His time might be up on 'The Traitors', but former hotel concierge and full-time actor Dirk is glad he went out on his own terms on Sunday night's episode.
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"I'm so surprised that I got this far because I was accused pretty early on in the game for not putting in a lot of effort," he said.
"Even when I tried to sort of step up and make my voice heard it again sort of put me in the spotlight, but I think the worst one was the day before I was banished.
"It was it's just a surreal experience because it just happened so suddenly."
Dirk initially raised suspicions on Sunday night's episode after he made an off-hand remark to faithful turned traitor Alex, which was overheard by Fi, another faithful.
"When we were lining up for the shield challenge with the crossbow, Alex said, 'don't go for me' and I turned and said 'why would anyone go for you? You're not a target' and that's when I said I had forgotten about being murdered," he said.
"Fi, I love her so much and we are still friends outside of the show, but as soon as she has some bit of information, she will run with it. It is nearly impossible to convince her otherwise.
"I would tell everyone that you know, being murdered was just extra stress because we had no idea how it's going to happen or when it's going to happen.
"I was just pretending the murder didn't exist."
Dirk, who sat next to traitor Nigel in the banishment ceremonies, said he was suspicious of him.
"I had suspicions on Nigel from the get-go," he said.
"I sat next to him every banishment and I don't know whether he noticed I didn't look at the person talking because I was trying to get a gauge on Nigel.
"There was something about him, something just didn't fit right."
Dirk also confessed that at one point in the game he suspected Teresa.
"I thought it would be very good for her to be a traitor because everyone loved her," he said.
Going into the game, Dirk had two strategies; one if he was a traitor and one if he was faithful.
"If had been selected as a traitor, I would have been very similar to Marielle," he said.
"I would have been a little callous. We were not just playing a game at home, we were playing for a quarter of a million dollars. There's a lot on the line.
"So I'm so impressed with how Marielle is doing it. I would have been very similar to her if I was a traitor."
Instead, however, Dirk was chosen to be a faithful and went in with a game plan to be likeable.
"I wanted to get along with everyone not ruffle anyone's feathers and not cause too much of a distraction in the banishment room," he said.
"My biggest my number one rule to myself was that I was never going to be murdered on the game, only banished.
"I'm so glad that it ended the way that it did.
"I got to go out on my terms and I prepared myself to go. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight for another day."
As a former hotel concierge, Dirk's interest was instantly piqued by the Robertson Hotel.
"The hotel itself is just stunning," he said.
"I was so lucky to be able to find a little history pamphlet about it while filming in my room.
"It's a beautiful place."
He also plans to come back and visit Robertson.
"I remember when we were driving to and from the challenges we would just look at all these different shops and all these old buildings and we wanted to stop and visit," he said.
"I just didn't get to do anything local.
"We were really lucky to have some of the local things brought to us which is good and so I got to sample like their famous pies which are great."
Despite missing out on the cash prize, Dirk said he was "glad" he went on the show and encouraged people to apply.
"There was a time when I was applying for it, and I nearly gave up," he said.
"It's an incredible show.
"If anyone has ever thought of doing this, do it.
"The experiences I got to have I probably wouldn't have been able to do anywhere else.
"I'm so grateful that I did. I would encourage anyone to apply."
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
