2026 Emmy Awards Outstanding Reality Competition Program Nominees Revealed, and One Fan-Favorite Was Snubbed

The announcements for the 2026 Emmy nominations are rolling in! While the full list is set to drop at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 8th, TODAY gave fans a sneak peek and revealed the list of ‘Outstanding Reality Competition Program’ nominees earlier in the day.

Which of your favorite TV shows is up for the award? And the nominees are:

• Dancing With the Stars
• RuPaul’s Drag Race
• Survivor
• Top Chef
• The Traitors

Along with this category, TODAY also shared the contenders for ‘Outstanding Variety Series.’ These include The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Saturday Night Live.

This year’s crop of ‘Outstanding Reality Competition Program’ nominees is almost identical to the 2025 Emmy list. The Traditors, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Survivor, and Top Chef were all nominated last year. And as fans of the reality show now know, the winner was Peacock’s The Traitors.

In 2025, the fifth awards show hopeful was The Amazing Race. But sadly for fans, the long-time CBS adventure competition series didn’t make this year’s list. Over its almost 25-year TV history, the legendary program has won 10 ‘Outstanding Reality Competition Program’ Emmys and five of the awards in technical and creative categories.

What competition show took The Amazing Race’s place? This year, Dancing With the Stars is up for the award again. The beloved ABC hit has already racked up a whopping 127 Emmy nominations and 21 wins in its 35-season history.

Which ‘Outstanding Reality Competition Program’ is favored for a 2026 Emmy win?

If The Traitors wins the category for a second year in a row, that will make a total of nine Emmys for the Peacock series. The reality TV-packed pick also won the ‘Outstanding Reality Competition Program’ Emmy in 2024. Other awards in the past two years include wins for Picture Editing, Directing, Host (Alan Cumming), and Cinematography. 

Not only are viewers making this one of the most popular unscripted shows on television, but one very notable celeb also praised the potential Emmy winner. When asked what reality TV show she would be on, former First Lady Michelle Obama recently said, on her ‘IMO’ podcast, “I’ve been so into Traitors…I would want to be on Traitors, and I would want to be a faithful. And I would want to find the traitor.”

As for the other nominees, it looks like viewers are also rooting for a returning front-runner. While this isn’t exactly the first time around for Dancing With the Stars, fans are happy to see it back in contention. One Redditor emphatically posted, “ABOUT TIME! Congratulations to everyone involved!” 

The 78th Emmy Awards will air on Monday, September 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.