Alan Cumming on the Flirtation Between “The Traitors”' 'Castle Daddy' CT Tamburello and Phaedra Parks (Exclusive)
The host of the Peacock competition series calls the 'Challenge' star and the former Real Housewife a "funny little odd couple" to PEOPLE
Sorry to fans of The Traitors who feel like they've been watching a showmance unfold between season 2 players Chris “CT” Tamburello and Phaedra Parks — host Alan Cumming says the relationship between The Challenge legend and The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum might just be fan fiction.
“I think there's as much chance of a romance between CT and Phaedra as there's between me and CT or me and Phaedra, actually,” Cumming, 59, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “But they're a funny little odd couple and they're very affectionate.”
Tamburello, a Faithful, helped Parks, a Traitor, through the river during a mission in episode 6, and the two paired up to compete together in another mission the next episode. (When it came time to pick partners, Tamburello turned to Parks and asked, “How you doin’?” to which she replied, “Alright, Daddy!”) Later in episode 7, Parks lit Tamburello’s torch to grant him immunity from the night’s murder.
“If Phaedra wants to light my torch, I’m not gonna be rude and say no,” Tamburello, 43, said on the show.
Cumming thinks the pressure of the game drew Tamburello, 43, and Parks, 50, to one another.
“These people are put into this incredibly emotional and mind screwy situation, and they're in this bubble. They don't have really access to the outside world,” suggests the Tony Award winner. “Of course they're going to become really emotionally involved with each other.”
Still, “I don't think just because you hold hands with someone means you're having an affair with them,” Cumming continues. “If that were the case, I would be having an affair with most of my friends.”
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When asked about her relationship with Tamburello on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last month, Parks called the MTV star her “Castle Daddy” and referred to their bond as “a love thing.”
However, while weighing whether he should join Peter Weber and Trishelle Canatella in voting to banish Parks in the latest episode of Traitors, Tamburello truly considered it, saying he came on the show “looking for Traitors, not love.”
The majority of the group ultimately ended up voting for Traitor Parvati Shallow, making Parks the last Traitor standing — for now.
Cumming found himself surprised by Parks’ “passive” approach to the competition, but he supposes “that's a very good tactic actually in a game like this.”
“She never really risks a judgment about anything,” the Scottish actor continues. “And as a lawyer, you have to be very authoritative, but non-partisan. So, I was kind of surprised.”
Related: Phaedra Parks' Traitors Costars 'Did Not Believe My Lashes Would Hold Up' in Rigorous Missions
Though Parks may be selective in her support (RIP Bergalicious), she rides for her fellow Housewives. “The only thing she was really kind of firm about was her loyalty to the Housewives,” Cumming says. “There was a very tribal aspect to her housewife stuff, which I kind of enjoyed as well.”
Parks did court fellow Bravo star Kate Chastain to join her as a Traitor, but viewers will have to wait until Thursday’s episode to see if she accepts the offer. As The Traitors season 2 approaches its home stretch, Cumming teases even more twists to come.
“As soon as you think, ‘Oh, that's happened,’ then something else happens and it's just so fascinating,” he says. “And people just disappear in the night.”
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New episodes of The Traitors drop Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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