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Wave that checkered flag, Drag Race fans, because the competition is about to begin.
On Friday (Jan. 6), RuPaul’s Drag Race is set to return for its 15th season, with a bigger batch of queens and an even bigger cash prize — the latest season is set to feature a record number of 16 queens competing for $200,000 and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
Along with its new set of queens, the season will also feature a vast array of celebrity guest judges ready to offer their expertise and advice to the competitors on how to get ahead. Ariana Grande will appear in the season’s premiere episode on Friday, with subsequent episodes set to feature stars like Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, Hayley Kiyoko, Orville Peck, Ali Wong, Amandla Stenberg, Harvey Guillén, Julia Garner and Megan Statler.
Fans used to viewing the show on VH1 will also have some adjustments to make with season 15 — for the first time in the franchise’s history, RuPaul’s Drag Race will now be aired exclusively on MTV. In a statement released with the news back in December, co-CEOs of World of Wonder (the production company behind Drag Race) Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey said that they were “delighted” to see the show make the move. “Drag Race is about universal themes of love, self expression, and acceptance — and there has never been a more important time than now for these ideas to be expressed internationally,” they said.
With MTV’s storied history as the primary home for the most iconic music videos of all-time, Billboard asked the 16 queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 to select their favorites. Below, the queens explain their picks, from Lady Gaga to Beyoncé and beyond:
No, you’re not “Imagine“-ing things — Ariana Grande is returning to one of her favorite “Positions” as a guest judge on a popular reality TV show.
On Wednesday (Dec. 14), MTV announced that Grande would return to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race to serve as the inaugural guest judge for season 15. In a short clip posted across the Drag Race social media accounts, Grande struts down the runway sporting a pearl-covered cone bra and a long pencil skirt. Blowing a kiss to the camera, she says in a voiceover, “Season 15 is here, and so am I.”
This won’t be Grande’s first time judging on Drag Race. Back in season seven of the show, the pop superstar appeared as a guest judge for the now-infamous “Death Becomes Her” runway, where she watched queens Jaidynn Dior Fierce and Kandy Ho lip sync to her iconic Zedd collaboration “Break Free.”
The news of Grande’s upcoming appearance on the show comes just one day after the show’s 15th season was officially announced, alongside a cast of 16 queens competing for the coveted title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, as well as a doubled cash prize of $200,000. Along with bringing in more queens in one season than ever before, season 15 will also mark RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s first season on MTV, after the show spent its last six seasons on VH1.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 premieres on MTV Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the official teaser for Ariana Grande’s guest judge appearance above.
If RuPaul’s Drag Race were an actual, real-life drag race, then its latest announcement would rival the Grand Prix itself.
On Monday (Dec. 12), the long-running franchise announced a “global expansion” of the Drag Race brand, which includes a new deal that will see the flagship show move over from VH1 (its home for the last six years) to MTV for its long-awaited 15th season. On Tuesday (Dec. 13), the franchise unveiled the full cast for season 15, revealing the most queens on one season of the main series than ever before.
In alphabetical order, season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race will see Amethyst, Anetra, Aura Mayari, Irene Dubois, Jax, Loosey LaDuca, Luxx Noir London, Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Princess Poppy, Robin Fierce, Salina EsTitties, Sugar and Spice all compete for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar — as well as a newly increased cash prize of $200,000.
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RuPaul’s Drag Race isn’t the only show benefitting from the franchise’s new development. As part of the expansion, MTV also announced three brand new Drag Race spin-off shows that will be arriving in Brazil, Germany and Mexico via MTV and Paramount+. All of this will also culminate in the first-ever season of Drag Race Global All Stars, in which fan-favorite queens from many of the different Drag Race franchises will come together for a head-to-head battle on Paramount+.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 will premiere with two back-to-back episodes on Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the official “meet the queens” livestream below:
Racers, start your engines — and may the best world leader win!
In a new trailer for the forthcoming inaugural season of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World, fans of the franchise got a sneak peek of the upcoming competition and just a few of the special guests set to appear on the show. One of them just so happens to be the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.
This marks the first time in the history of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise where a world leader has been featured as a guest star on the show. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on the latest installment of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, where she implored viewers and the contestants to vote in the midterm elections.
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The new trailer also unveils a bevy of other guest stars set to appear on the show — Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World will feature guest judges including Anjulie, Gary Janetti, Hollywood Jade, and even past winners from the franchise like Monét X Change and Priyanka.
Much like its predecessor UK Vs. The World, the new season will see queens from across the international iterations of the show coming back to duke it out for the crown. Queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race (Ra’Jah O’Hara & Silky Nutmeg Ganache), Canada’s Drag Race (Icesis Couture, Kendall Gender, Rita Baga & Stephanie Prince), RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (Vanity Milan & Victoria Scone) and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under (Anita Wigl’it) are set to appear.
Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World premieres Friday, Nov. 18 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, on WOW Presents Plus. Check out the full trailer below: