RuPaul has won his sixth Emmy award in a row for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.
The Drag Race host has won the award every single year since and including 2016, beating out the likes of Nicole Byer, the Queer Eye team and the Top Chef presenters at this year’s ceremony.
He is now in the same spot as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who previously broke the record for winning the Best Actress in a Comedy award six times in a row for her time on Veep.
“I started in television 40 years ago on a public access station in Atlanta, Georgia,” RuPaul said in his acceptance speech. “A little show called The American Music Show. They were so kind to me to have me do my hard yards there years ago, and I want to thank them for being so kind to me and all the people in this business who’ve been kind.”
“I’ve got to tell you, the sweetness and the kindness is what I appreciate the most today. In fact, the sweetness and the kindness are at the top of my list of human virtues. After that would be a big fat ass. Thank you so much for this award.”
RuPaul now ties with cinematographer Donald A. Morgan as the person of colour with the most Emmy wins – something he will be the sole holder of if he wins again next year.
RuPaul’s Drag Race won five Emmy awards this year, also snatching the trophy for Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program with Goloka Bolte and Ethan Petersen; Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program with Nick Murray; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality Or Competition Program with Jamie Martin, Paul Cross, Ryan Mallick and Michael Roha and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked.
In August, the US edition of Drag Race was renewed for a new season alongside Untucked and Secret Celebrity Drag Race.
The latest season saw the series’ biggest-ever shared audience of 1.3 million viewers thanks to the six-network simulcast premiere in January, making it no surprise that VH1 said “Shantay, you stay” to the show.
In a network statement, RuPaul said: “I am extremely grateful to all the amazing and talented Drag Race queens – past, present and future – that continue to inspire us to find new ways to tell their stories.
“Through love, light and laughter, they remind all of us that the most powerful thing you can do is to become the image of your own imagination.”
It is unclear if any changes will be made to how the shows are aired, given that the franchise moved All Stars 6 from VH1 to the new Paramount+ streaming service earlier in the year.
An array of international editions of the show have been produced in recent years, including the beloved UK version, a Canadian instalment and the more recent Australian version.
The premiere date of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Untucked and RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race has yet to be announced by VH1.
The BBC recently ru-vealed the cast of season three of Drag Race UK, with the new season airing on 23 September on BBC iPlayer.
Latest
