'Being Hebridean is my super-power' Stornoway Traitors star Stephen Libby on winning hit BBC show

Stephen had a clear path to winning on his own but honoured the pact to never write each other’s name – winning them £47,875 each. In the finale, Stephen told Rachel “it wasn’t worth the money” to have done otherwise.

His decision won hearts across the country, with many posting on social media that he “restored their faith in humanity”. Now Stephen is in popular demand and was asked to meet Take That during an appearance at Radio 2 – where they asked him for a selfie and he invited them to Lewis.

Gary Barlow told him: “We’re so excited to meet you” adding: “The town you come from looks incredible”. Stephen replied: “Oh it’s lovely. You’ve got to come. My mum’s invited half of London already so you’re especially invited, but you’d be more than welcome.”

In a warning that Stornoway should brace itself for the Stephen effect, Barlow said: “The town should be ready for an influx of tourists because of you.”

Amidst the media madness, Stephen talked to the Gazette on Tuesday. He has lived in London for eight years but is more than happy to fly the flag for his home town and the Outer Hebrides in general.

He said: “Ever since I’ve left Stornoway, I’ve worn my Hebridean-ness overtly. I’m so proud of where I come from. I think we have a fantastic island, a fantastic community.

“I love our culture. I’m still every morning listening to Julie Fowlis and Skippinish and Manran. Every morning in my flat. My poor boyfriend has to sit through me butchering all these songs.

“Being Hebridean to me is my superpower. So to know that the island has been rooting for me so proudly has meant more than anything that I’ve had from anyone else.”

“To know that the island is proud of me is more important than meeting any celebrity, because these are the people that I really care about. And if I can be a champion for the Isle of Lewis and the Outer Hebrides in general then I would love to use my platform for that even more.”

He described events since the finale as “a whirlwind” but said it was “all very exciting stuff. The thing that’s craziest is how excited people are to see me, because at the end of the day I’m just a wee balach from the Isle of Lewis”.

When someone ran out of Radio 2 to ask him to come back for a photo with Take That because “they’re desperate to meet you”, he thought: “What? This is silly”. He told the Gazette it was clear the band were “massive fans of The Traitors – they love the show”.

It is a concept that is taking some getting used to “because you don’t really expect that celebrities are sitting at home watching something you’ve been in but they are and they’re very excited, which is so, so lovely”.

Stephen said it was also “crazy” how many people had stopped him to say they were inspired by the personal experience he shared during the show of growing up gay in a rural community and “trying to pray myself normal”.

Read more here: Traitors to be turned into 'bold and surprising' West End show by production company behind Hamnet

He has been moved by those who told him it has helped them open up conversations with their children or their grandchildren, but added: “I didn’t say that because I wanted to be groundbreaking. I was just being honest about my experience really.”

He said: “I don’t think I would change anything about how I grew up and the difficulties I had because I truly believe that who I am today is because of the experiences I’ve had. And I do not hold a grudge against the church.

“I actually think a lot of my values come from having grown up in church. The kindness to strangers and that kind of stuff. It’s made me who I am today. I’m very proud of who I am today and that’s down to all my life experiences.”

Stephen, who started work at 16 in Woolworths and has a degree in French and Spanish, has given up his job as a cyber security consultant while he considers his next move.

“I thought to myself, ‘I would hate to look back on this in ten years and think, ‘I wish I’d given myself a rest when I had the chance’. Once things quieten down I would love to treat my family and my partner and take us away somewhere and just have a relaxing time.”

Might his next move be further into television? Stephen said: “It’s a world that’s completely alien to me. I’ve always been an onlooker in this world… I would love to be able to make a career out of that but it’s a question for a later time when I’ve just had a moment to gather my thoughts”.

Amazingly, Stephen managed to keep the secret of his Traitors win to himself since the series was filmed in early summer. “I had to sit on this secret for seven months or so and I’ve been fit to burst,” he said.

He explained: “I had to push the whole experience to the back of my mind. I basically just wanted the buck to start and stop with me. i didn’t want anyone else to potentially ruin this for me. So I had to keep it a secret and just really forget about what had gone on.”

Had he really not even told his mum or dad? “No, no… are you wise? This is no shade on anyone from Lewis; I love having a wee gossip but if one single islander found out it would have been game over.

“It’s such a big show, and I think it’s the kind of news people want to talk about, so I just thought, ‘I’m going to not even risk it… no one is finding out’.” His parents found out he had won on Friday night, along with the rest of the country.

Read more here: Islanders on Lewis react after seeing local 'happy chappy' Stephen in tense Traitors final

“There’ll be plenty people who will say, ‘och you idiot, you should have taken the money for yourself; you could have had almost a hundred grand’ but at what cost? I wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt of it. It would have been just horrible to know I only had that money because I had done someone else over.”

He had “struggled so much having to get rid of players in the game – it felt so contrary to how I am in my personal life… I’m not a cut-throat person; I’m never just out for myself”.

Therefore, “being able to have an outcome that was the most faithful outcome you could have as a Traitor, it was a no-brainer for me. It was exactly what I wanted to happen.”

Meanwhile, ​Stephen’s parents Donald and Nicola have spoken of their pride in their son who did “absolutely the right thing” in splitting the money with Rachel.

​Donald said: “I wouldn’t have expected him to do anything different. It’s just his nature. He doesn’t have that ruthless side.”

Nicola added: “What you see on TV is what you see at home. He’s put nothing on.”.

While Nicola went to the BBC with Stephen, Donald watched the final in a pub in Hackney which was both “amazing” and “awful because I hadn’t a clue what was going to happen and he hadn’t given us any inkling”.

Donald, an artist and butcher, has come home from London with multiple jewellery commissions after people noticed his pieces that Stephen was wearing on TV.

And he told the strange tale of how Stephen made one 10-year-old’s birthday special on the Sunday. They were out exploring, when he saw a woman at a window, pointing to Stephen. “Sure enough, she came out and she said, ‘I don’t believe this.’” It was her daughter’s birthday and they had set up a Traitors-style round table in their sitting room.

“We all went into the house and the two daughters got to meet Stephen and got their photos taken with him – and the father was from North Tolsta. Honestly, you couldn’t write this.”

Heading back down the same road a couple of hours later, the party was in full swing and Stephen was spotted again. “You could hear the screams in the street. Next thing the whole party is out getting their photos taken with Stephen. It was insane and out of everything that’s happened in London, I’ll always take that with me.”

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