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.
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 third season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on January 24, 2011, and ended its run on May 2 of the same year. Thirteen drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a headlining spot on the Absolut Tour, a lifetime supply of Kryolan makeup, and a cash prize of $75,000.
The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race is the fourth series, began airing on January 30, 2012, and aired its final episode on April 30 of the same year. The cast members were announced November 13, 2011. The winner of season four headlined Logo's Drag Race Tour featuring Absolut Vodka, and also won a one-of-a-kind trip, a lifetime supply of NYX Cosmetics, and a cash prize of $100,000.
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 second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on the Logo network on a new night; Thursday, August 25, 2016. Returning judges included RuPaul, Michelle Visage, with Carson Kressley joining the panel, while the space previously occupied by Ross Mathews was filled by Todrick Hall. Cast members were announced on June 17, 2016. This season featured ten All-Star contestants, selected from the show's second season through to its seventh season, who competed to be inducted into the "Drag Race Hall of Fame".
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".
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.
The first season of Drag Race Thailand is a Thai reality competition show based on the American version with RuPaul. Art Arya and Pangina Heals are the judges of the show. The season premiered on 15 February 2018 and ended on 5 April 2018. The winner of this season was Natalia Pliacam, with Année Maywong and Dearis Doll as the runners-up. B Ella, who finished fourth, was voted Miss Congeniality.
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 second season of Drag Race España premiered on March 27, 2022. The season aired on ATRESplayer Premium in Spain and WOW Presents Plus internationally.
The fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered January 6, 2023. The reality competition series moved to MTV for broadcast, instead of VH1 in the United States.
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.
