See who has made the cut so far.

Alan Cumming names his 7 favorite Traitors players ever (exclusive)

See who has made the cut so far.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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September 16, 2026 12:15 p.m. ET

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Cirie Fields, Rob Rausch, Carolyn Wiger. Credit:

Joy Malone/Getty; Katie Flores/Variety via Getty; Euan Cherry/Peacock via Getty

- *The Traitors: New Blood* host Alan Cumming reveals his favorite players ever.

- There’s a name from the first four seasons that may surprise you.

- See who made Cumming’s list even though she was “not a great player, I don’t think.”

Twenty-two new contestants will be vying for the prize pot when *The Traitors: New Blood* premieres Sept. 17 on NBC. But they will also be vying for something else even more prestigious: a place on Alan Cumming’s list of favorite players ever.

In the video below filmed during *’s **Traitors: New Blood* cover shoot, the host reveals who from the first four seasons has already secured a spot on his list, and that one new player will indeed join their exclusive ranks. Check out the video for yourself, or read Alan’s comments below on the spectacular seven!

Rob Rausch on ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/Peacock via Getty

“Rob Rausch, season four winner, I think is the best player ever we’ve ever had. Also, I would like to preface this by saying that when he started, I thought he was a little s---. It was a cold summer night, and we were all arriving and he had on like hardly anything and he was freezing.

“I was like, ‘So Rob, how are you feeling?’ He went, ‘Cold.’ I had him down for, like, grumpy little cute boy, and he turned out to be the best player we ever had.

“He played his fellow Traitors. And, of course, he played the lovely Maura. I’m in this room with the two of them, and I know what’s coming. I could see him just knowing he had to say this to this woman whom he loved and who just completely trusted him.

“And what I think about Rob is that he was really lovely to [my dog] Lala and asked questions about Lala. If anyone loves Lala, they’re good in my book.”

Cirie Fields

Cirie Fields on ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/Peacock via Getty

“The thing that’s amazing about Cirie’s win is that there was no precedent. It was the first season of the game, so nobody knew what to expect. She played a brilliant game, and nobody suspected her, and she was always so reasonable and calm. I mean, it’s such a balance. You’ve got to be wily and all those things. But if you talk too much and you’re too engaged, people suspect you. Her calmness and her trustworthiness were amazing.

“I felt so bad when she won. We were down in that garden, and I remember coming back with her, Andie, and Quentin. Cirie had just won this game, won all this money, and two people who she’d just been working with and she really liked were suddenly turning on her. And I had to go back down and kind of intervene and help her.

“And then I remember I walked her back out here and we got a little glass of champagne. We sat in a room upstairs, and I just was like, ‘Cirie, you’ve won this! Congratulations!’ She was in shock.

Phaedra Parks

Phaedra Parks on ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK via Getty

“Not a great player, I don’t think. She did that thing where when people say, ‘We think it’s you,’ she would say, ‘Well, I think it’s *you*.’ Which is 101, don’t do that. That’s what everyone says about transference.

“But she had this analytical, lawyerly form of analysis and attack that was so mesmerizing and blinding. And also, absolute zingers. Such great one-liners. My favorite thing was she said, ‘This ain’t *The Bachelor**,* and I don’t have to kiss your ass to get a rose.’ Just spot on. It was kind of like, ‘Drop the mic, bitch.’

“The great thing about the Housewives — they come, they have a lot of shtick. Their shtick actually kind of quite works up until a certain point because it’s quite aggressive and it’s quite tribal. But then after that, they don’t do so well because they kind of keep on in that way and they don’t kind of get enough game.”

Michael Davidson

Michael Davidson on ‘The Traitors’.

“In season 1, we had half real people and half famous people, and Michael was one of the real people. He’s a huge reality show fan, so his mind was blown by the fact he was in this room with all these famous people. And so that was endearing. And he was kind of socially anxious, and he talked about that, and that’s why they kind of turned on him, and he explained why sometimes he wasn’t able to play the role that everybody wanted him to play because of his social anxiety.

“I think it was really lovely, because he spoke out about that, which is something that has happened in subsequent seasons. He’s great, and I would like to see him come back.

“Ultimately, eventually, surely we’re going to have All-Stars or something. I think it would be fun because he’s clearly got Faithful written all over him, so it might be quite fun to make him a Traitor. I actually think Michael would be a good Traitor because he would be unexpected and I would love to see how he would cope with that.”

John Bercow on ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK via Getty

“I said to him, ‘What are you doing here?’ And I really mean it because he was the Speaker of the House of Commons, right? And suddenly he walks up into the *Traitors* castle. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’

“He’s one of these people that lasted much longer than I feel anyone expected, including himself. He didn’t fit in, but he talked so much that they all just were furious with him and they called him Parliament John. It took a while to catch on, but he kind of quickly thought, ‘I’ve got to shut up.’ So it was really interesting seeing his journey.

“Then, the following year with a member of the royal family in the show. So we get these randos, and I think John was the first of the truly bonkers randos.”

Carolyn Wiger

Carolyn Wiger on ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

“Absolutely bonkers. I loved Carolyn. Carolyn is a lot. She’s quite strong. She’s very emotional. She’s got this great sort of Midwestern, funny accent. She’s got all these amazing tats. She’s really beautiful in a sort of biker girl way. There’s just so much going on.

“I thought she would go under the radar. And she really did. She kind of kept quiet. But then once she was crossed by Danielle — oh my God, it was like a Western. And Danielle kind of went into sort of completely dead zone mode, and Carolyn fell apart this emotional way, and crying, and it was incredible.

“She’s sort of a tragic *Traitors* figure because she put so much into it and was ultimately kind of horribly betrayed. But the game is called *The Traitors*.”

Morgan Cook, Xavier Scruggs, Joe Vanella, Clyde Moser, Kriste Lewis, Kim Daily, Victor Vollbrechthausen, Shane Beatty on ‘The Traitors: New Blood’.

Euan Cherry/NBC

“The seventh person on my list, I can’t tell you who it is because they are in this season that we’re about to premiere — the civilian season. There are some amazing players in this series, but there’s one person who is so devious, you almost can’t believe how evil and treacherous they are. But then again, that’s what this game’s all about.”

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*The Traitors: New Blood* premieres on Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and streams the following day on Peacock.

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