With the COVID-19 pandemic delaying production on many shows, it is up in the air if the popular TV series, RuPaul's Drag Race, will be able to film their 13th season of the regular series, as well as the sixth season of the spin-off series, RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars.
The show, hosted by RuPaul Charles, pits drag queens against each other to become America's next drag superstar and win a cash prize of $100,000, along with other prizes. Both of the series were renewed for another season, but with new seasons of the show typically airing towards the start of the new year, it is unknown if the show will roll around come that time next year. With the pandemic affecting people all around the world, will it also affect the filming and airing of the upcoming seasons of Drag Race? Despite the pandemic, it does seem that viewers will be getting their dose of Drag Race and Drag Race: All-Stars as both shows have seemed to film over the last few months.
According to a spoiler page on YouTube, the cast for Season 13 has officially been confirmed and began filming mid-July, with all the queens entering back into the social media world towards the end of August. When it comes to the sixth season of All-Stars, viewers also do not have to wait long for this season to air. According to Reality Blurred, the sixth All-Stars season began filming shortly after production for season 13 of the main series finished. The same spoiler page on YouTube that gave us the cast spoilers for Drag Race Season 13 has also posted speculations of the AS6 cast. While this All-Stars cast is not confirmed, this page has done their research about who has been inactive from social media to come up with their speculations.
It does seem both shows have been able to film during the pandemic. However, restrictions were most likely put into place to keep the judges, queens, and staff safe while shooting the show. It's difficult to say how the restrictions will play out or if they have an effect on the overall viewer experience until the new seasons begin airing. But safety is important to many TV productions during this tough time in the world, so that is surely their number one priority.
With the pandemic halting production on many TV shows, fans were worried RuPaul's Drag Race was the next casualty on that list. Thankfully though, it looks like viewers will only have to wait a few more months to see brand new queens and fan-favorites in action.
Source: Drag Droplet, Reality Blurred