RuPaul Andre Charles is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, singer, producer, and writer. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and has received several accolades, including 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and a Tony Award. He has been dubbed the "Queen of Drag" and is considered the most commercially successful drag queen in the United States, with Fortune saying that he is "easily the world's most famous drag queen." In 2017, RuPaul was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Michelle Lynn Shupack, known professionally as Michelle Visage, is an American singer, television personality, broadcaster, producer, and actress. She gained recognition as a member of the dance-pop girl group Seduction, who charted five singles on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1989 and 1990. She later served as lead vocalist of the R&B and dance group The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., who reached the top of the dance charts with the single "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day" in 1993.
RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV, WOW Presents Plus, VH1 and, beginning with the fifteenth season, MTV. The show documents RuPaul in the search for "America's next drag superstar". RuPaul plays the role of host, mentor, and head judge for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week. Contestants are judged by a panel that includes RuPaul, Michelle Visage, an alternating third main judge of either Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, or Ts Madison, and one or more guest judges, who critique their progress throughout the competition. The title of the show is a play on drag queen and drag racing, and the title sequence and song "Drag Race" both have a drag-racing theme.
King Tyra, formerly Tyra Sanchez, is the stage name of James William Ross IV, an American drag queen and reality television personality. A frequent drag impersonator of pop star Beyoncé, Tyra is best known as the winner of the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, receiving $25,000. After retiring from his drag character Tyra Sanchez through making a public post on Instagram in March 2020, Ross announced his return to drag, on September 14, 2022 under the name King Tyra, exclusively on his OnlyFans, before moving all drag content to Instagram in August 2023.
Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry before rising to international attention as a contestant on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming a fan favorite during and after her time on the show. Edwards subsequently appeared on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and starred in her own web series, Alyssa's Secret.
Joshua Allen Eads, better known by the stage name Ginger Minj, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, and reality television personality. After achieving recognition for placing as the runner-up on the seventh season of the reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, Minj returned to compete on the second and sixth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Minj has acted in three Netflix productions—the comedy feature film Dumplin' (2018), the animated series Super Drags, and RuPaul's fictional series AJ and the Queen, and has acted in numerous theatrical productions. Minj appeared in the 2022 film Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to Hocus Pocus. Minj has released three studio albums—Sweet T (2016), Gummy Bear (2021), and Double Wide Diva (2021).
Martell Robinson, known by the stage name Jasmine Diane Masters, best known simply as Jasmine Masters, is an American drag queen, internet celebrity, YouTuber, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for competing on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Robinson is responsible for several viral videos, many of which have become memes, most notably And I Oop! which was the most used gif of 2019.
"Divas Lip Sync Live" is the second episode of the third season of the American reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, which aired on VH1 on February 1, 2018. The episode has contestants impersonate famous divas and lip sync to a medley of RuPaul songs. Todrick Hall and Vanessa Williams serve as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Carson Kressley.
Ongina is the stage name of Ryan Ong Palao, a Filipino-American drag performer and HIV activist who came to international attention on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Since appearing on the show, Ongina has been featured in a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including Wait, What?, Ring My Bell, and Fashion Photo RuView. Ongina was one of the first reality TV stars to come out as HIV-positive.
Miz Cracker is the stage name of Maxwell Elias Heller, an American drag queen and television personality. He is best known for placing fifth on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and for being a runner-up on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. The show is the fourth installment of the Drag Race franchise, and the second fronted by RuPaul. The show documents RuPaul and a panel of judges' search for "the United Kingdom's next drag superstar", the first series title dubbed "UK's First Drag Superstar". RuPaul plays several roles on the show including host, mentor and head judge for the series, as the contestants are given different challenges to participate in each week. The show also employs a panel of judges: RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, and Graham Norton.
RuPaul: What's the Tee? is a comedy podcast first released on April 9, 2014 hosted by American entertainers RuPaul and Michelle Visage. The hosts discuss a wide range of subjects and usually have at least one celebrity guest appear per episode. They often discuss behind-the-scenes topics from RuPaul's Drag Race, where RuPaul and Visage are also hosts. The podcast won a Webby Award in 2018.
"Diva Worship" is the third episode of the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on March 14, 2019. Guillermo Díaz and Troye Sivan are guest judges.
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.
Karlize Sanchez, known by the stage name Nicky Doll, is a French drag queen, television personality, and musician based in New York City. He is best known as the main host of Drag Race France and a competitor on the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
"The Bitchelor", stylized with the "i" as an eggplant emoji, is the third episode of the third season of the American drag queen-focused reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, which aired on VH1 February 8, 2018. The season's eight remaining contestants impersonate stereotyped characters on a The Bachelor-style improvisation acting challenge. Constance Zimmer and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, both from Unreal, itself a parody of The Bachelor-type shows, serve as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Ross Mathews. Like the rest of the season, the show has a themed fashion runway challenge, and the contestants get feedback on both challenges. The top two queens vie in a lip sync battle with the winner choosing which contestant is eliminated.
Drag Race Down Under is a reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name produced by World of Wonder and Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand. The show documents RuPaul and a panel of judges' search for "Down Under's next drag superstar". Contestants of Drag Race Down Under are either from Australia or New Zealand. RuPaul has played several roles on the show including host, mentor, and head judge for the series, as the contestants are given different challenges to participate in each week. The show has also employed Michelle Visage and Rhys Nicholson as judges. The series premiered on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand, Stan in Australia, and on WOW Presents Plus internationally on 1 May 2021. The series is also streaming on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom, and broadcast by both Crave and its associated streaming service in Canada.
The fourth series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK began airing on BBC Three on 22 September 2022. RuPaul returned to his role as main host and head judge, and was again joined on the judging panel by Michelle Visage, Alan Carr and Graham Norton, all of whom returned for their respective fourth series. The series was filmed in Pinewood Studios in February 2022. The cast for the fourth series was revealed on 7 September 2022 on social media. The cast also featured Dakota Schiffer, the first out trans woman to compete in the British version of the show.
DiDa Ritz is the stage name of Xavier Hairston, an American drag performer who competed on season 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race. Dida Ritz is based in Chicago, where she performs regularly and hosts Drag Race viewing parties. Her performance of "This Will Be" by Natalie Cole during a lip-sync contest has been deemed among the show's best.
