RuPaul's Drag Race season 18

RuPaul's Drag Race
Season 18
Promotional poster for season eighteen
Hosted by	RuPaul
Judges	RuPaul Michelle Visage Carson Kressley Law Roach Ts Madison Ross Mathews
No. of contestants	14
Companion show	Untucked!
No. of episodes	3
Release
Original network	MTV
Original release	January 2, 2026 (2026-01-02) – present
Season chronology
← Previous Season 17
List of episodes

The eighteenth season of the American television series RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on MTV on January 2, 2026. ^[1]

Development

On August 20, 2024, MTV announced the series renewal for Season 18 along with its companion series RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked . ^[2] Casting for the eighteenth season began on September 30, 2024 with a deadline of December 6, 2024. ^[3]

Marketing

Season 17 winner Onya Nurve presented the contestants through the series official YouTube channel on December 2, 2025. ^[1] An official trailer was released on December 9, 2025, which featured the contestants and the season's celebrity guest judges. ^[4]

Contestants

Main article: List of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants

RuPaul's Drag Race season 18 contestants and their backgrounds ^[a]

Contestant	Age	Hometown	Outcome
Athena Dion	37	Miami, Florida	TBA
Briar Blush	24	Boston, Massachusetts
Ciara Myst	31	Indianapolis, Indiana
Darlene Mitchell	34	Los Angeles, California
Discord Addams	34	St. Petersburg, Florida
Jane Don't	32	Seattle, Washington
Juicy Love Dion	24	Miami, Florida
Kenya Pleaser	27	Sumter, South Carolina
Mia Starr	39	West Palm Beach, Florida
Myki Meeks	29	Orlando, Florida
Nini Coco	29	Denver, Colorado
Vita VonTesse Starr	37	Montgomery, Alabama
Mandy Mango	28	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	13th place
DD Fuego	36	New York City, New York	14th place

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 remained or returned as a guest.

Contestants progress with placements in each episode

Contestant	Episode
	1 [6]	2 [7]	3 [8]	4 [9]
Athena Dion	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	TBA
Briar Blush	SAFE	SAFE	BTM
Ciara Myst	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE
Darlene Mitchell	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE
Discord Addams	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE
Jane Don't	SAFE	WIN	SAFE
Juicy Love Dion	SAFE	SAFE	WIN
Kenya Pleaser	BTM	SAFE	SAFE
Mia Starr	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE
Myki Meeks	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE
Nini Coco	WIN	SAFE	SAFE
Vita VonTesse Starr	TOP2	SAFE	SAFE
Mandy Mango	BTM	BTM	ELIM
DD Fuego	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.

  The contestant was eliminated after their second time in the bottom.

Episode	Top contestants			Song	Winner
1 [6]	Nini Coco	vs.	Vita VonTesse Starr	"Enough (Miami)" (Cardi B)	Nini Coco
Episode	Bottom contestants			Song	Eliminated
2 [7]	DD Fuego	vs.	Mandy Mango	"Too Much" (Dove Cameron)	DD Fuego
3 [8]	Briar Blush	vs.	Mandy Mango	"Love In Real Life" (Lizzo)	Mandy Mango

Guest judges

RuPaul and Michelle Visage remained as the regular judges, with Carson Kressley, Law Roach, Ts Madison, and Ross Mathews reappearing as alternating judges. Various celebrity guest judges set to appear were revealed on December 9, 2025. ^[10] Starring celebrity guest judges are listed below in order of episode appearance. ^[11]

• Cardi B, rapper ^[12]
• Dove Cameron, singer and actress
• Sarah Sherman, comedian and actress
• Annaleigh Ashford, actress, singer and dancer
• Zara Larsson, singer and songwriter
• Amy Taylor, musician and activist
• Teyana Taylor, singer and actress
• Benny Blanco, record producer
• Brooke Shields, actress
• Iman, model and actress
• Atsuko Okatsuka, stand-up comedian
• Jamal Sims, choreographer and director
• Danielle Pinnock, actress, comedian and writer
• Julianne Nicholson, actress
• Leland, singer and songwriter

