RuPaul loses Best Host Emmy to Alan Cumming after 8-year streak

The time has come for RuPaul to sashay away from his hosting Emmys run.

After an eight-year streak taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program, the legendary drag performer and host of RuPaul’s Drag Race lost out on the honor at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys ceremony. The award instead went to Alan Cumming for The Traitors, who was not in attendance.

Other nominees in the category this year included all six Shark Tank hosts (Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John), Kristen Kish for Top Chef, and Jeff Probst for Survivor.

RuPaul’s streak of wins, however, remains undefeated, and he stands as the most-decorated Black artist in Emmys history, with a total of 13 statues to his name.

RuPaul’s record in the Outstanding Host category will be hard to beat. The two hosts who come closest to his record are Probst with four past wins for Survivor and Jane Lynch with two for Hollywood Game Night. Heidi Klum (Project Runway) and Tom Bergeron (Dancing With the Stars) tie RuPaul with the most nominations, at nine each, but neither host their respective shows any longer.

Last year, a new category split off from the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program competition, called Outstanding Host for a Game Show, which this year went to Pat Sajak for his final season hosting Wheel of Fortune.

Cumming’s win is for hosting season 2 of The Traitors, which counted Drag Race alum Peppermint among its cast. The esteemed actor wowed viewers all season with his fabulous costumes and dramatic speeches on the murderous competition series.

Drag Race has proven to be an Emmy’s behemoth since it first entered the competition in 2015 when Mathu Andersen, RuPaul’s then-makeup artist, scored the show’s first nomination for Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special for season 7. RuPaul took home his first hosting award the next year.

Beyond Best Host, Drag Race has won across categories recognizing outstanding achievements in costumes, editing, directing, hairstyling, makeup, casting, production design, and of course, the big award, Outstanding Reality Competition Program.

Past Drag Race contestants Delta Work and Raven have taken home Emmys of their own for hair and makeup, respectively, while season 8 contestant Laila McQueen became the first former Drag Race star to win an Emmy for her work on a different program, 2022’s We’re Here.

RuPaul has won a staggering amount of awards over the course of a legendary, four-decade career, including Billboard Music Awards, several MTV Movie & TV awards, a Critics’ Choice Award, a Tony Award for the 2022 musical A Strange Loop, and her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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RuPaul recently crowned the ninth winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, with season 14 runner-up Angeria Paris VanMichaels joining the Drag Race Hall of Fame. RuPaul can currently be seen hosting spinoff series, RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars on Paramount+.

The Traitors returns for season 3 in early 2025, with Drag Race season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen among its cast of contestants.