Alan Cumming, host of the US version of The Traitors, has revealed that Claudia Winkleman leaves him a touching note on the makeup mirror each time they finish filming a series.
The X-Men star appeared on The One Show on Monday (October 12), hosted by Alex Jones and Roman Kemp, alongside comedian Jon Richardson. During the interview, he discussed his new musical, called Ceilidh, his return as superhero Nightcrawler in the forthcoming Avengers film, and what it is really like filming in The Traitors' castle.
Richard E. Grant's Traitor blunder
Alex and Roman asked Alan for his thoughts on the latest iteration of The Celebrity Traitors, particularly his friend Richard E. Grant, who made a crucial error on the show by immediately telling others he was a Traitor, reports the Mirror.
When asked about Richard's brief stint as a Traitor, Alex observed: "it gets intense quickly." The actor replied: "I love Richard. We all love Richard. I just think he was so excited and he probably blurted it out. He has no filter in that way. It was so hilarious. No one has ever done it before (announced they were a Traitor). But it was perfect."
Playing a character
Roman congratulated The Traitors US on securing seven Emmy awards and asked whether the costumes help Alan adopt a character to present the show. Alan explained: "I always feel with costume designers, I go for a fitting and I go 'OK this is the character.' I know it says hosted by Alan Cumming but I feel very much that I play this Scottish laird - 'welcome to my castle'. It is clearly not my castle. I play a character that happens to host a show. That's the only way I could find to do it."
When questioned about the filming process, Roman noted that the US and UK versions are recorded consecutively at the same venue. Alan confirmed this arrangement and revealed that Claudia typically leaves a thoughtful gesture. He explained: "Either go first or second. Claudia usually leaves me a little note on the makeup mirror. It's usually that they (the UK) go first."
US version 'more camp'
Alan went on to highlight the distinctions between the UK and US editions of the programme. He remarked: "It's weird that the American version of the show is more camp. That might be my doing. I mean I was dressed like a coffin in the last series. It goes a bit more theatrical, even more so than the British one. And the players are a bit louder."
The One Show airs Monday to Friday at 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
