The Traitors star Matthew Hyndman has previously opened up on how he accidentally came out to his entire church and family. And how that one accident led to him starting a whole new life away from Northern Ireland.
The hit BBC show is back on our screens, with viewers even declaring Thursday’s episode as the “best ever”, especially as a feud seems to be brewing between two of the Traitors…
But away from the show, some of the contestants have quite the story. And that’s exactly the case for 35-year-old Matthew who has spoken about how he was once almost forced into controversial gay conversion therapy after he accidentally came out.
Matthew expericed accidental coming out
According to Belfast Telegraph, Matthew opened up about coming out back in 2024, while he was showcasing his artwork at the Bard gallery in Edinburgh.
The star is now a co-founder of a movement Ban Conversion Therapy, which was established in 2020, after Matthew had his own experiences with it.
He told the Independent: “How do I know that conversion therapy is still happening today? Because of what happened to me six years ago, as a 24-year-old from County Londonderry.”
Matthew was working as a missionary with around 400 other young people on a ship in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. But while he may have seemed a cheery guy, he was “wrestling” with a “growing awareness of sexuality”.
He explained that when he was once asked about his sexuality, he “lied” like he “always had”. But a few months later, he had been speaking to someone online, sharing all of his true feelings, when he accidentally sent the message to his church.
Matthew said: “Somehow, I managed to attach this three-month long Whatsapp conversation to an email that I accidentally sent out to the 100 members of my congregation back home in rural Northern Ireland, who were financially supporting me.”
People in the thread included his family, pastor, and a lot of friends he had known his whole life. At the time Matthew felt like “everything had imploded” and had “nobody to turn to”.
The Traitors Matthew created a new life
The immediate response, however, was for Matthew to “undergo therapy” and “publicly confess and repent”.
However, Matthew knew that it wasn’t something he wanted to do, and “had the strength” to refuse. It was then when he moved to London and found people who accepted him for being himself.
The Traitors star went on to reveal he experienced “two years of silence” from his family. And six months after his “catastrophic coming out” Matthew received a letter formally cancelling his church membership.
Matthew explained: “It can seem impossible to even imagine another life. You do not have free will with a loaded gun to your head.”
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