A fantastical and mischievous Scottish bicon enters a castle with the Glamazonian Royal Queen of Drag herself… what could go wrong?
On Saturday, September 7, The Traitors host Alan Cumming won the 2024 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program — an award that had been won by the RuPaul's Drag Race commander-in-chief himself, RuPaul, for eight consecutive years.
That's right: since winning the Emmy Award for Best Host the first time in 2016, RuPaul has snatched a trophy in that category every single year for eight consecutive years. Even when RuPaul's Drag Race as a show lost the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category to Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls at the 2022 Emmy Awards, Mama Ru still won Best Host during that ceremony.
But at the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Cumming emerged victorious and broke RuPaul's fabulous winning streak.
Alan Cumming on 'The Traitors' season 2.
Peacock
Before we start seeing any "stan wars" and think-pieces and silly discourse, let's make one thing very clear: Cumming and RuPaul are two legendary queer men who were born in the 1960s, dealt with a lot of childhood trauma, and still managed to succeed in an industry as tough as showbiz against all odds. These are two fabulous people who do amazing jobs on their respective shows.
As of 2024, RuPaul has hosted 16 seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, nine editions of All Stars, one brand-new Global All Stars series, six Drag Race UK spinoffs for the BBC — plus two UK vs the World cycles — and even three seasons of Drag Race Down Under. It's not an accident that RuPaul is the most-awarded person of color in the history of the Emmy Awards and won the trophy for Best Host for eight consecutive years.
At 63 years of age, RuPaul is still at the top of his game when it comes to hosting and championing the campy, wonderful, and inspiring Drag Race queendom.
Cumming, 59, has been known as an actor for most of his life. Between theater productions, TV shows, and films, has been nominated for four Tony Awards and won two of them: as an actor in Cabaret in 1998 and as a producer for A Strange Loop in 2022. Speaking of which, both RuPaul and Cumming were producers of A Strange Loop on Broadway, and both received a Tony Award when that production won the trophy for Best Musical.
In recent years, Cumming has found a few new lanes to flex his talents and stretch his career, and the splashiest one of all is certainly his role as the hilarious and dazzling host of The Traitors on Peacock.
Given the massive success of The Traitors season 2, Cumming's name shot up to the top of the list of other stars who could potentially challenge RuPaul's winning streak in the Best Host category… and this time, the trophy has gone to supreme Traitors game-maker himself.
Both RuPaul and Cumming are talented, versatile, witty, and fabulous superstars that we love and cherish in the LGBTQ+ community. Neither of them needs to win an Emmy Award to land a life-changing opportunity, but we do love to see them getting their flowers while they're still at the top of their game.
A celebration of two queer elders being accompanied by prestigious awards would've been an unthinkable thin in previous generations. So, instead of sending hate or throwing shade at either of these wonderful and entertaining queer idols, let's be thankful for all the LGBTQ+ talent not only making inroads in terms of visibility and representation in mainstream media, but also being adored by critics and fans alike.
The first two seasons of The Traitors (U.S.) are available for streaming on Peacock. New episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars are released every Friday on Paramount+.
Parvati Shallow on 'The Traitors' season 2.
Peacock
