The RuPaul’s Drag Race limited series spinoff will focus on celebrity transformations. Now, fans of past breakout queens like Kim Chi, Monique Heart, Nina West, Trinity the Tuck, and Trixie Matte can enjoy drag realness interpreted by Hollywood's elite.
The spinoff was announced October 22, and will have a total four-episode run. Each week will showcase three celebrity drag hopefuls as they undergo over-the-top transformations. The winning queen will be named “America’s Next Celebrity Drag Superstar.” Veteran drag performers Alyssa Edwards, Asia O’Hara, Bob the Drag Queen, and more will be on hand to lead the hopefuls into drag glory. Unfortunately, fans of the show will have to wait for the list of participants. However, if competitions like The Masked Singer and Dancing With the Stars are any indication of the draw that the RuPaul's Drag Race has, then it should be a rousing success.
According to People, drag superstar and executive producer RuPaul Charles is thrilled about the new spinoff series. “Doing drag does not change who you are, it reveals who you are,” he said in a statement. “I can’t wait for the world to see what happens when our celebrity contestants get all up in drags!”
Ever since its debut in 2009, RuPaul's Drag Race has been the destination for top drag performers to strut their stuff. The show has made household names out of performers like Willem, Shangela, Tyra Sanchez, Sharon Needles, and Jujubee. Each season, a new crop of hopefuls compete for supremacy by taking part in challenges that judge them on everything from wittiness, to fashion-forwardness, to overall fierceness. At the end of the show, a panel of judges weighs in on a catwalk challenge. The bottom two performers are made to "lip sync for [their] lives" and perform a routine to a predetermined song. RuPaul awards the victor with his signature line, "Shante, you stay." The losing performer, however, is told to "Sashay away."
Given drag's storied history, as well as the wider acceptance of LGBTQ culture, drag has been elevated to high art. This new series will continue the tradition of bringing drag to the masses by incorporating the public's voracious appetite for celebrity into its winning formula. Given the success of RuPaul's Drag race, which has been nominated for 34 Emmy Awards, the celebrity spinoff series should be just as much (if not more) fun.
RuPaul’s Celebrity Drag Race's four-episode run has no release date at the moment.
Source: People