woman, you better not miss.’
With the final week of The Traitors approaching, the Faithfuls are struggling to beat this fun-loving, traitorous party girl.
And that must make Anne proud. For Rachel reveals that her mother’s words of wisdom for her have always been: ‘Don’t get caught.’
