The new queens have arrived and are ready to slay the competition.
On 6 January, UK fans will finally be treated to the highly anticipated 16th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The 14 sickening queens vying for the title of ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar’ include Amanda Tori Meating, Dawn, Geneva Karr, Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, Megami, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige, Mirage, Morphine Love Dion, Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, Plasma, Q, Sapphira Cristál and Xunami Muse.
Like season 15, the new batch of contestants will compete in a variety of maxi-challenges, runway walks, and lip-sync smackdowns for a chance at winning $200,000.
However this time around, Ru and company have made it a bit more challenging by adding a new All-Stars-esque format called “Rate a Queen” – which allows the contestants to rate each other’s performances to determine the top and bottom of the week.
Lastly, the new batch of episodes are set to kick off with a supersized two-part premiere featuring two maxi-challenges – one with an MTV’s Spring Break theme and the second with a Queen Choice Awards theme.
With Drag Race season 16 right around the corner, MTV treated fans to a juicy sneak peek from the first episode.
At the start of the teaser, which Out originally shared, the first seven queens to enter the workroom – Amanda, Dawn, Mirage, Morphine, Q, Sapphira, Cristál, and Xunami Muse – are surprised by a RuMail alert.
It didn’t take long for some of the queens to figure out that they were one out of two groups in the competition.
“Immediately when I hear the RuMail, I’m like, ‘Oh my god, split premiere,'” Q theorised in a confessional.
After listening to the riddle-filled RuMail, the drag icon herself entered the workroom to welcome the queens into the franchise.
“My queens! Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. From this moment on, you will forever be one of my girls. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to spread your charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent around the mothertucking world,” Ru exclaimed.
“Now, as the first seven queens to arrive, I must warn you, several many twists, turns, tangents, and tiaras lie ahead. But in the end, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race will receive a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills Cosmetics plus a gag-worthy grand prize of 200,000.”
Towards the end of the clip, Ru tasked the contestants with sashaying to her front porch and “posing the house down” for their first photo shoot.
Alongside the 14 new queens, Drag Race season 16 will feature Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley and Ts Madison returning to the judges’ panel alongside Ru.
A new crop of celebrity guest judges will also be headed to the mainstage, including Charlize Theron, Becky G, Adam Shankman, Icona Pop, Isaac Mizrahi, Jamal Sims and Joel Kim Booster.
More star power incoming: Kaia Gerber, Kelsea Ballerini, Kyra Sedgwick, Law Roach, Mayan Lopez, Ronan Farrow and the iconic Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Watch the new sneak peek here or below.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 and its aftershow – RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked – will be available exclusively in the UK on WOW Presents Plus starting Saturday, 6 January 2024. Subscribe now via https://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/
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