--- description: The two reunited on the red carpet of the TIME100 gala. title: Maura Higgins Settles Post-Mortem Questions with Traitors Host Alan Cumming image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082134dff601547/69eae7f43022bd7810756d25/2272845290.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 24, 2026 # Maura Higgins Settles Post-Mortem Questions with 'The Traitors' Host Alan Cumming by [Charlotte Hu](/author/charlotte-hu/) ## Charlotte Hu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Associate Editor It seems like it was only yesterday that audiences watched reality TV personality Maura Higgins get the rug pulled from under her when fellow competitor Rob Rausch revealed his true identity in the final act of the popular [Alan Cumming](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/alan-cumming/ "undefined")\-hosted murder mystery game show[_The Traitors_](https://time.com/7344696/the-traitors-season-4-donna-kelce-twist/ "undefined"). Since then, Higgins and Rausch have buried the hatchet, in no small part thanks to [a gift in the form of a Birkin bag](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/birkin-bag-rob-rausch-maura-higgins "undefined"). And for Higgins, it’s on to the next competition, as she was announced earlier in the week to be a contestant on the upcoming season of [_Dancing With The Stars_](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/dancing-with-the-stars-season-35-maura-higgins-ciara-miller-1236727506/ "undefined")_._ On Thursday, when [Higgins co-hosted the red carpet livestream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kktp8PzvcPc "undefined")—presented by P&G and its brand Cascade—at the TIME100 Gala in New York City, she seized the opportunity for a mini _The Traitors_ reunion and a post-mortem Q&A with Cumming, one of the 2026 honorees. “I just saw Alan Cumming is here, and I’ve got a bone to pick with him. Get him over here now, I need to speak with him,” she said. “I feel like I should’ve been a traitor and I don’t know why he didn’t pick me as a traitor. I would’ve won that show.” “We can’t have 20 traitors,” Cumming responded with a laugh, “and if you’d been a traitor, we wouldn’t have had one of the most incredible moments of television of the year, would we? That moment when you find out, it’s etched into all of our minds forever. And what I thought was incredible about you was when you got that insane news, within the course of a minute, you went, ‘fair dues,’ and that’s such great testament to you as a person.” Higgins, who has been a fixture in reality TV since breaking out as one of the more memorable cast members from the fifth season of _Love Island UK_, is no stranger to having her raw emotions bared on national television. “So my heartbreak was everyone’s entertainment?” she asked Cumming. To which he simply replied, "that’s showbiz." When Higgins asked Cumming to judge who on the 2026 TIME100 list would be a good traitor, the two both agreed on [Victoria Beckham](https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/victoria-beckham-branding-personal/ "undefined"). “She’s sort of implacable,” Cumming said. “She’s got a poker face.” ——— The TIME100 Gala is an annual celebration of the TIME100 list, which highlights the world’s most influential people. The Gala brings together icons, leaders, change-makers, and celebrities from across industries and nations for one lively evening of meaningful dialogue and celebration. The 2026 TIME100 Gala is hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser and features remarks from advocate Dolores Huerta; actor Alan Cumming; Olympian Chloe Kim, and many more, plus performances by Coco Jones and Luke Combs. For the first time ever, viewers can watch exclusive Gala red carpet coverage—hosted by Terrence J and Maura Higgins—on [TIME’s YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/time "undefined"). _The 2026 TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Rolex, JPMorganChase, Toyota, Reliance, PepsiCo, and The Macallan._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/"},"headline":"Maura Higgins Settles Post-Mortem Questions with Traitors Host Alan Cumming","datePublished":"2026-04-24T12:57:23.120Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:46.962Z","description":"The two reunited on the red carpet of the TIME100 gala.","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades","Events"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082134dff601547/69eae7f43022bd7810756d25/2272845290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Hu","jobTitle":"Associate Editor","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-hu/"}],"creator":"Charlotte Hu","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082134dff601547/69eae7f43022bd7810756d25/2272845290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/","name":"Maura Higgins Settles Post-Mortem Questions with Traitors Host Alan Cumming"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Maura Higgins Asks Alan Cumming Why He Didn't Make Her a Traitor","description":"The two reunited on the red carpet of the TIME100 gala.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lzOrbvEj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-04-24T12:51:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lzOrbvEj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/maura-higgins-alan-cumming-traitors/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```