The first season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered in the United States on February 2, 2009, on Logo, and ended on March 23 of the same year. Nine contestants were selected to compete in the running of becoming "America's Next Drag Superstar." The first season was filmed during the summer of 2008. The winner of the first season won a cash prize of $20,000, $5,000 worth of MAC Cosmetics, was featured in an LA Eyeworks campaign, and joined the Logo Drag Race tour. One of the nine contestants to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race, Nina Flowers was determined by an audience vote via the show's official website to be the season's Miss Congeniality. The results were announced in early September 2009.
The second season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on February 1, 2010, and aired its final episode on April 26 of the same year. On May 1, 2009, the casting website for the series opened, allowing prospective contestants to create user profiles and upload videos of themselves to be voted on by viewers; the applicant collecting the most votes being invited to become a contestant of the second season. At the end of the online casting period, Jessica Wild had collected the most votes and was announced as being a season two contestant. Filming took place during the summer of 2009.
The first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012. Contestants from the original RuPaul's Drag Race show returned to compete again. Cast members were announced on August 6.
The fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on January 28, 2013, with a 90-minute premiere episode, and ended on May 6 of the same year. The winner of season five headlined Logo's Drag Race Tour featuring Absolut Vodka, won a one-of-a-kind trip, a lifetime supply of Colorevolution Cosmetics, and a cash prize of $100,000. Santino Rice and Michelle Visage returned as judges at the panel.
The sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing February 24, 2014. Like the fifth season, the season featured 14 contestants competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". For the first time in the show's history, the season premiere was split into two episodes; the fourteen queens were split into two groups and the seven queens in each group competed against each other before being united as one group for the third episode.
The seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 2, 2015. RuPaul and Michelle Visage returned as judges, while the space previously occupied by Santino Rice was filled by new additions Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Matthews and Kressley were only both present for the season premiere and took turns sharing judging responsibilities. Shawn Morales, a member of the Pit Crew since the third season and Simon Sherry-Wood, a member in the sixth season, did not appear this season and were replaced by Bryce Eilenberg. Like the previous two seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, the season featured 14 contestants competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of 100,000 dollars. The season premiere debuted with a live and same-day viewership of 350,000, a 20% increase from the previous season. On March 20, 2015, it was announced that LogoTV had given the series an early renewal for an eighth season.
The eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 7, 2016. Returning judges include RuPaul and Michelle Visage, along with Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley, who shared judging responsibilities on an alternating basis. Twelve drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". The prizes for the winner are a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of $100,000. The full list of contestants was revealed during the NewNowNext Awards on February 1, 2016. The song "U Wear It Well" from RuPaul's album Butch Queen was featured in promotion for the show. On March 31, 2016, it was announced LogoTV renewed the show for a ninth season. It was the last season to solely be played on Logo, as the show moved to VH1 for its ninth season.
The ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 24, 2017, on VH1. The returning judges included RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Fourteen drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". The prizes for the winner are a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, a cash prize of $100,000, and a crown and scepter provided by Shandar. The full list of contestants was revealed on February 2, 2017. This season saw the return of season eight contestant Cynthia Lee Fontaine, who finished the competition in 10th place.
The third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on January 25, 2018. The season was announced in August 2017, with 9/10 of the cast revealed during a VH1 "Exclusive Queen Ruveal" special, airing on October 20, 2017. This season of All Stars featured ten "all-star" contestants, selected from the show's first season through to its then-current ninth season, competing again to be inducted into the "Drag Race Hall of Fame".
Drag Race Thailand is a Thai reality competition television series based on the American series, RuPaul's Drag Race. The series was licensed by the Kantana Group and premiered on 15 February 2018, through streaming service Line TV. Thai drag queens, Art Arya and Pangina Heals, are co-hosts and head judges of the series.
The tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 22, 2018, on VH1. The premiere was broadcast one week after the finale of the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, and episodes are to be followed by RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked. Contestants were officially announced on February 22, 2018, in a teaser trailer during an episode of All Stars 3 later followed by a special "Meet the Queens" live-stream on Facebook, hosted by season nine winner, Sasha Velour. This season saw the return of season 9 contestant Eureka O'Hara who was removed from her original season after tearing her ACL. The prizes for the winner of this season include a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of $100,000. This is the first season in which each episode was 90 minutes long.
The eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race aired on VH1 from February 28, 2019, to May 30, 2019. The cast featured fourteen new queens and one returning queen, making it the largest cast of the series at the time; the contestants were announced in a live stream hosted by season 10 winner Aquaria and Adam Rippon on January 24, 2019.
Natalia Pliacam is the stage name of Assadayut Khunviseadpong, a Thai drag performer, best known for winning the first season of Drag Race Thailand, the Thai spinoff of RuPaul's Drag Race.
The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars was announced by VH1 on August 22, 2018. Prior to the official announcement, RuPaul confirmed, in an episode of his podcast What's the Tee?, that filming for the fourth season of All Stars currently was underway. All Stars Season 3 winner Trixie Mattel, with special guests Katya and Detox, hosted a special called Trixie's Playhouse to announce the cast for the fourth season. It was scheduled to air on November 8, 2018, but was postponed to the following day due to the Thousand Oaks shooting. The season began airing on December 14, 2018, and ran for ten episodes.
The second season of Drag Race Thailand had a casting announcement on 4 March 2018. A casting commercial was shown on 13 September 2018, and stated any genders were allowed to apply, as well as non-Thai citizens. Art Arya and Pangina Heals remained as main judges for the season, and the show aired again on the Kantana Group.
Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the Drag Race television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American RuPaul's Drag Race series in 2010, the challenge has returned for every subsequent season. Typically arranged as a parody of Match Game, the challenge is a test of the contestants' skills at celebrity impersonation and improvisational comedy.
The sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on June 24 and concluded on September 2, 2021. The first two episodes of the season aired on the same day. On August 20, 2020, VH1 renewed both RuPaul's Drag Race and All Stars for its thirteenth and sixth season respectively. On February 24, 2021, ViacomCBS announced the sixth season of the show would move from VH1 to Paramount+, an online streaming service. However, the season is still broadcast by the same networks abroad.
The first season of Drag Race España premiered on 30 May and concluded on 25 July 2021. The competition was broadcast on ATRESplayer Premium in Spain and on WOW Presents Plus internationally. The competition saw ten Spanish drag queens compete for the title of the "Spain's First Drag Superstar", and a cash prize of €30,000.
The first season of Drag Race Italia premiered on November 18, 2021. The cast was announced on October 28, 2021. The winner of the first season of Drag Race Italia was Elecktra Bionic, becoming the first ever winner in the Drag Race franchise without any maxi-challenge wins, and the first contestant to never lip sync or win a maxi-challenge in the same season, with Farida Kant and Le Riche as runners-up.
The eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on Paramount+ on May 12, 2023. The series continues with RuPaul as host and judge, with returning judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, and Ross Mathews joined by Ts Madison on the judging panel. The season's premiere date was announced in a brief teaser trailer aired during the finale of the fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. The cast was revealed on April 20.
