You might think the 21 contestants who will battle to be the last “Faithful” or “Traitor” standing in the new season of Peacock’s hit reality competition show, the Traitors have a slight advantage. After all, they have two previous seasons of the show to review to devise their strategy.
But the show’s Emmy-winning host, the deliciously larger-than-life Alan Cumming, tells TODAY.com that the show’s producers are always one step ahead of the contestants.
“They did all these twists. Extra twists. It was really twisty,” Cumming says gleefully in the TODAY greenroom just after chatting with host Savannah Guthrie in Studio 1A. “I actually thought, ‘Are there too many twists?’ But when I saw it, it’s great.”
Cumming enjoys watching the contestants scheme and stumble through the game on television monitors in his dressing room — which he refers to as “a James Bond baddies lair” — while he makes his breakfast and hangs out with Lala, his canine co-host.
“I feel I’m crazy with power, that I have all this information,” he jokes.
Each unexpected twist threw the contestants off their game and upped their anxiety, which affected their decision-making skills. “Basically, there’s mental breakdowns all around,” says Cumming.
The host, who always appears so self-possessed on screen, says that he had his own anxieties during filming one particular scene: the traitors selection at the first Round Table.
“It’s incredibly stressful, and I feel I could sort of screw up the entire show in one fell swoop if I got it wrong,” he shares.
Cumming says that while the contestants sit around the table blindfolded, he circles the room “hundreds” of times. He taps every contestant on the shoulder, both to capture the moment on camera and to demonstrate to contestants what it feels like to be selected as a traitor. Then Cumming continues to circle, making theatrical motions with his arms to add a bit of confusion to the process. He even goes around the table backward.
At the same time, Cumming can hear discussion from the control room in his earpiece, increasing his own tension. “I’m just so happy when it’s over,” he says.
Cumming knows that the round table was a success if he hears contestants dissecting his movements.
“I love it when they go, ‘I heard the cloth of his jacket moving.’ Then I go, ‘Nailed it!’” he says jubilantly.
(Disclosure: Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company.)
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