There was once a time when hosting a reality show was its own distinguished career—one that required a level of star power, likeability, and unimpeachable authority. Now, with new dating shows and baking competitions popping up every other day, it’s been embraced more like a freelance opportunity for comedians, actors, and musicians alike—just about any moderately famous person capable of reciting instructions with a smile (looking at you, Nick Lachey).
However, it’s hard to cast doubt on the merit of hosting gigs when you hear that renowned thespian Alan Cumming is entering his Jeff Probst era. This week, the Tony Award-winning and Emmy-nominated actor makes an unexpected arrival in the reality-competition realm as host of the Peacock series The Traitors, based on the eponymous Dutch show and streaming on Jan. 12.
To most, the premise of The Traitors will sound familiar—especially if you already tuned into the BBC show at the end of 2022, which pulled in massive ratings overseas. In the American remake, a bunch of television personalities—many from Bravo and CBS—and a handful of lay people travel to Scotland to essentially play an elaborate game of Mafia. The majority of the contestants compete as “Faithfuls” and must figure out who among them has been assigned a “Traitor” by Cumming in order to win $250,000. They also must complete missions to earn the cash. Meanwhile, the selected Traitors get to “murder”—as in, send home—a suspecting Faithful each episode. If any of the Traitors make it to the end, they get to steal all the money from the Faithfuls.
For Cumming’s part, he brings the panache, theatricality, and a dose of silliness to a primarily cerebral game as a mischievous, mustache-twirling (sans an actual mustache) version of himself. In each episode, he meets with the contestants at the overawing Ardross Castle to discuss the day’s missions and issue philosophical warnings. As a native Scot himself, he dons the country’s traditional garb and even amps up his accent. (His pronunciation of “traitors” throughout the episodes is quite infectious.)
Upon learning about the gig, Cumming immediately associated the character with a James Bond villain—which he has some experience with, having played Alec Trevelyan’s (Sean Bean) tech-wiz sidekick in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye. However, the sight of Cumming hosting a show in extravagant formal attire might elicit more memories of his iconic role in Spy Kids as children’s program host and reluctant villain Fegan Floop (at least to this baby millennial!).
While Floop was inviting and approachable, Cumming’s hosting persona on The Traitors is a little less welcoming. He’s simply there to observe the competitors—maybe a little judgmentally—as they gradually turn on each other. He’s one of the rare reality hosts with practically no engagement with the players outside of giving instructions, vanishing into a dark hallway or secret door as soon as his job is done. At times, he feels like one the castle’s many relics and imposing statues come to life and then turning inanimate again. Still, his alter ego is more camp than self-serious.
Cumming, who’s made a name for himself in film, television, theater, literature, and New York nightlife as a club owner, told The Daily Beast that he never planned on venturing into the game show world, but found The Traitors to be one of his most enjoyable gigs in 2022. He spoke to us about developing his eccentric hosting persona and the “terrifying” behavior he witnessed amongst contestants. He also spilled some tea on the show’s luxurious setting in the Scottish Highlands.
How were you approached for the show?
I was approached over the months. “There’s this weird sort of a game show in a castle they’re maybe going to offer you to be the host.” I was like, “What?” And then I said, “Whatever happened to that weird game show in a castle?” Then eventually, they just offered it to me. I had a call with them, and they’re telling me about it and trying to describe it to me, because it’s sort of an unusual kind of confluence of things—you know, psychological, sort of reality, and then this competition thing as well. So I remember in the call, I said, “It’s sort of like you want me to be like a Bond villain. And I should actually bring my dog and pet her.” And they went, “That’s a good idea.” And I thought, oh, I want to do this.
I’ve never done anything like it. I mean, I’ve hosted things before, but not as this weird character in a castle. So I don’t know why they asked me. It was just a weird decision, but it seemed to work out.
Your career has taken so many interesting paths over the past three decades. Was hosting a reality show ever on your bucket list?
No, absolutely not. I’ve been thinking about the things I’ve done this year, and I’ve done some really exciting parts and really fun projects. But this was, by far, the most fun thing to do. I loved it. It was so ridiculous. And so many new things I’ve never [done], like having people talk down your ear and sort of intervene in these live situations that were happening and getting to say things like, “please come forward to the Circle of Truth.”
I imagine it was hard for you and the contestants to keep a straight face whenever you entered the room.
They giggled a little bit. They were all pretty intense. My thing was not about laughing so much, but it’s about [having a] poker face because I don’t really have a poker face. And obviously, I knew certain things. So when they were booting out somebody who was not a Traitor or when people would say shocking things—that was what was hard.
Were you familiar with any of the contestants from their reality shows? Are you a Bravo person by any chance?
I recognized Brandi [Glanville] because I’ve seen the [Real] Housewives occasionally. I’d seen Below Deck, so I recognized Kate [Chastain]. And I knew Ryan [Lochte] because he’s a swimmer. And that was about it. So at the start, when there were about 20 of them and I had to know their names and things, that was a challenge for me. When they started dying off, I didn’t have so many to remember [laughs].
How did you develop this character?
When I talked to the producers, I sort of realized why they’re asking me [to host]. They wanted me to make it into a character, and camp, and sort of heightened. So I came to it with that knowledge. And I quote Shakespeare and things all the time, and Plato. So I had this flaring-nostril sort of persona. And you’re kind of making stuff up as you go along. Literally, sometimes, they’re feeding me lines in my ear. So it was a bit like doing stand-up comedy actually, because you’re just winging it. And obviously the style of it and the way I looked was a big part of that as well, because obviously it’s not a naturalistic sort of thing we were going for.
Did you actually get to stay in that castle with all the contestants, or were you whisked off to a hotel at the end of the day?
Spoiler alert: None of us stayed in the castle. None of us. They all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport [laughs]. How glamorous—you come to Scotland, and you stay in the Inverness airport hotel. And I stayed in a little house in Inverness. But I had a room in the castle where I would get made up and dressed. It had a huge bed in it. So I did actually sleep quite often, but not overnight.
Lastly, do you think you’d be more successful as a Faithful or a Traitor?
I would like to be a Traitor. I think it’d be great to decide who to murder. The thing about this game—people would sort of turn on people and say, “Well, they did this and therefore that means they’re a Traitor.” Well, they’re a Traitor because I patted them on the shoulder. And that’s the only reason they’re a Traitor. So it’s actually fascinating watching people spiral into bad decisions and that “pack” mentality. It’s kind of terrifying, actually. So I think I would hopefully have a more of an independent spirit than what happens in the show. But I would much rather be a Traitor and kill people.
