How The Traitors Host Alan Cumming Felt About Cirie Fields' Iconic Win

Based on the Dutch series "De Verraders" and following in the footsteps of the popular British adaptation hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the American version of "The Traitors" operates by a pretty simple set of rules. After host Alan Cumming brings contestants to "his castle" in Scotland (it is not his castle, but it's a fun gimmick), he chooses three "traitors," who are tasked with eliminating their "faithful" opponents by "murdering" them and booting them from the game. As faithfuls try to root out the traitors and "banish" them at elaborate roundtable ceremonies, the traitors do their best to stick around until the end of the game. Why? Throughout the entire game, all players work together in challenges that add money to a prize pot; if even one traitor remains when the game is over, they steal all of the prize money from any faithfuls they've tricked up until this point.

This is precisely what happened in the first U.S. season of "The Traitors," which paired reality TV stars with "normal" people (later seasons of the show dispensed with this, exclusively casting said reality TV stars). One of the reality TV veterans was Cirie Fields, a woman widely considered to be the best player in "Survivor" history to never win — and who was chosen as a traitor by Cumming in the premiere — who used her cunning and sweet nature to trick a few normies and run away with the money. So what did Cumming think of this masterful move on Fields' part?

In an interview with GoldDerby in August 2025, Cumming said that he was, as the kids say, unfamiliar with Fields' game, but he immediately understood why she's such a reality TV legend. "I didn't know her, I didn't see her in 'Survivor' or anything," Cumming told interviewer Denton Davidson. "But in terms of 'The Traitors,' she was just brilliant. Nobody had a clue. She played such a great game. And I felt so bad for her at the end because when she revealed it, they kind of got a bit mean to her. You've just won this ton of cash, it's life-changing, and people are mad at you in a freezing Scottish night. But that's what you sign up for." So what specifically is Cumming talking about with that last part?

So what was Alan Cumming referencing when he talked about other contestants being mad at Cirie Fields at the end of Season 1 of "The Traitors?" Well, the thing about Fields — which you know if you've watched her on "Survivor," which we'll circle back to shortly — is that she masks her cunning and conniving plotting with a sweet and kindly exterior. That's not to say, in any way, that Fields is actually some sort of cruel or evil person; she has consistently come off as deeply lovable throughout her entire reality TV career. What we are saying is that Fields often draws in allies with her warmth and kindness, but she's always committed to playing the game as well as she can, and on "The Traitors," she worked extremely hard to come out on top — even though it required her to betray two friends.

At the end of the game, four players remained: "Bachelorette" alum Arie Luyendyk Jr., "normies" Quentin Jiles and Andie Vanacore, and Fields. Knowing full well that Ludendyk Jr. was a traitor — and apparently unwilling to split the prize money with him — Fields voted against ending the game and against her fellow players, making a final accusation about Ludendyk Jr. to trick Jiles and Vanacore. Ludendyk Jr. walked away from the game, aware that he no longer had any shot of splitting the $250,000 prize with Fields. Jiles and Vanacore were certain that their friend Fields was a faithful, and as a result, the three remaining players voted to end the game ... only for Fields to reveal her true status as a traitor and steal every cent for herself. As of this writing, Fields is the only traitor to win the U.S. version of "The Traitors."

This was, personal feelings aside, a characteristically terrific move from Fields, who's used to this sort of backstabbing and betrayal. In the immediate aftermath of Fields' win and during the Season 1 reunion, though, Jiles and Vanacore made it clear that they were deeply hurt by Fields. For her part, Fields, a veteran of this type of gameplay, told Jiles and Vanacore that she does care about them. "If you guys ever play these games again, there are gonna be ups and downs, but the relationships that are formed, for me, in these games, and this is particularly to you, Andie — our relationship was so real to me," Fields said. "It had nothing to do with 'The Traitors.'" Okay, so what about Fields' "Survivor" career — and why did longtime fans of her on the series know what to expect from her run on "The Traitors?"

Back in 2006, Cirie Fields made her reality TV debut in "Survivor: Panama," the show's 12th season — and even though she finished in fourth place behind Terry Dietz, runner-up Danielle DiLorenzo, and winner Aras Baskauskas, she won audiences over successfully enough that she ended up on a later season partially focused on "favorite" players. With the utmost due respect to Fields, there's no question that her best season is that one, "Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites," the CBS reality competition's 16th season where Fields ends up part of one of the franchise's most powerful alliances. Alongside key players Parvati Shallow, Amanda Kimmel, and Natalie Bolton, Fields was a part of the so-called "Black Widow Brigade," an all-female alliance that systematically took down powerful (guy) players like fan Jason Siska and "favorite" Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth. When you think about the blindside of Erik Reichenbach at the end of Micronesia," which brings the game down to four players, everyone remembers that Reichenbach is tricked into giving his hard-won immunity necklace to Bolton before he's unanimously voted out by the laughing women ... but don't forget that the person who came up with the idea in the first place was Fields, who played her role in the deception perfectly.

Ultimately, with just Fields, Shallow, and Kimmel left in the running, Kimmel chooses Shallow to join her for the final tribal council, assuming that she'd lose to the beloved Fields. (Kimmel loses to Shallow anyway, by the way.) Fields returned with Kimmel and Shallow for the landmark 20th season of "Survivor," subtitled "Heroes vs. Villains," but was targeted right away and voted out on the Heroes tribe; this isn't as frustrating as her ouster from the 34th season, "Game Changers," where Fields is basically forced to leave the game on the 36th day and becomes the second-to-last jury member because every single other person has some sort of immunity idol or advantage. She remains, as of this writing, the only "Survivor" contestant in history to get "voted out" without receiving any actual votes.

Fields and Shallow, now longtime friends, competed together on "Survivor: Australia V The World" in 2025, though Fields, faced with a fire-making challenge, didn't make the final tribal council. (She cast a vote for the eventual winner, Shallow, saying, "Don't think this vote is because I love you, it's because I think you're the best 'Survivor player in the world." Fields will return for the 50th season of "Survivor," subtitled "In the Hands of the Fans," so perhaps she'll finally eke out a win of her own like she did on "The Traitors."

"Survivor" is streaming on Paramount+, and The Traitors is streaming on Peacock.