There have been many celebrities on the judging panel of RuPaul’s Drag Race, coming from several different walks of life and providing the show with varying types of expertise. From the series’ first season, RuPaul was already landing big names such as Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams and fashion designer Bob Mackie.
As Drag Race grew in popularity and more celebrities started to actually watch the show, we started to see stories of former judges actually becoming friends with the queens. What’s more, the franchise started to attract contestants that already had a significant following and important connections beforehand. Read below to find out which RuPaul’s Drag Race queens are friends with the judges who have been on the show!
ALASKA AND MICHELLE VISAGE
Alaska was brought onto season 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race as not only someone who had been auditioning for years, but also as the queen who happened to date season 4 winner Sharon Needles. After never landing in the bottom even once throughout season 5, Alaska lost the crown to Jinkx Monsoon, who deservedly took the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
After Alaska’s first time on Drag Race, she starred in a stage production of The Rocky Horror Show in San Antonio, TX, alongside none other than Michelle Visage (as well as Willam). During that time, Alaska and Michelle developed a deep friendship. As a matter of fact, Alaska credits Michelle for serving as a liaison between her and Sharon Needles during their subsequent breakup.
MILK AND MARC JACOBS
Milk pushed the envelope with her out-of-the-box drag on RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, it seems like Milk made an even bigger splash as a male model in the fashion world.
After her time on season 6 of Drag Race, Milk booked several modeling gigs, including campaigns from Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, and Perry Ellis. With Marc Jacobs, Milk went on to develop a strong friendship – one that can be seen all over social media over the course of many years.
Perhaps because of his friendship with Milk, Marc Jacobs was finally brought on as a special guest judge on season 8 of Drag Race.
WILLAM AND NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
Season 4 alum Willam has been friends with husbands Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka for many years. However, the power couple was only featured on the judging panel on season 6, two years after Willam’s time on the show.
The friendship between Willam, NPH, and David was registered in the HBO documentary Wig, which was released in 2019 and followed the revival of the Wigstock festival in New York City. In the documentary, Willam is seen at Neil and David’s home as they talk about the importance of Wigstock as a queer institution. The couple was heavily involved in the revival of the festival, and Willam provided them with even more connections in the drag world.
SHANGELA AND JENIFER LEWIS
If you’re a Drag Race fan, you’ve probably heard the story that Shangela has worked for Jenifer Lewis (and lived in her house) for many, many years. Of course, Jenifer Lewis wasn’t a judge on the show until All Stars 4, but her presence was always felt on the series.
Shangela eventually became too famous and successful to work as Jenifer Lewis’ assistant, but it seems like their friendship was too strong by that point, and Shangie just stayed living there. With that said, Shangela is constantly traveling around the world for tours and events, so Jenifer Lewis doesn’t actually have that roommate for a good portion of the year.
MORGAN MCMICHAELS AND ROSS MATHEWS
If you’ve ever listened to Ross Mathews’ podcasts, you know that he’s nearly always in Palm Springs and constantly references the drag queens he is able to see there. One of the most regular Drag Race queens in Ross’ life is Morgan McMichaels, so much so that the queen hosts many of the events presented by him.
On All Stars 3, Ross Mathews made reference to his friendship with Morgan McMichaels outside of the show. Unfortunately, Morgan’s act didn’t translate well to that season of Drag Race All Stars, and even her bond with Ross couldn’t save the queen from elimination.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN AND TIFFANY “NEW YORK” POLLARD
Bob The Drag Queen has made numerous connections after winning season 8 of Drag Race, but perhaps one of the strongest and most constant ones has been with none other than reality royalty Tiffany “New York” Pollard. All in all, the pair have worked together several times over the years.
It may seem shocking to newer Drag Race fans, but Tiffany “New York” Pollard was only brought on as a judge on season 11. Tiffany is best known as a contestant on Flavor of Love and as a host on I Love New York, both of which were VH1 dating shows. Given that the queen was regularly referenced on Drag Race and in the gay community, it was a long time coming!
RAJA AND ADAM LAMBERT
Before being crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 3, Raja was best known for her makeup work. One of the most impressive credits from Raja was the fact that she did Adam Lambert’s makeup for many years. In fact, they had such a great friendship that Adam even appeared on Raja’s audition tape for the series.
On Drag Race, Adam Lambert sat on the judging panel twice. Adam’s first time as a judge was in the first episode of season 6, when the judges chose to eliminate Kelly Mantle. Then, Adam came back on All Stars 3 to help the queens record a song for the girl group challenge.
MISS FAME AND MARC JACOBS
Another Drag Race friendship involving Marc Jacobs is with Miss Fame, the season 7 contestant who has gone on to influence the mainstream fashion world. Unlike Milk, however, Miss Fame’s career has had less to do with modeling and more to do with makeup.
Over the years, Miss Fame and Marc Jacobs have been spotted together at several fashion events. They are always friendly and appear on each other’s social media accounts.
ALYSSA EDWARDS AND TODRICK HALL
Todrick Hall has become a Drag Race staple, and the singer has developed friendships with many of the queens outside of the show. With that said, one of the strongest bonds that Todrick has developed is certainly with season 5 and All Stars 2 alum Alyssa Edwards.
Fans of Todrick and Alyssa can see them interacting together on a few episodes of Alyssa’s Secret, the queen’s show on WOW Presents Plus, and YouTube. Given that they’re both dancers and choreographers, the pair certainly has had a lot to talk about!
VINEGAR STROKES AND MICHELLE VISAGE
Michelle Visage is a pretty big celebrity in the U.S., but in the U.K., she’s even bigger! Right before the first-ever season of RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K., Michelle was starring in a production of the musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Out-of-drag Vinegar Strokes was also on the cast, who ended up being a contestant on the show.
This connection between Michelle Visage and Vinegar Strokes was addressed in the first episode of Drag Race U.K., with Michelle promising not to go easy on the queen. Indeed, the judge didn’t make it easy at all on Vinegar during that season.