As the 2026 finale of The Traitors nears on the BBC, heartbreaking details of breakout star Rachel’s family life have emerged after she shared her plans if she wins the jackpot
The Traitors star Rachel Duffy has opened up about her mother’s health battle(Image: BBC)
Fans of the Traitors have found themselves rooting for one of the villains as Rachel Duffy has turned out to be a star contestant on the show. The Northern Irish strategic communications expert has expertly played the game while keeping her identity as a Traitor well hidden from the faithfuls.
And while the 41-year-old reality star has shown off warmth as well as an impressive ability to lie, she has also shared tragic family news while in the castle on the BBC show. In scenes that aired last week, Rachel revealed that she hopes to spend the prize money on creating memories with her mother, should she win.
She explained to her fellow contestants that her mother, Anne, has battled Parkinson’s disease for years, and faces the challenges of dementia – but hopes to take her on an all-expenses paid family holiday to form new memories.
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She told her co-stars: “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 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.” It has also been revealed that Rachel’s father, Raymond Mullen, died in 2016 when he was 67.
The Daily Mail has reported that Rachel and her family gathered together in her home town, Newry, to watch the series and were stunned to see her selected as a Traitor in episode one. And she watched the episode alongside her sister Joanne and her brothers Neil, Shane and Darren – the latter who used to be the manager of football club Newry City.
A source told the publication: “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.”
Before appearing on screens, Rachel opened up about her dream of winning and what she would do with the prize fund if she proved triumphant. She told the BBC: “I would make memories with the most important people in my life.
“My mum has dementia, and she wants to go on a holiday as she used to go on holidays all the time before my dad passed. That’s all she wants. I just want to create memories with her whilst I’m still lucky enough to have her, and to create memories with my kids, because they just love their nanny.”
She also shared her hope of being made a Traitor – telling the Beeb: “I’d love it. That is my go-to because I love being in control of a game more than anything. Kind of like being a bit of a puppet master.
“I have a lot of integrity in real life; I work for a charity that helps people. But I would love so much to play in a game where I get to backstab and lie to people’s faces, as I don’t get to do that any other time.”
She also claimed to have an excelled poker face – and revealed she fools her husband so often that he can no longer tell what is true. She said: “My husband can’t even tell if I’m telling the truth anymore, not that I lie to him all that often, but I could wind him up and say something off the cuff, and he’s like, I don’t even know if that’s true.”
The Traitors continues on BBC One and via BBC iPlayer on Wednesday at 8pm – with the 2026 final due to air on Friday night.
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