Alan Cumming Talks ‘The Traitors’ and Owning His Sexuality

Alan Cumming isn’t just the impeccably dressed, delightfully mischievous host of “The Traitors”; he’s also a champion for LGBTQ+ visibility, both on and off-screen. In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, he got real about the importance of representation on the show and set the record straight (or, well, not-so-straight) about his own sexuality.

Fighting for More LGBTQ+ Visibility on “The Traitors”

Cumming made it clear that he pushed hard for more queer representation on “The Traitors” after noticing that past seasons weren’t as inclusive as they could be. Fans of the series will remember that Peppermint, a trans contestant in Season 1, was voted out early, which could have been part of what made Cumming realize the show needed to do better.

“The Traitors is such a queer show.,” he said to BuzzFeed. “There’s me at the center of it, being super queer with all my crazy outfits.” Then when when talking of Season 3 Cumming explained, “Two of the winners this year are queer people, and that’s so lovely. I really did push to have a better representation in the show, and that’s certainly worked.” That’s a win for representation and reality TV drama.

But he didn’t stop there… Cumming also spoke out about the impact the show could have in society. “I think it’s a really positive thing to see so many queer people and, hopefully, trans people in a show that also celebrates dressing up, androgyny, femme-ness, and queerness,” he continued. “Hopefully we challenge people.” 

Clearing Up The Misconceptions

Even though Cumming publicly came out as bisexual back in 1998 (seriously, this isn’t new info), people still label him wrong. “I mean I try to, when I have a chance to, define myself as bisexual,” he told BuzzFeed. But because he’s married to a man, some assume he’s gay, but he says he prefers “queer” since it is “more all-encompassing” and “it doesn’t necessarily have to do with what you do with the contents of your underpants.”

Cumming went on to note that “queer” is “more of a sort of sensibility” and “he quite like[s] that.” He explained that, “I think my sexuality and most people’s sexuality is gray.” And to be fair, he’s right; sexuality isn’t always a neat little box, and Cumming’s openness about that is refreshing.

What’s Next For Alan Cumming

“The Traitors,” has been renewed for Season 4 and Season 5, which he is set to host again. Cumming is also has a new partnership with Virgin Atlantic, where he shows people what their new lounges feature (in his usual dramatic fashion).