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The Traitors: What We Know About Alan Cumming’s Adorable Dog Co-Host Lala
Host Alan Cumming's beloved pet, Lala, will be his pack mate for Season 2 of The Traitors. Find out her story here.
This story contains mild spoilers for the first three episodes of The Traitors Season 2 on Peacock.
Who is that doggie in the basket?
The return of The Traitors to Peacock on January 12, means that the host we love the most — Alan Cumming — is back to purr the word "murder" like no one else and vex the very existences of all 21 of this season's celebrity contestants. And surprise, surprise, he's also got an unexpected co-host holding it down with him: his beloved dog, Lala.
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Be on the lookout all season long for Cumming's ebony black rescue pup, Lala, who is the poster pooch for all things Zen. Crashed out in her dog bed, you'll see her riding shotgun with Alan during the first contestant interviews, and casually observing some of the challenges on location. Nary a bark will you hear, as Lala is an old-hat showbiz dog, who travels with her dads around the world. Because she deserves all the love — whose a good girl? — here's a little primer on the pooch.
How Lala the dog came to be part of Alan Cumming's pack
Alan Cumming and his husband Grant Shaffer are long-time advocates for rescue dogs and have adopted several new members into their pack over the years. They even collaborated on a children's book about two of their early rescues, The Adventures of Honey and Leon. Next came Jerry and Lala, who came to their home via Costa Rica.
When Cumming was a host for PBS's Mystery, he did a video piece about his beloved rescues and explained that each came to be members of their pack family. "Lala is a street dog from Costa Rica," he revealed. "She got pregnant and a vet took her in. She had her puppies, and all of them were adopted but no one wanted her. I can’t believe that. She’s the most cute dog in the world!"
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Clearly, adopted by the right human, Lala then went on to become instantly famous after her first walk in New York City. Cumming explained, "Within 48 hours of her being with us, she was mentioned in Page Six, the gossip column for the New York Post. Because that is my life."
Lala riding shotgun as Alan Cumming's go-to co-host
One of Lala's first gigs with Alan was for the travel series Alan Cumming’s Edge of Scotland, which aired in 2017. In the series, Cumming and his pooch traversed the beautiful remote locales of his home country. She quickly became a tiny celeb for being the perfect traveling companion.
As a guest on the Be In the Moment podcast, Cumming spoke about his affinity for dogs in all aspects of his life. "I definitely feel dogs help you be more attuned to and in touch with your emotions because they go through such extreme things every day," he said. "There's responsibility and order with a dog, in the structure. It's liberating to protect and care for an animal that much."
They even help him in his career. "Dogs are in the moment," he added. "As an actor that’s all you’re trying to do. I know when I go home, Lala will be in a little window scraping at the door. They’re so happy you are back and we should be more like that."
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And for those wondering if Lala has any special nicknames, Cumming admits to calling her the "Conchita from Costa Rica" with the nicknames of LalaLoo, and Catfish because "she has one white whisker."
Watch The Traitor Season 2 for Lala sightings! You can catch up on The Traitors Season 1 with new Season 2 episodes premiering exclusively on Peacock starting January 12.
