Start Your Engines: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Unveils Season 16 Cast

If new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race were on your holiday wishlist, then Mama Ru is here with excellent news for you.

On Wednesday (Dec. 6), MTV officially announced the full cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. Set to air starting Friday, Jan. 5, the new episodes of the Emmy-winning franchise will see 14 new queens enter the werk room and compete for a cash prize of $200,000, as well as the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.

The new cast features drag performers 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.

Season 16’s premiere, meanwhile, will be a two-part event with the queens split into two different groups. Performing in their respective talent shows — themed after MTV staples like Spring Break and the Teen Choice Awards — each of the premiere episodes is set to feature a “gag worthy twist,” where the queens will rate each other’s performances to determine who ends up in the top and bottom positions.

In an interview with Billboard earlier this year, RuPaul attributed the ongoing success of the Drag Race franchise to the fabulous performers who come to compete each season. “What makes the show fresh is that each season, we get these fabulous, courageous artists who come on and share their stories with us and the world,” he said. “As producers, we do what we can to create the infrastructure, but the new blood and energy coming from our contestants is what makes the show what it is.”

Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Check out the show’s official “Meet the Queens” video below:

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