RuPaul's Drag Race (season 16)

RuPaul's Drag Race
Season 16
Promotional poster for season sixteen
Hosted byRuPaul
Judges
No. of contestants14
Companion showRuPaul's Drag Race Untucked!
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes5
Release
Original networkMTV
Original releaseJanuary 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.

Contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 and their home cities
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
  1. Megami D.Vil is referred to as Megami on the show.
  2. Plasma LaRose is referred to as Plasma on the show.
  3. Mirage Amuro is referred to as Mirage on the show.

Contestant progress

Legend:

  WIN indicates that the contestant won the challenge.
  TOP2 indicates that the contestant was one of the two best performing in the challenge, but lost the lip sync to win it.
  SAFE indicates that the contestant was declared safe by the judges.
  BTM (Bottom) indicates that the contestant was up for elimination.
  ELIM (Eliminated) indicates that the contestant was eliminated.
  Guest indicates that the contestant returned as a guest.
Progress of contestants including placements in each episode
Contestant Episode
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:

  The contestant won the lip sync to win the challenge.
  The contestant was eliminated after their first time in the bottom.
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

Special guests

Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.

Episodes 1–2

Episode 6

  • Charo, singer, actress, musician and comedian

Future episodes

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
2081"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.

  • Amanda Tori Meating – Original song lip-sync
  • Dawn – Original song lip-sync
  • Mirage – Original song lip-sync
  • Morphine Love Dion – Lip-sync / Baile Folklorico
  • Q – Dance puppetry
  • Sapphira Cristál – Opera singing
  • Xunami Muse – Original song lip-sync

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.

  • Guest Judge: Charlize Theron
  • Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
  • Mini-Challenge: RuPaul's Porch Doorbell Camera Photoshoot
  • Mini-Challenge Winner: Sapphira Cristál
  • Mini-Challenge Prize: A $2,500 cash tip
  • Main Challenge: Perform in the MTV Spring Break Talent Show
  • Runway Theme: RuVeal Yourself
  • Top Two: Q and Sapphira Cristál
  • Lip-Sync Song: "Break My Soul" by Beyoncé
  • Challenge Winner: Sapphira Cristál
  • Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip and immunity from a future challenge
2092"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.

  • Geneva Karr – Original song lip-sync
  • Hershii LiqCour-Jeté – Original song Lip-sync
  • Megami – Lip-sync
  • Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige - Stunt / Flip Lip-sync
  • Nymphia Wind - Cultural Dance
  • Plane Jane – Original song Lip-sync
  • Plasma – Singing / Impressions

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.

  • Guest Judge: Becky G
  • Alternating Judge: Ross Mathews
  • Mini-Challenge: RuPaul's SheMV Hollywood Camera Photoshoot
  • Mini-Challenge Winner: Nymphia Wind
  • Mini-Challenge Prize: A $2,500 cash tip
  • Main Challenge: Perform in the Queen Choice Awards Talent Show
  • Runway Theme: Made You Look
  • Top Two: Geneva Karr and Plane Jane
  • Lip-Sync Song: "Shower" by Becky G
  • Challenge Winner: Plane Jane
  • Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip and immunity from a future challenge
2103"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.

  • Guest Judge: Isaac Mizrahi
  • Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
  • Main Challenge: Walk the Mother of All Balls
  • Runway Themes: Mother Goose, Significant Mother, and Call Me Mother/Father Eleganza
  • Challenge Winner: Nymphia Wind
  • Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip
  • Bottom Two: Geneva Karr and Hershii LiqCour-Jeté
  • Lip-Sync Song: "Maybe You're the Problem" by Ava Max
  • Eliminated: Hershii LiqCour-Jeté
  • Farewell Message: "WHIPLASH!!!HLJ"
2114"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.

  • Guest Judge: Sarah Michelle Gellar
  • Alternating Judge: Ross Mathews
  • Main Challenge: Perform a sketch comedy scene in "RDR Live!"
  • Runway Theme: Everything Every-Cher All at Once (Night of a 1,000 Chers)
  • Challenge Winner: Plasma
  • Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip
  • Bottom Two: Geneva Karr and Mirage
  • Lip-Sync Song: "Dark Lady" by Cher
  • Eliminated: Mirage
  • Farewell Message: "Looks Like the Trash bag Lost 💋 LoL ♡ Mirage"
2125"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.

  • Team Q.D.S.M. - Dawn, Q, Morphine Love Dion and Sapphira Cristál
  • Team Lovah Girlz - Amanda Tori Meating, Plane Jane, Plasma and Xunami Muse
  • Team Thicc & Stick - Geneva Karr, Megami, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige and Nymphia Wind

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.

  • Guest Judge: Icona Pop
  • Alternating Judge: Ts Madison
  • Mini-Challenge: Create a front cover and author biography for a bestselling book.
  • Mini-Challenge Winner: Sapphira Cristál
  • Mini-Challenge Prize: An autographed copy of RuPaul's memoir The House of Hidden Meanings and a $2,000 cash tip
  • Main Challenge: Record and perform remixes to RuPaul songs in girl groups.
  • Runway Theme: Faster Pussycat, Wig, Wig
  • Challenge Winners: Geneva Karr, Megami, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige and Nymphia Wind
  • Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip, split between the winners
  • Bottom Two: Amanda Tori Meating and Q
  • Lip-Sync Song: "Emergency" by Icona Pop
  • Eliminated: Amanda Tori Meating
  • Farewell Message: "You are all Fugly SKANKS and I hate every last one of you bitches. Most of all Q. LMAO but actually ily♡ Have Fun cleaning this mirror you bitch. You better Fucking win so I can at least say the winner sent me to the house."
2136"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.

  • Guest Judge: Law Roach
  • Alternating Judge: Ts Madison
  • Mini-Challenge:
  • Mini-Challenge Winner:
  • Mini-Challenge Prize:

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of RuPaul's Drag Race
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