The Traitors Australia 2026 runner-up Keira Maguire has had an entertaining season, and that was exactly her plan.
While she was dubbed the ‘chaos queen’ of the show, and this was certainly reflected in her last minute voting decisions or eaves-dropping moments throughout the season.
If fans thought Josh Packham’s last-minute banishment was a shock, they were in for a treat during the finale when Keira suddenly sided with Kirby Bentley, voting Krissy Marsh out at the fire pit, and handing the win to the former Survivor Australia player.
Speaking to WHO, Keira revealed that there was indeed some method to her madness, unpacking what was actually going through her head in those final moments.
“I’ve gotten some good feedback but also some people are like, ‘You’re so dumb,” Keira said, confessing that she’s used to facing backlash online. “And I’m like, ‘Am I though? I’m still there.’
“I think what you’re seeing is like so minimal. They can only put so much in a 60-minute episode.”
And while we saw her brain get scrambled — alongside everyone else on the show — what audiences didn’t see was just how much she was manipulating votes behind the scenes.
Keira unpacks what went through her mind in the final: ‘I had to go with my heart’
While her last-minute decision to turn on Krissy seemed random, Keira unpacked the thought process that led to her final vote and why she wasn’t upset at all about losing.
“I feel like it was quite surreal,” she said, talking about watching it back. “I did get really emotional watching it back and I thought that I might regret my decision at some point, but I still feel good about it.
“I think ultimately people may have been confused or thought I might have been upset because I lost, but I think for me, I was put in a really difficult situation where I basically had to choose between two people who I was the closest with, but not only that, who I felt were both traitors.”
While she confessed that this was “a bit of a predicament” for her, her decision hinged on whoever wanted it more.
“I felt like I couldn’t really know for certain who was a traitor, but what I could do was choose who I felt wanted it more,” she said. “I think ultimately there were two very different personalities — one was a full gamer and really into it, you could see she wanted it, and there was another one who didn’t really care — so instead of going with my mind, my head, I had to go with my heart.
“And I think ultimately I felt that Kirby had pulled at my heartstrings. So I think if I were to take that away from her, I would have been more upset. So I think, to live with myself and my decision, I had to go with what I felt was right.”
‘I was driven by making a good TV show’
Many of the contestants have revealed that during the show, there is little to no interference from production. While other reality TV shows may push cast members in a certain direction for drama or chaos, The Traitors left players to their own mischief.
Keira confessed that she took full advantage of this.
“I think there was two different elements to it,” Keira said. “You were there, you were playing the game, and it was emotional. But you were also there to make a TV show.
“So there was times where I would sit back and I would say, ‘What would I want to watch?’ Because I am a massive fan of The Traitors.
“And there were moments where I would be like, ‘Nah, this is too predictable. We need to mix this up.
While some of the contestants were “driven by money”, Keira revealed that she was “driven by making a good TV show”.
“I think people are motivated by different things,” she said. “I was motivated by creating good TV and challenging myself to see how far I could get.
“I don’t think I ever thought about the money once, and I think you probably never heard me talk about it. Even when we won it in the challenges, it was never my motivation. I’m not saying that wouldn’t have been a nice thing, but it was never something that I cared about. I was more like, ‘So let’s make some good TV.'”
“So there were lots of moments that my positioning and the way that I did things were actually driven by what I would want to see if I was watching this show,” she said. “And I feel like it came across really well because I think the show did well.”
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