Special guests

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

Episode 1

• Bob The Drag Queen, winner of season 8
• Kim Chi, contestant on season 8
• Raja, winner of season 3, and contestant on All Stars season 7
• Jamal Sims, choreographer and director
• Erika La'Pearl, celebrity make-up artist
• Tokyo Stylez, celebrity hairstylist and wigmaker

Episode 2

• David Benjamin Steinberg, songwriter and music producer

Episodes

See also: List of RuPaul's Drag Race episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date
239	1	"You Can't Keep a Good Drag Queen Down!"	January 2, 2026 (2026-01-02)
Fourteen new queens enter the workroom. For the first mini-challenge, the queens act as a scream queen alongside with masked dancers. Kenya Pleaser wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the queens design and create outfits using leftover materials from previous seasons. On the runway, category is Reclaim, Renew, Rejoice. Jane Don't, Nini Coco, and Vita VonTesse Starr receive positive critiques. Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, and Mandy Mango receive negative critiques. Jane Don't and Juicy Love Dion are announced to be safe, with Kenya Pleaser and Mandy Mango in the bottom two. It is then announced that there will be no elimination, and instead, Nini Coco and Vita VonTesse Starr are the top two queens of the week and will lip-sync for the win. Nini Coco and Vita VonTesse Starr lip-synced to "Enough (Miami)" by Cardi B. After the lip-sync, Nini Coco is announced as the winner of the challenge. Guest Judge: Cardi B Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley Mini-Challenge: Act as a scream queen with masked dancers Mini-Challenge Winner: Kenya Pleaser Mini-Challenge Prize: $2,500 cash tip Main Challenge: Create an outfit made out of leftover materials from previous seasons Runway Theme: Reclaim, Renew, Rejoice Top Two: Nini Coco and Vita VonTesse Starr Lip-sync Song: "Enough (Miami)" by Cardi B Challenge Winner: Nini Coco Challenge Prize: $5,000 cash prize Bottom Two: Mandy Mango and Kenya Pleaser Eliminated: None
240	2	"Q-Pop Girl Groups"	January 9, 2026 (2026-01-09)
For this week's main challenge, the queens write, record, and perform verses as 70's and 80's girl groups. Team Studio 50-Whores - Athena Dion, DD Fuego, Darlene Mitchell, and Mandy Mango performing "Funk Almighty" Team Glam! - Ciara Myst, Kenya Pleaser, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, and Nini Coco performing "Go-Go-Go!" Team The Tucked Aways - Briar Blush, Discord Addams, Jane Don't, Juicy Love Dion, and Vita VonTesse Starr performing "Cherries" On the runway, category is Your Neck, Your Back, Your Pussy, and Your Crack. Mia Starr and Jane Don't receive positive critiques, with Jane Don't winning the challenge. Team Studio 50-Whores is the losing team. Athena Dion, DD Fuego, Darlene Mitchell, and Mandy Mango receive negative critiques, with Athena Dion and Darlene Mitchell being safe. DD Fuego and Mandy Mango lip-sync to "Too Much" by Dove Cameron. Mandy Mango wins the lip-sync and DD Fuego is the first queen to sashay away. Guest Judge: Dove Cameron Alternating Judge: Ts Madison Main Challenge: Write, record, and perform verses as 70s and 80s inspired girl groups Runway Theme: Your Neck, Your Back, Your Pussy, and Your Crack Challenge Winner: Jane Don't Challenge Prize: $5,000 cash prize Bottom Two: DD Fuego and Mandy Mango Lip-sync Song: "Too Much" by Dove Cameron Eliminated: DD Fuego Farewell Message: "DIVAS, HATE THIS FOR ME. BUT LOVE ALL OF YOU. ¡gracias! XO DD Fuego"
241	3	"RDR Live Returns!"	January 16, 2026 (2026-01-16)
For this week's main challenge, the queens perform in a sketch comedy of RDR Live. Host/Monologue - Athena Dion and Briar Blush Tuckahoe County Fair - Darlene Mitchell, Discord Addams, Mandy Mango and Mia Starr Lipstick Lovers - Athena Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Nini Coco and Vita VonTesse Starr QNN News - Briar Blush, Ciara Myst and Jane Don't Young Michelle - Juicy Love Dion and Myki Meeks On the runway, category is Animal Attraction. Darlene Mitchell, Jane Don't and Juicy Love Dion receive positive critiques, with Juicy Love Dion winning the challenge. Briar Blush, Mandy Mango and Vita VonTesse Starr receive negative critiques with Vita VonTesse Starr being declared safe. Briar Blush and Mandy Mango lipsync to "Love in Real Life" by Lizzo. Briar Blush wins the lipsync and Mandy Mango sashays away. Guest Judge: Sarah Sherman Alternating Judge: Ts Madison Main Challenge: Perform in a sketch comedy of RDR Live Runway Theme: Animal Attraction Challenge Winner: Juicy Love Dion Challenge Prize: $5,000 cash prize Bottom Two: Briar Blush and Mandy Mango Lip-sync Song: "Love in Real Life" by Lizzo Eliminated: Mandy Mango Farewell Message: "HAVE FUN LIKE A FILIPINA STAY SWEET LIKE A MANGO. BUT DON'T FORGET M BABY! Take care of yourself and LOVE YOURSELF. Love you all so much. Thank you for everything 💋 XOXO Mandy Mango"
242	4	"Red Carpet Mash Up"	January 23, 2026 (2026-01-23)
243	5	"The Rate-A-Queen Talent Show, Part 1"	January 30, 2026 (2026-01-30)
244	6	"The Rate-A-Queen Talent Show, Part 2"	February 6, 2026 (2026-02-06)

