Back in June, the Internet got very excited when the cast of The Traitors season four was revealed. I’m talking about the US version with Alan Cumming as host. It was a wild mix of reality TV stars, Olympic figure skaters, and Donna Kelce. There were also some grumblings about how nothing will ever compare to the first season, which featured a cast that was half celebrity and half regular people. Well, producers heard those complaints and rather than cast another season made up of half civilians, they decided to just create an entirely new series made up of non-celebrities. According to Cumming, having people who are there to play a game because they want to win the prize money (rather than enhance their star power) is going to “raise the stakes” and bring on a whole different type of game play.
Alan Cumming is sounding off on the forthcoming non-celebrity edition of The Traitors.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the inaugural Televerse Festival on Thursday, Aug. 14, in Los Angeles, Cumming, 60, says the new version will be “a reboot” of sorts for the reality competition series.
The Traitors host notes that the celebrity version on Peacock is “on this trajectory of theatricality and madness” and that the civilian edition on NBC will see the show “calming down a little bit and starting again, which is exciting.”
“What I’m really looking forward to is the fact that there will be more at stake for people,” he explains.
While Cumming notes that the celebrity contestants who come on the show “are very, very wealthy” and do the show for “other reasons,” the prize money “will make more of a difference in people’s lives” for everyday people.
“So there’ll be more at stake,” he says. “The stakes will be higher.”
This makes total sense to me. The Traitors, which airs on Peacock (NBC), has been coming to take the crown from the CBS reality TV lineup of Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother. Why not expand the brand even more by offering a completely different type of cast? Other countries, like the UK and Poland, regularly do non-celebrity casts. I’ve enjoyed the celebrity-based ones, but they can get a little insane because you do sometimes get the sense that there are people who are participating more for the attention or the bragging rights rather than playing the game. The ridiculous campiness that Cumming brings is half of the fun, but the other half comes from watching a cast that puts in the effort on all sides. You get that from the contestants that have played in other competitive reality TV shows before, but Alan is right. This will raise the stakes and change some of the game play. I think this could be a lot of fun. I would totally watch a non-celebrity season of The Traitors. Speaking of, I would also love a chance to play. Sign me up, Alan!
Photos credit: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, Backgrid
Finally! This show was fun the first season when people were really playing the game as a who-done-it. Once it was all celebrities, it was all fake drama and backstabbing. I know lots like that, but I turned the 2nd season off and never went back.
Ah, but majority of the “celebrities” on the first 3 Seasons of “The Traitors, US” were people who once were “civilians” then became famous after they participated in Reality shows and/or Reality competion shows. Yes, they want the final prize (but knowing the chance is slim), they also wish they can be the breakout stars from participating in the show.
Also, casting really decides the tone of the show. If the producers want dramas & tentions, they will cast people suitable for that purpose instead of nice, dull persons.
Nevertheless, it would be nice to have a “civilian” season.