Alan Cumming and Claudia Winkleman "never cross" paths at Ardross Castle, where they film the American and British versions of The Traitors, but they do leave surprises for each other, he tells HELLO! in an exclusive interview.
Alan, 61, who is spending more time in his native Scotland after making an unexpected career move to run the Pitlochry Festival Theatre in the Highlands, is about to begin filming the next series of The Traitors US at the castle. Asked whether he and Claudia offer one another tips for the show, he says that their filming does not overlap and that they only met for the first time at the BAFTA TV Awards in 2025.
"But we do leave little notes for each other to say hello," he says.
He says that he would be chary of entering the show as a contestant, not only because of the "psychological torture" that guests go through but because he would miss the comforts of the castle that only he gets.
"I mean, you'd think I might have some extra special skills [as a contestant] because of my access to it, but I don't know if I would. It gets insane at certain times. Also, it would be really weird if I wasn't able to go to my room in the castle… and not lie in my big bed."
Greatest accolade?
Alan has played the Devil, God and the Pope, won both Tony and Olivier Awards, had his face on a US postage stamp and earned a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
But perhaps the greatest accolade came shortly before his exclusive interview with HELLO!, when he visited the offices of The Beano in Dundee to see himself depicted in a comic strip alongside Dennis the Menace.
"I just can't believe that this is my life," he says delightedly. "The Beano is certainly up there with getting my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I think it's good to still have a sense of wonder about these things."
Alan's current role – between starring in Russell T Davies’s forthcoming drama series Tip Toe and hosting The Traitors – has taken him back to his roots in Scotland.
Career switch
He is presenting his first season as artistic director of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, a small complex of spaces in a Highlands town of fewer than 3,000 people. The theatre has always punched above its weight, but with Alan's star power, it is attracting world-class directors and performers, including Maria Friedman (who will direct Alan as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady) and Simon Russell Beale (who will play Liberace in the world premiere of I'll Be Seeing You).
Alan, 61, whose career has included playing Nightcrawler in the Marvel films and the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret on Broadway, says that he applied for the job online. "I've only ever applied for two jobs in my life, but I got both of them," he says. The other job was as a horoscopes writer for the Dundee Evening Telegraph. He got the idea when he met the previous artistic director, Elizabeth Newman, while he was making a documentary about the Royal Scotsman train. "I sort of went: ‘What?’ But she really planted a seed."
© Alan CummingHe will not, he says, follow in the King’s footsteps and spend only summers in the Highlands.
"I'm not like the royal family! I'm here more now than I am in New York. I live between the Highlands of Scotland and the East Village in Manhattan and I think it's a really great combo.
“Especially now, it's nice to be outside America. Even though I live in New York, and New York is not really America, it's hard to think [about] what is happening there. I feel very lucky to have another passport and another life and another home."
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