RuPaul's Drag Race (season 16)
RuPaul's Drag Race | |
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Season 16 | |
Hosted by | RuPaul |
Judges | |
No. of contestants | 14 |
Companion show | RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked! |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Release | |
Original network | MTV |
Original release | January 5, 2024 – present |
Season chronology | |
The sixteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 5, 2024. The reality competition series, broadcast on MTV in the United States, showcases fourteen drag queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar".
Production
In August 2023, the competition series and its companion series, RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked, were officially renewed and would remain on MTV. Its spin-off including its companion series, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars was renewed for a ninth season by Paramount+. In November, a teaser was released from MTV featuring RuPaul in various promos from past seasons.
Sasha Colby, the winner of season fifteen, presented the Meet the Queens via the series official YouTube channel on December 6, 2023. The Meet The Queens video included an 8-minute clip from the season premiere, where the fourteen contestants entered the Werk Room set.
Contestants
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
Contestant | Age | City | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
Dawn | 25 | New York City, New York | TBA |
Geneva Karr | 33 | Brownsville, Texas | |
Xunami Muse | 30 | New York City, New York | |
Megami | 33 | New York City, New York | |
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige | 34 | Miami, Florida | |
Morphine Love Dion | 26 | Miami, Florida | |
Nymphia Wind | 27 | New York City, New York | |
Plane Jane | 25 | Boston, Massachusetts | |
Plasma | 24 | New York City, New York | |
Q | 26 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
Sapphira Cristál | 34 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
Amanda Tori Meating | 26 | Los Angeles, California | 12th place |
Mirage | 29 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 13th place |
Hershii LiqCour-Jeté | 32 | Los Angeles, California | 14th place |
- Notes
- Megami D.Vil is referred to as Megami on the show.
- Plasma LaRose is referred to as Plasma on the show.
- Mirage Amuro is referred to as Mirage on the show.
Contestant progress
Legend:
Contestant | Episode | |||||||||||||||
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||
Dawn | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | TBA | |||||||||||
Geneva Karr | TOP2 | BTM | BTM | WIN | ||||||||||||
Megami | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | ||||||||||||
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | ||||||||||||
Morphine Love Dion | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ||||||||||||
Nymphia Wind | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | WIN | ||||||||||||
Plane Jane | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ||||||||||||
Plasma | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | ||||||||||||
Q | TOP2 | SAFE | SAFE | BTM | ||||||||||||
Sapphira Cristál | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ||||||||||||
Xunami Muse | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ||||||||||||
Amanda Tori Meating | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | ||||||||||||
Mirage | SAFE | SAFE | ELIM | |||||||||||||
Hershii LiqCour-Jeté | SAFE | ELIM |
Lip syncs
Legend:
Episode | Contestants | Song | Winner | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Q | vs. | Sapphira Cristál | "Break My Soul" (Beyoncé) |
Sapphira Cristál |
2 | Geneva Karr | vs. | Plane Jane | "Shower" (Becky G) |
Plane Jane |
Episode | Contestants | Song | Eliminated | ||
3 | Geneva Karr | vs. | Hershii LiqCour-Jeté | "Maybe You're the Problem" (Ava Max) |
Hershii LiqCour-Jeté |
4 | Geneva Karr | vs. | Mirage | "Dark Lady" (Cher) |
Mirage |
5 | Amanda Tori Meating | vs. | Q | "Emergency" (Icona Pop) |
Amanda Tori Meating |
Guest judges
- Charlize Theron, actress and producer
- Becky G, singer and actress
- Isaac Mizrahi, fashion designer
- Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress
- Icona Pop, electropop musical duo
- Law Roach, retired stylist
- Adam Shankman, director, writer, producer, dancer and choreographer
- Jamal Sims, choreographer
- Joel Kim Booster, actor and comedian
- Kelsea Ballerini, singer
- Kyra Sedgwick, actress
- Kaia Gerber, model
- Ronan Farrow, journalist
- Mayan Lopez, actress
Special guests
Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.
Episodes 1–2
- Derrick Barry, contestant on season eight and All Stars season five
- Love Connie, drag performer and actor
Episode 6
- Charo, singer, actress, musician and comedian
Future episodes
- Sasha Colby, winner of season fifteen
- Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Miss Congeniality of season fifteen
Episodes
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
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208 | 1 | "Rate-A-Queen" | January 5, 2024 | |
The first seven queens of the season enter the Werk Room. For this episode's main challenge, the queens must perform in the "MTV's Spring Break" talent show.
