Alan Cumming, Out's January/February cover star and host of Peacock's hit series The Traitors, discussed his reaction after winning two Primetime Emmy Awards that had been consecutively awarded to RuPaul's Drag Race, and RuPaul himself, for several years.
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Starting in 2016, RuPaul won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host of a Reality Competition Program for eight consecutive years, smashing records not only in this category but within the entire history of the awards show. At the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards, however, Mama Ru's streak was broken by Cumming snatching the trophy for Best Host, and The Traitors season 2 winning the award for Best Reality Competition over RuPaul's Drag Race too.
Immediately after winning the award, Cumming revealed that he "felt terrible" and spoke to the Drag Race queens about it. "And they said, 'Oh, you know, if anyone's going to win it apart from Ru, it should be you, and your show, because it's carrying on the mantle.'"
Cumming recalled approaching RuPaul at the ceremony. "I am so sorry," Cumming told the Drag Race mogul, who replied with his signature praise: "Condragulations."
Cumming, who is relatively new to the reality TV genre, elaborated that he "didn't quite understand the full portent of it until it was nearly happening," noting that winning the Emmy Award over Ru did feel "bittersweet."
The Traitors host also credited "the huge cultural good [Drag Race] has done for the way drag has been changed in people's perceptions," reasoning that the recent "backlash against drag in our culture" could have played a role in Cumming's win.
Elsewhere in the interview, Cumming discussed the very early elimination of Peppermint in season 2 of The Traitors and was tickled by Boston Rob and Bob the Drag Queen competing alongside each other in season 3. "I mean, who ever would think that would happen?" Cumming observed.
Read Alan Cumming's full interview as Out's January/February 2025 cover star on Out.com.