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 18

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	Ref.
1	"You Can't Keep a Good Drag Queen Down!"	January 2, 2026	0.22	TBD	[13]

Footnotes

1. All ages, names, with hometowns, and outcome are stated at time of filming. ^[5]

References

1. Tangcay, Jazz (December 2, 2025). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Reveals 14 New Queens for Season 18". Variety. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
2. "RuPaul's Drag Race Renewed For Season 18 At MTV & Paramount+ Picks Up RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars For Season 11". August 20, 2025.
3. "Calling all queens! Casting for #DragRace Season 18 beings TODAY". September 30, 2024.
4. Rude, Mey. "RuPaul's Drag Race season 18 drops guest judges and trailer | Out.com". www.out.com. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
5. Nolfi, Joey (December 4, 2024). ""RuPaul's Drag Race" season 18 cast of queens revealed — and they're 'out for blood'". Entertainment Weekly . Dotdash Meredith . Retrieved December 2, 2025.
6. "You Can't Keep a Good Drag Queen Down!". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 18. Episode 1. January 2, 2026. MTV / WOW Presents Plus.
7. "Q-Pop Girl Groups". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 18. Episode 2. January 9, 2026. MTV / WOW Presents Plus.
8. "RDR Live Returns!". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 18. Episode 3. January 16, 2026. MTV / WOW Presents Plus.
9. "TBA". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 18. Episode 4. January 23, 2026. MTV / WOW Presents Plus.
10. Rude, Mey (December 9, 2025). "RuPaul's Drag Race season 18 drops guest judges and trailer". Out . Retrieved January 4, 2026.
11. Tinoco, Armando (December 9, 2025). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 18 Judges Photos: Cardi B, Teyana Taylor, Benny Blanco & More". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 4, 2026.
12. Hirst, Jordan (January 3, 2026). "Cardi B is one of the best Drag Race judges ever, producer says". QNews. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
13. Berman, Marc (January 6, 2026). "Friday Ratings: The Password is Lackluster". Programming Insider. Retrieved January 8, 2026.