> That said Alan Cumming is not the host of the UK version.

I'd say Claudia is an equally enjoyable host, albeit in a different way.

> (wasn't familiar with any of them so I didn't have the benefit of recognising and liking them going in)

The production company said that they wanted to see if anyone benefited or suffered from the reputation they already had when going into the show. As someone from the UK, that was lost on me, although some things were brought up at roundtables where it was clear certain contestants had done duplicitous things in the past on other shows - it was still enjoyable enough, with a couple of shocks and some tension, but not a patch on the British one.