Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Peacock
It might be the contestants who murder one another each week on The Traitors, but more often than not, it’s the Peacock show’s host, Alan Cumming, who really slays. Episode after episode, the actor and Broadway star outdoes himself in wacky, bedazzled, pussy-bowed ensembles fit for a Bond villain—or perhaps Moira Rose from Schitt’s Creek. This season, he’s stunned us all in a billowing funereal cape complete with matching veil; a scarecrow fit that came complete with a straw headband; and enough plaid to gag all of Scotland.
The mad genius behind these looks, stylist Sam Spector, credits the Traitors host with making the job fun. “It’s really like playing dress-up,” he told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed during a recent interview about the season’s most eye-popping looks. “… I send him pictures of these crazy, wacky things on myself, and we’re able to just like, work off each other and work off each other’s inspiration.”
This season, Spector and Cumming wanted to go above and beyond the fashions that made the host an instant icon in The Traitors Season 1. It was time to go bigger, bolder, and weirder. You might have noticed, for instance, that some of Cumming’s looks come straight from the week’s mission. That’s a Season 2 innovation. When we caught up with Spector, we dug into some of the season’s best outfits, as well as what the pair’s working relationship is like day-to-day. We also got the lowdown on what we might see Cumming wearing in Season 3, which we can sum up in three tantalizing words: more kilt action.