The Traitors Takes Third Straight Emmy for Reality Competition

The Traitors has made it three in a row.

Peacock's murder-mystery contest won Outstanding Reality Competition Program — the Emmys' top prize for unscripted contests — at the 78th Emmy Awards, extending a run that started in 2024, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The show beat Dancing With the Stars, RuPaul's Drag Race, Survivor and Top Chef to take the prize. That is a clean sweep of long-running network favourites and cable staples. All four rivals were previous winners or regular finalists in the category.

Seven nominations. Seven wins. The Traitors won every award it was shortlisted for this year, up from five wins from a full slate last year. The back-to-back sweeps mean the production has not lost a category it entered at the Emmys for two years running.

Host Alan Cumming has matched the show's streak. He collected his third consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for The Traitors. The award was handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys, the separate ceremony for craft, guest and hosting categories held ahead of the main telecast, and Cumming has now won it in 2024, 2025 and 2026, according to People.

The wider haul reached behind the camera too. Ben Archard won Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program, and the team also won Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series, according to listings from the Television Academy. The series is listed by the Academy as a Peacock Original produced by Studio Lambert.

What makes this stand out is the organisation it takes. A reality competition season needs a large crew, a castle full of cameras and a cast kept in the dark. For fans, this means the same team gets to try to finish the story again.