2024 Emmy Predictions: Best Reality Host
Since 2016, RuPaul Charles has fended off 32 presenters from 18 programs to win a whopping eight consecutive Best Reality Host Emmys for “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” As the self-proclaimed queen of drag now looks to extend his streak, he faces none of the hosts he most recently beat but rather a mix of old and new challengers, some of whom are entirely new to the category.
RuPaul is currently involved in his fourth battle against the half dozen hosts of “Shark Tank,” who managed to bounce back after being snubbed in 2023. Also in the running to dethrone the “Drag Race” host are first-timers Alan Cumming (“The Traitors”) and Kristen Kish (“Top Chef”) as well as four-time winner Jeff Probst (“Survivor”), who was last nominated 13 years ago.
In order to determine whether RuPaul will have any trouble going nine-for-nine, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 30 other Creative Arts Emmy categories by September 7.
RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”)
RuPaul, who has hosted all 16 seasons of his eponymous competition show, made history in 2021 when he became the most-awarded Black individual in Emmys history. Outside of this category, he has collected five Best Competition Program trophies for “Drag Race” (2018-2021; 2023) and a Best Unstructured Reality Program one for its companion series, “Untucked!” (2021). So far, the main show has won a total of 29 Emmys from 77 nominations.
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary (“Shark Tank”)
This sextet of shrewd venture capitalists are nominated for the 15th season of this show on which burgeoning entrepreneurs pitch their products in the hopes of securing lucrative investments. All have been series regulars since at least season four and have thus contributed to the show’s four Best Structured Reality Program wins (2014-2017) and seven additional nominations in that category.
Alan Cumming (“The Traitors”)
After two seasons, the American adaptation of the Dutch series “De Verraders” has simultaneously earned its first Best Competition Program and Best Reality Host nominations. The colorful Cumming previously caught the TV academy’s attention as a co-host of the 2015 Tony Awards and as a guest (2010) and supporting (2011; 2015) actor on “The Good Wife.”
Kristen Kish (“Top Chef”)
Kish, who won the 10th season of this cooking competition show in 2013, became its presenter from season 21 onward upon the departure of five-time hosting nominee Padma Lakshmi. The series, which was most recently filmed in Wisconsin, has received 18 Best Competition Program nominations, including one this year and another that led to a win in 2010.
Jeff Probst (“Survivor”)
Although “Survivor” earned a Best Competition Program notice in 2023 after 17 years of being overlooked, it is ineligible there this time around, leaving Probst as this lineup’s only host whose show isn’t up for a program award. 46 seasons into his “Survivor” tenure, he now has 11 Emmy bids to his name, including his four successful ones in this category’s earliest years (2008-2011).
So, who will win the 2024 Emmy for Best Reality Host? It’s worth acknowledging the most obvious difference between this contest and last year’s, which is that RuPaul now lacks the advantage of facing a full slate of people he’s already beaten multiple times each. Indeed, his path to victory is significantly complicated by the untested nature of Kish and Cumming’s candidacies, while Probst’s unexpected return makes the situation especially thorny.
Although RuPaul’s potential ninth win won’t come as easily as his eighth did, he should still prevail given his unmistakably high favorability among the voters that have gotten him this far. It certainly doesn’t help him that Cumming has the backing of 32% of the Gold Derby users predicting this race, but his long perfect record should serve as more than enough proof of the great risk associated with betting against him.
PREDICT the Creative Arts Emmy winners through September 7
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