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Alan Cumming Wins Emmys Hosting Award for Killing The Traitors Season 2
In winning, Cumming broke one of the most impressive streaks in Emmys history.
Alan Cumming has won an Emmy for his efforts in hosting the hit reality show The Traitors — and didn’t need to do any scheming, backstabbing, or lying to win the award.
Cumming won the Emmy for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality Competition Program at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a richly deserved prize for his campy and iconic performance as the emcee in the Peacock Original’s second season. From within his castle in the Scottish Highlands, Cumming guided and egged on the contestants of The Traitors, a group of reality show all-stars from series like Survivor, Real Housewives, and Big Brother as they played a high-stakes spin on the party game Mafia.
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The other nominees were RuPaul of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Survivor’s Jeff Probst, the Sharks on Shark Tank, and Kristen Kish, the new host of Top Chef.
The award is a big deal for a couple of reasons. Cumming’s win breaks RuPaul’s eight-year win streak in the category, as the Drag Race host has been dominant until now. The Emmys are typically consistent — arguably to a fault — when awarding trophies to the same shows year after year, although even by the Emmy’s standards, RuPaul’s streak is an exceptional achievement. That Cumming’s stint on The Traitors broke it is notable.
The win also seems like a promising sign for The Traitors’ future Emmy hopes. The main Emmys telecast, which will air this Sunday, will see the Peacock series competing for Outstanding Reality Competition Program. It’s up against The Amazing Race, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Voice, and Top Chef, all of which have previously won the category at least once. Cumming’s victory in the hosting category is a promising sign of momentum for the show, which has been a wild success with critics and audiences.
In 2023, the first season of The Traitors won an Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Its second season was nominated for four awards in total. In addition to the nods for Cumming and for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, it was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for A Reality Program and Outstanding Directing for Reality Program though it did not win those awards.
This was Cumming’s first Primetime Emmy win and fifth nomination. He previously was nominated for his role on The Good Wife and for hosting the 69th Tony Awards.
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Stay tuned to find out if The Traitors takes home the highly competitive Outstanding Reality Competition Program prize on September 15 when the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards air.
Seasons 1 and 2 of The Traitors are streaming on Peacock. Three more seasons have been ordered and will eventually premiere on Peacock.