On the runway, category is RuVeal Yourself. Dawn, Mirage, Q and Sapphira Cristál receive positive critiques. Amanda Tori Meating, Morphine Love Dion and Xunami Muse receive negative critiques. The queens rank each other using Rate-A-Queen. It is announced that Q and Sapphira Cristál received the highest placements, making them the top two queens of the week who will lip-sync for the win. They lip-sync to "Break My Soul" by Beyoncé. After the lip-sync, it is announced that Sapphira Cristál is the winner.
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209 | 2 | "Queen Choice Awards" | January 12, 2024 | |
The next seven queens of the season enter the Werk Room. For this episode's main challenge, the queens must perform in the "Queen Choice Awards" talent show.
On the runway, category is Made You Look. Geneva Karr, Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, and Plasma receive positive critiques. Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, Megami and Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige receive negative critiques. The queens rank each other using Rate-A-Queen. It is announced that Geneva Karr and Plane Jane received the highest placements, making them the top two queens of the week who will lip-sync for the win. They lip-sync to "Shower" by Becky G. After the lip-sync, it is announced that Plane Jane is the winner.
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210 | 3 | "The Mother of All Balls" | January 19, 2024 | |
At the beginning of the episode reveals the twist of the season: as the winners of the first two episodes, Plane Jane and Sapphira Cristál will hold the power of the Immunity Potions. This power can only be used once during the competition, the owner will be able to decide whether to use immunity to save themselves or another one of the queens. For the main challenge, the queens walk the Mother of All Ball, presenting two looks brought from home and one made in the work room. Categories are Mother Goose, Significant Mother, and Call Me Mother/Father Eleganza. After the runway, the queens rank each other using Rate-A-Queen. Nymphia Wind, Q and Sapphira Cristál receive positive critiques, with Nymphia Wind winning the challenge. Geneva Karr, Hershii LiqCour-Jeté and Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige receive negative critiques, with Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige being declared safe. Geneva Karr and Hershii LiqCour-Jeté lip-sync to "Maybe You're the Problem" by Ava Max. Geneva Karr wins the lip-sync and Hershii LiqCour-Jeté is eliminated.
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211 | 4 | "RDR Live!" | January 26, 2024 | |
For this episode's main challenge, the queens put their sketch comedy skills to the test in "RDR Live!" comedy show filmed in one take, parodying Saturday Night Live in a challenge returning by “popular demand”, having first appeared in All Stars season 8. On the runway, category is Everything Every-Cher All at Once. From this challenge onwards, the queens are judged by the judging panel rather than using Rate-A-Queen. Plane Jane, Plasma and Q receive positive critiques, with Plasma winning the challenge. Geneva Karr, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige and Mirage receive negative critiques, with Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige being declared safe. Geneva Karr and Mirage lip-sync to "Dark Lady" by Cher. Geneva Karr wins the lip-sync and Mirage is eliminated.
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212 | 5 | "Girl Groups" | February 2, 2024 | |
For this episode's mini challenge, the queens are tasked with creating a front cover and author biography for a bestselling book. Sapphira Cristál wins the mini challenge. For this episode's main challenge, the queens are tasked to write and perform verses for RuPaul songs from his album Black Butta in groups of four. Geneva Karr, Plasma and Sapphira Cristál are the team captains.
On the runway, category is Faster Pussycat, Wig, Wig. Team Thicc & Stick is the winning team, with Geneva Karr, Megami, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige and Nymphia Wind all winning the challenge. Team Q.D.S.M. and Team Lovah Girlz are the losing teams. Amanda Tori Meating and Q receive the negative critiques, and are announced as the bottom two, while the rest of the queens are declared safe. Amanda Tori Meating and Q lip-sync to "Emergency" by Icona Pop. Q wins the lip-sync and Amanda Tori Meating is eliminated.
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213 | 6 | "Welcome to the DollHouse" | February 9, 2024 | |
For this episode's main challenge, the queens must design their own dolls based on their drag personas.
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Ratings
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Rate-A-Queen" | January 5, 2024 | 0.26 | 0.708 |
2 | "Queen Choice Awards" | January 12, 2024 | 0.21 | 0.592 |
3 | "The Mother of All Balls" | January 19, 2024 | 0.21 | 0.589 |
4 | "RDR Live!" | January 26, 2024 | 0.24 | 0.598 |
5 | "Girl Groups" | February 2, 2024 | 0.16 | 0.470 |