Alan Cumming on “The Traitors” season 3's shocking cast additions, twists, and first banishments and murders

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the three-episode season 3 premiere of The Traitors.

Alan Cumming is not shy about the fact that The Traitors is all about deceit and deception, but it's now clear that extends to the viewers as well.

The season 3 cast of the reality competition was announced to great fanfare last June, touting 21 contestants, including a crop of reality TV legends from Survivor, Big Brother, The Real Housewives (and Britney Spears' ex). But there are actually two additional reality stars that were kept a secret until the first three episodes hit Peacock Thursday night.

That's in addition to Survivor all-star "Boston" Rob Mariano's unconventional journey to officially joining the competition, being introduced in the premiere by host Cumming as a potential new addition to the competition — but only if one of the contestants chose to switch him out for another existing player. No one took the deal, exiling Rob from the game... though only until the beginning of episode 2, when it was revealed that he was entering the game alongside Big Brother winner Derrick Levasseur and The Challenge legend Wes Bergmann.

"It's just another layer of pulling the rug out from under both the contestants and the public," Cumming tells Entertainment Weekly of holding back that additional casting.

Now, the Emmy-winning host shares his thoughts about those premiere twists — as well as the banishments of two-time Survivor winner Tony Vlachos and Bachelor Nation personality (and Mr. Sarah Hyland) Wells Adams and "murders" of Real Housewives stars Dorinda Medley and Chanel Ayan.

Related: How Alan Cumming chooses the Traitors: 'They're blindfolded for 40 minutes. It's terrifying in case I f‑‑‑ up'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did you decide to introduce Boston Rob with that twist? Did you think the players were going to take you up on the offer?

ALAN CUMMING: What we did this year is really up the anti in terms of twists and played a lot on past sort of beef that contestants had. And Rob is very much a sort of cat among pigeons — everyone's terrified of him. It was a twist to immediately unsettle everybody. And after he's rejected, it's very much about again playing on this idea of revenge. He's obviously got some baggage about not getting picked. It's endlessly fascinating, the sort of psychology of this show: Rob is rejected and then the next day being wooed by the same people. I find that fascinating, in the way that it turns. It plays into the whole screwed up psychology of the whole show, actually.... And he is menacing.

And why hold back Derrick and Wes' casting from the fans?

I actually missed all that. I didn’t know until [the day before premiere] that they were not in the [released cast list or portraits]. But I think that's so brilliant. It's just another layer of pulling the rug out from under both the contestants and the public. And also, of course, they are renowned in their fields and it just adds to this whole idea of "He's really great [on his show] and he's really devious." So there's the idea of former history of the contestants. I think it really plays on that. This series is very much about their former beefs and history. Also, how exciting on the second episode there would be two more contestants that nobody knows about? Great. I'm all for it. It’s destabilizing.

Related: The Traitors host Alan Cumming gives season 3 castle tour (exclusive)

Did it surprise you that two Housewives were murdered first?

In the same way that we [the producers] are trying to sort of destabilize and add chaos to the mix, so are the Traitors. And I love that. It's so juicy. I also loved the decision because the Housewives have a sort of predilection for thinking they're being persecuted and thinking everyone is out to get them and there's this sort of massive conspiracy against the Housewives — and there really isn't. But they just love it. They love to think they're all being persecuted and everyone's against them. It's a little bit of transference, I think. So the Traitors have very cleverly added to that frenzy, because they know that the Housewives will make a lot of noise about feeling that there is a vendetta against them or something. So it's all just, again, this destabilizing, chaos-inducing, juicy, juicy, delicious cake.

Tony’s banishment was very dramatic, calling his fellow Survivor alum Rob a "sell-out." Did it surprise you that's the way that Roundtable went?

Well, I get an idea from [the producers] watching everything. They kind of do these reports and sort of say, "Oh, it seems like they’re all ganging up on..." But in the beginning, it's so random. It's so based on nothing. And, in a funny way, I think Tony's history was what did it for him — because if there’s anything to really pick up on, it's certainly not really stuff from what happened that day. It's all about intuition, and maybe memory. I think he got voted out because of his past shenanigans. But it's got to be someone. It's fascinating watching people analyze or over rationalize something that is actually irrational and illogical and the only reason someone's a Traitor is because I tapped them on the shoulder and so and they have to be it. It is so wicked. We are really wicked people for doing this. And people love wicked.

Related: Alan Cumming's most fabulous The Traitors season 2 looks, dissected

What about Wells' banishment?

There’s such a fine line between having a reputation or not, doing really well or not, being really vocal or not. And sometimes people like Wells slip under the radar a bit more and stay for longer because people don't know much about them. His show is not particularly one that everybody knew — and if they did, you know, “He's a cocktail slinger" [on Bachelor in Paradise]. And so he was sort of a little lamb to the slaughter. People booted him out because he wasn’t offensive in any way. He was a sacrificial lamb. And that happens.

What else can you tease for the season to come?

I mean, it’s all so endlessly fascinating. But I tell you who's absolutely fascinating to me is Danielle [Reyes from Big Brother]. I love some of the acting that she comes up with [in attempt to hide she is a Traitor alongside Rob, Survivor alum Carolyn Wiger, and RuPauls Drag Race all-star Bob the Drag Queen]. I didn't see at the time, of course, but in her [testimonial] interviews, she's like, "And then I was crying, 'wah wah wah,' like mocking the fact that she's doing this over-acting and great performance.

There's a bit coming up when somebody gets banished and she does such shocked acting that she falls off her chair and her hat falls off. It's just so over the top and ridiculous and audacious. And I remember that I was just so shocked at her that [producers] said to me in my ear, “Alan, your face, your face, your face!” But she's playing a blinder. It’s so ballsy, what she's doing. And then the level of shaking and absolute.... It’s sort of like she's a little mouse acting. It is really amazing. I take my hat off to her — as she takes her hat off to herself when it falls off. Fans of her will be very happy.

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The Traitors airs Thursdays on Peacock.

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