Chanel Ayan revealed she was “asked not to wear” a certain outfit on The Traitors because it would have “outshined” host Alan Cumming. The Real Housewives of Dubai star also explained why it was a problem in the castle and shared photos of the dress.
On The Traitors U.S., host Alan Cumming, who’s a native of Scotland, where the show films, is known for wearing iconic and colorful outfits that are often plaid. In the third season, Chanel played a “Faithful,” trying to discover which castmates were “Traitors.”
“True story — I was asked not to wear this look at the castle coz I would have outshined Alan,” wrote Chanel on X, via @tasteof_reality on Instagram. “I said Alan would have appreciated this look.”
“Also, the dress was [too] big for the castle,” she went on. “That I get.”
The star uploaded shots of her long, plaid dress, similar to some of the outfits Alan wears on the show.
In the comments, Chanel claimed she brought “7 suitcases” to the castle, and the dress in question “had its own suitcase.”
“I wanted this to be my first look into the castle, and they said you ain’t breaking things,” she added. “Then when I arrived — yeah, this was too big … The stylist was just like no no no no.”
A fan then asked if Chanel would have been a better “Traitor” than “Faithful.”
“Way better than Bob 😂,” she said, referring to Bob the Drag Queen, the first Traitor who was discovered by the Faithfuls.
In a 2024 interview for GQ, stylist Sam Spector revealed the inspiration for Alan’s wardrobe on the show.
“Before season one, Alan and I had a call, and he used the word ‘dandy.’ It was the perfect inspiration; we took that to the network, and everyone was on board,” said Sam at the time. “I created mood boards and used my menswear background to work in a Scottish dandy Laird and traditional Scottish menswear. I also wanted to work with Alan’s punk downtown New York vibe. We had a Bond villain in our heads during season one … He pulls off these crazy and sometimes androgynous and sometimes wacky looks so well. All the credit goes to him — I’m just a little piece of this puzzle.”
