Rachel Duffy, a 43-year-old mother of three from Newry in Northern Ireland, won the reality competition show The Traitors alongside fellow Traitor Stephen Duffy, earning a prize of £47,875. According to major media reports, Duffy had planned to spend that money on making memories with her mother, Anne. However, Anne died in January at the age of 70 after a long battle with dementia.
Anne was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in her forties, specifically at age 47, and also faced dementia. Duffy's father also has Parkinson's. Duffy shared the news of her mother's death on Instagram, writing, 'We are heartbroken to share the passing of our beautiful wee mummy.
We are heartbroken to share the passing of our beautiful wee mummy. We kindly ask for privacy as our family grieves during this difficult time.
' She had to pull out of appearing on a BBC daytime programme because her mother took a turn for the worse. ' During her time on The Traitors, Duffy discussed her mother's illness, and she feels it is a privilege to talk about her mother. She said, 'I think it's so important to have the conversations, even during my time in the castle...
' Anne loved watching The Traitors and would re-watch episodes in the nursing home. Duffy recalled, 'She loved [The Traitors]. She loved it so much.
I was about to come on the show and chat about my lovely adventure in the castle and I got a phone call to go home and see mum, and unfortunately she passed away.
Sometimes we'd go visit her in the nursing home and she'd be re-watching the episodes. She was really, really proud. '.
She loved it, I spoke to her after I won and she was really proud. ' She is getting through grief with the help of her family. Now, Duffy plans to make memories with her family since she cannot with her mother.
She said, 'I'm going to make memories. I can't get to make them with mummy, but I'm going to make them with my family. I think being able to do nice things with them is an absolute blessing.