The Traitors Ireland host Siobhán McSweeney reveals what was "frustratingly extraordinary" about Derry Girls

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

What's the view from your sofa?

I sit in my red armchair, with a pouffe to put my legs up on. There’s also a foot massager I treated myself to. If I’m cold, I wear a woolly hat and have a blanket over me to sit and watch the TV.

What have you been watching?

Loot on Apple TV with Maya Rudolph is radical and funny, and it does what I love – through the medium of comedy, it actually makes a point. She’s going, “There should be no such thing as billionaires! Why am I a millionaire?”

You starred in Lisa McGee's Derry Girls which also did just that…

Derry Girls was extraordinary, but what was frustratingly extraordinary about it was that it essentially taught people recent Irish history. I’m not sure a sitcom should be teaching the history curriculum, but that’s where we’re at. Stories are always there to make us understand each other’s humanity a bit more.

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What do you ask yourself before taking on a job?

Every actor has the trifecta of questions they ask: Is this job going to be good for my soul? My bank balance? My career? Soul always trumps everything else. There are parts in theatre that are more interesting because they’re more fantastical, abstract and diverse in every sense. In TV and film, you’re usually cast as a version of yourself – or a version of yourself that people think you are.

How did you get the job hosting The Traitors Ireland?

Funnily enough, I said no three times. I just didn’t think I was the right person for the job. To follow in the footsteps of Claudia [Winkleman, who hosts the UK version] and Alan [Cumming, on the US series] is quite a big thing. I don’t consider myself a presenter, I’m an actor, but I’m so glad I said yes. It was one of the most amazing experiences.

Is it a different approach from hosting The Great Pottery Throw Down?

With Pottery Throw Down, it’s about our gorgeous potters and I’m the conduit. I put myself in the place of the viewer and ask any questions they might be having. With The Traitors Ireland, we developed this character for me to play that I called Lady Muck, who was the owner of this castle, a very dramatic, eccentric woman. What I love about the show is the high-camp theatricality.

Would you ever star on The Celebrity Traitors?

Oh God, no! Within two minutes, I’d be calling everybody fascists, I’d overturn the table, then I’d have to come in the next morning and apologise. If you’ve ever been bullied, the way you get randomly accused is triggering. But I love watching it.

Is there a role you’d love to play?

I’d love to play Doctor Who, the next captain of the USS Enterprise or Miss Marple, and I think I’d be a brilliant Poirot. I’d also really like to play Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. But really, fresh ideas are more interesting. Producers think the public want a rehash of things that are very popular, but they don’t. They want something new.

Check out this week's issue of Radio Times for more from TV's biggest stars.

The Great Pottery Throw Down final is on Sunday 8 March at 9pm on Channel 4. All episodes of The Traitors Ireland are on BBC iPlayer.

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