The future of the Drag Race franchise has been revealed.
On Wednesday (20 August), it was confirmed that MTV and World of Wonder had renewed the drag competition series for season 18, along with its popular after-show, Untucked.
In addition to the franchise’s mainline entry, it was confirmed that the beloved All Stars spin-off will return to the platform for an 11th season.
In a video statement, RuPaul expressed her excitement over the show’s return.
“We are so grateful to our fans for all the love and support you’ve shown to our show and to our beautiful and talented queens. Thank you,” the drag icon exclaimed.
World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato echoed similar sentiments in a separate statement: “We want to express our gratitude to Paramount for their unwavering support of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise as we celebrate more seasons of spreading joy and laughter.”
The renewal news comes a few months after Drag Race season 17 wrapped up.
Following weeks of intense maxi-challenges, showstopping runways and jaw-dropping lip-syncs, the final four queens – Jewels Sparkles, Onya Nurve, Sam Star and Lexi Love – reunited in front of a studio audience for one final face-off for the crown.
Like previous seasons, the four talented performers were tasked with presenting an original solo number inspired by their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.
While the foursome delivered incredible performances, Onya and Jewels emerged victorious and were named the top two queens.
Following the Miss Congeniality crowning, the two drag powerhouses returned to the mainstage to compete in a lip-sync smackdown to Lady Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra’.
Naturally, Jewels and Onya killed the lip-sync, bringing the beloved track to life with their electric dance moves, dips, theatrics and turns.
Ultimately, RuPaul named Onya the winner of the lip-sync and overall competition.
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The Drag Race content didn’t stop there. Earlier this summer, the highly anticipated 10th season of All Stars premiered on Paramount+ and World of Wonder.
Unlike past entries, the new batch of episodes introduced a brand-new “tournament of champions” format, which saw 18 queens split into three different brackets to compete across three episodes and earn points for a place in the semi-finals.
Like season 17 of the mainline series, All Stars 10 featured a bevvy of heavy-hitter queens oozing with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.
After a series of twists, bonkers challenges and explosive arguments, the final eight queens – Irene the Alien, Bosco, Ginger Minj, Aja, Lydia Butthole Kollins, Daya Betty, Jorgeous and wild card queen Kerri Colby – were tasked with competing in a lip-sync smackdown for the crown.
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Unsurprisingly, all of the ladies devoured their respective performances, delivering iconic moments that will go down in Drag Race herstory.
However, only two were able to move forward to the final round, and those two lucky queens were Ginger and Jorgeous.
For the final lip-sync, the pair performed to The Weather Girls’ iconic single ‘It’s Raining Men.’
Tapping into their respective styles, Jorgeous and Ginger both delivered a stellar performance, pulling out all the stops throughout. In the end, RuPaul crowned Ginger as the winner of All Stars 10, and the recipient of a crown, sceptre and $200,000.
While viewers will have to wait till next year for Drag Race season 18 and All Stars 11, we have plenty of drag content to consume in the meantime.
Earlier this month, the first-ever season of Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale made its gag-worthy premiere. And in September, Drag Race UK will make its highly anticipated return for its seventh season.
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