Alan Cumming: ‘I accidentally wore my pyjamas to a film premiere’

The actor and host of The Traitors US, 59, on his eccentric attire, buying a club and still staggering home from nightclubs at 4am

How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Alan Cumming
I used to love sleeping until 1pm but, annoyingly, that gets harder as I get older. I have a little cuddle with my dog Lala and my husband Grant.
Wander around the East Village and head to Tompkins Square Bagels for gluten-free bagels and tofu spread, so I can have a proper New York bagel, but with all my weird dietary requirements.
I love garden pottering. I’ve made an arch trellis for the deck, and I power-wash and tidy the leaves, even though I despise leaf blowers. They’re a poor invention, like a metaphor for America – they shove things out of the way for a wee while, which then come back to haunt you. We also have a house in the Highlands where there’s a lot of pottering to be done. I’m still discovering things because, when you’ve a house that people have lived in for hundreds of years, you find sheds and things you haven’t explored yet.
I love a Superiority Burger. I’ve been so many times that the manager lets me in the back room so I don’t get recognised. I bought a bucket hat with mushrooms on it as a cunning disguise, but saw myself in the mirror and realised it drew more attention than if I was just me. People imagine me to dress like I do on The Traitors but that’s a character – it’s me playing Moira Rose from Schitt’s Creek playing me.
Usually, I look like an eccentric old man in sandals, yoga pants and a T-shirt that says ‘Namasgay’. My dream is to have a line of pyjamas that you could wear in any eventuality. I once accidentally wore mine to a film premiere. A charcoal communist-leader-style pair. I thought I was going to a screening – it was a red carpet full of cameras.
Swimming or yoga, then a nap – I’m good at switching off. My life is usually busy and organised – if someone had told me the things I’d go on to do when I was younger, it would have been inconceivable. It all started with Victor & Barry, my comedy duo with Forbes Masson, and we’ve just gone back to where it all began.
The British Library got in touch saying they’d found some recordings – like they’d unearthed them in an archaeological dig – and we always thought we were a scrappy mess, but we listened and they were great. We realised it was 40 years since we started, so decided to do a book (Victor & Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium).
I’ll cook vegan mince and tatties, like a funny old Scottish lady. I’m good at cooking for large groups, it’s my superhero skill. When we go upstate to the Catskills, people come to stay, and we regularly have about 16 for dinner.
I open all the French doors on the top floor of our house so air comes through both sides, and have a breezy singsong round the piano. I’ve got a bar up there, it’s kind of magical.
Pop down to Club Cumming. I’ve always wanted to be a barman – most actors have done this, but I had to buy a bar in order to be one. Having my own club, I always know I can go to a fun place – and I won’t have trouble getting in.
I’m quite rock ’n’ roll, but I have water with every alcoholic drink to avoid hangovers. Luckily, the club is in staggering distance from my bed.