Alan Cumming, 57, is pumped up for Peacock’s new reality series The Traitors, which premieres January 12. The Scottish actor hosts the strategy-focused show, which features 10 reality stars from shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and Real Housewives, and 10 everyday people, who are either Traitors or Faithfuls. The three Traitors secretly “kill” someone each episode, while the Faithfuls have to figure out who the Traitors are to win the grand prize. Alan told HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview that Below Deck alum Kate Chastain, 40, did not disappoint in her performance on the show.
“I think Kate Chastain brought her A game,” Alan told us. “But it wasn’t that she was a good contestant,” the Spy Kids star noted. “I didn’t realize how much of her character is of being a diva. She certainly brought that.”
Alan continued, “She would say things like, ‘I’m dying to be killed, or to be banished, but I won’t get my money if I leave.’ Things like that. I loved that about her. I loved how honest she was.”
Kate is competing against fellow Bravo stars Brandi Glanville, Kyle Cooke, and Reza Farahan, among other famous faces. We asked Alan if he thinks the reality stars or the civilian contestants had the advantage in manipulating and deceiving the others.
“You would sort of think it would be easier for the reality people because they’ve done similar [shows],” Alan explained. “They understand the inner workings of it. A couple of them have been in Survivor and things which are much more about making allegiances and all that sort of stuff. So they are probably used to thinking in that way.”
“But then again,” Alan added, “the real people were all there because they obviously liked reality competition shows, and so they probably were very, very expert in them because they’ve watched so many. I didn’t realize that some of the real people were huge fans of some of the reality people.”
Alan also told us that he was so shocked by what went down on The Traitors, which filmed at a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands. “I was constantly surprised, amazing, horrified, at people’s behavior,” he shared. “And just how people behave under stress. And how good people were at lying. How bad people were at lying.”
The Traitors cast also features The Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr., Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, and more. The contestants have to survive the showdown between the Traitors and the Faithfuls to win the $250,000 grand prize. All 10 episodes drop on January 12.