Last remaining Mayo contestant ‘banished’ from RTÉ's The Traitors Ireland

Monday night’s episode started out so well for the last remaining Mayo contestant in Slane Castle.

Westport’s Patrick Hughes survived the dreaded ‘death row’ as Mark was killed off by the Traitors.

Patrick and his wife Nikki moved to the West Mayo town in 2020 and inspired by Nikki’s love for Thai cuisine and a desire to share her heritage, they opened á Thai Noodle Bar on Bridge Street. 

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Given his 20 year stint in the USA, where he worked his way up to running a hotel, casino and entertainment businesses in Las Vegas, it is not surprising he had a good read on which way the wind was blowing.

Sensing danger, he acknowledged he was still on some people’s radars and he realistically needed the shield to ensure survival.

Indeed, fellow contestant Nick summed it up to Paudie that Pat was ‘on the chopping block.’

Patrick Hughes with fellow contestants during the challenge in Episode 8 of the inaugural series of The Traitors Ireland

The bear pit of the roundtable swung between suspected culprits, with Faye and Wilkin initially under the spotlight.

Perhaps leaning on his insider knowledge of the gambling industry, Patrick tried in vain to get the group to differentiate between possibility and probability.

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Nick accepted that they were ‘taking a shot’ at the Mayo man for 'no correct apparent reason'.

Though in what seemed a decisive intervention, Ben said Patrick had ‘slipped through the gap’ a couple of times when both Nina and Andrew were eliminated.

The voting went against Patrick with nine of the remaining contestants voting against him.

Vanessa was reluctant and said, “Patrick, I voted for you. I'm really sorry, because I really enjoyed chatting to you.”
Ben had the final vote and had mixed emotions. Despite saying “love you man, love chatting to you.”

He felt that voting the Westport man out was a “good move.”

Patrick was magnanimous with the group decision to banish him from Slane Castle and commented that the experience was a blast.

“One thing nobody can take away is the fact that I was part of the crew that went three in a row. Unfortunately, your streak is broken. I am a Faithful.”

Patrick will be a guest of the Oliver Callan show on RTÉ Radio One on Tuesday morning.