To date, Jeff Probst (Survivor), Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night), and RuPaul Charles (RuPaul’s Drag Race) are the only people to win the Best Reality Host Emmy at least twice in a row. But a fourth contender could soon join their esteemed list.
Alan Cumming (The Traitors) is the clear frontrunner in Gold Derby’s predictions to claim his second consecutive host trophy. He also won as a producer last year when The Traitors prevailed for Best Competition Program. Cumming plays a heightened version of himself on Peacock’s reality TV show, someone who oozes camp and gets excited every time a murder takes place inside his luxurious Scottish castle. Could The Traitors exist without Cumming? Yes. But it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. In addition to his two Emmys, Cumming is also a double Tony winner for Cabaret (Best Actor in a Musical, 1998) and A Strange Loop (Best Musical, 2022).
Next in line is RuPaul, who holds the record of eight consecutive Best Reality Host wins (2016-23). During the 17th season finale of the long-running competition series, RuPaul narrowed down the list of possible winners to four: Onya Nurve, Jewels Sparkles, Lexi Love, and Sam Star. After honoring Liza Minnelli with the “Giving Us Lifetime Achievement Award,” Mama Ru announced that the winner of the $200K grand prize was Onya. As Onya recently told Gold Derby, the best advice she received from RuPaul on the show was to “put the wall down” and “let it all hang out,” because “This is a safe space!“
In third place is Survivor’s Probst, who won this host category the first four years of its existence, from 2008 to 2011. Emmy voters essentially snuffed Probst’s torch after that and didn’t nominate him again until 2024, a 13-year break. During the recent 48th season, the host broke down in tears for the first time ever, touched by a moment between an autistic woman and her tribe mate. Raw moments like this keep Survivor fans coming back decade after decade — and the upcoming 50th season in 2026 promises to be must-see TV.
The Shark Tank stars rank fourth. Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary were previously nominated as hosts in 2020-22 and 2024. This year marks Cuban’s last season, and Daniel Lubetzky has been promoted to a full-time host. The sextet, minus Lubetzky, prevailed as producers in 2024 when Shark Tank triumphed in Best Structured Reality Program.
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Queer Eye’s Fab 5 round out the Top 5. The show got a facelift in Season 9 with Jeremiah Brent replacing Bobby Berk, but remained powerful as it traveled to Las Vegas. Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Jonathan Van Ness have been nominated four times as hosts (2020-23), and won as producers in 2023 when Queer Eye claimed the Emmy for Best Structured Reality Program. Brent said about joining the show, “I keep saying to people, it feels like I’ve come home in a lot of ways.”
Gold Derby’s Emmy odds are based on the combined forecasts of more than 2,800 people, including media experts, awards editors, and a large user prediction bloc. You can track predictions through their charts and join discussions in their TV forum.
