If you’ve found yourself longing for a weekly slew of gay puns, heaps of sequins, and a fierce tuck game, you’re in luck. RuPaul is expanding her incredibly successful Drag empire by adding RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race to the dossier. The show features 12 contestants from the four previous seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, who will all be competing against each other for the title Queen of Queens and a place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame (not to mention $100K, a “one of a kind trip,” and a stockpile of MAC cosmetics).
A rundown of the cast:
Pandora Boxx (Season 2)
Dubbed “the Susan Lucci of this competition” by RuPaul for her ability to obliterate her way through challenges without ever actually winning one, Pandora was the runner-up in an online poll that decided which past contestant would appear on the show. Fortunately for Pandora, the winner of the poll, Sharon Needles, decided not to participate in the show after winning her own season, which resulted in Pandora being added to the show’s roster.
Tammie Brown (Season 1)
Eyebrows. It’s all about the eyebrows. Think about what the lovechild of Tammy Faye Baker and Bette Davis would look like, and you’ve got Tammie. Aside from that messiness, when she told RuPaul and Santino, “I don’t see you out there walking children in nature and taking care of old ladies!” during a heated argument, I was sold.
Nina Flowers (Season 1)
Nina finished in second place on the first season of Drag Race, which was followed by national and international appearances, a few moderately successful club tracks, and a resident DJ gig at Denver’s largest gay club, Tracks.
Jujubee (Season 2)
JUJUBEE! What is there to say about Jujubee? No one would sooner turn me into a rice queen than Jujubee. After coming in third on her season of Drag Race behind Raven and Tyra Sanchez, she went on to become a professor on Drag U. Despite All Stars’ five bag maximum (I know drag queens who carry that many bags for a single appearance), Jujubee still managed to lug along 40 wigs, which in itself is destined to make for a ferocious show.
Mimi Imfurst (Season 3)
Since being eliminated from Drag Race, Mimi has been touring the world with her all-girl pop group, Xelle (pronounced “XL”), the first to feature two girls and a drag queen. She promises to bring “a lot of fierce clothes, a suitcase full of Absolut vodka, and a whole lot of party” (a.k.a. my typical Friday night) to All Stars. Let’s just hope she can manage to keep everyone on the ground this season.
Manila Luzon (Season 3)
After appearing on the third season of Drag Race, Manila went on to perform at several major Gay Pride events, become a prominent HIV/AIDS activist, and was a drag professor on Drag U. He released of cover of the duet “Baby It’s Cold Outside” along with his boyfriend and fellow Drag Race contestant Antoine Ashley (Sahara Davenport), whose untimely death due to heart failure on October 1 will certainly be commemorated in some form on the show.
Chad Michaels (Season 4)
Despite barely having time to wash the blood off her hands from last season, Chad Michaels, Cher’s drag doppelgänger, is back and “bringing perfection.”
Raven (Season 2)
Considered the “villain” of season two, Raven went on to appear on America’s Next Top Model as part of a photo shoot, was featured in a Nip/Tuck commercial promoting the show’s syndicated run on Logo, and made a guest appearance on the Logo reality series, Pretty Hurts.
Latrice Royale (Season 4)
LATRICE-MOTHERFUCKING-ROYALE. The queen on one-liners who has given birth to countless GIFs has attained a cult following and legendary status, not to mention giving me my new life motto: “5 Gs, please: Good God, Get a Grip, Girl.”
Shannel (Season 1)
Noted for her acrobatics on the runway, Shannel appeared on Drag U, one of the few season one contestants asked to appear, after finishing fourth on Drag Race. By comparison, Shannel’s kept a relatively low profile, but her return to television is a much-welcomed one.
Yara Sofia (Season 3)
Echa pa’lante! Expect to hear that phrase no fewer than 100 times. Yara could be best described as Charo on steroids. It’s going to take a heavy dosage of Oxy combined with copious amounts of booze to tolerate that goddamned Puerto Rican accent, but I know Yara will make for savage competition.
Alexis Mateo (Season 3)
Post-Drag Race, Alexis continued performing nationally, became an HIV/AIDS activist, and, along with Yara Sofia, made headlines in April 2011 after they launched a boycott of a Tampa beauty supply shop after they both alleged they were told to leave the store because of their sexual orientation. Between Yara’s “Echa pa’lante!” and Alexis’ “BAM!,” this is clearly going to be a season of banal taglines.
The catch this season is that the queens aren’t competing as individuals, but in teams of two. The teams are:
- Team Latrila (Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon)
- Team Yarlexis (Alexis Mateo and Yara Sofia)
- Team Mandora (Mimi Imfurst and Pandora Boxx)
- Team Rujubee (Raven and Jujubee)
- Team Shad (Shannel and Chad Michaels)
- Team Brown Flowers (Tammie Brown and Nina Flowers)
RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Santino Rice will all return as judges, with Rosie Perez, Ross Matthews, Rachel Hunter, Vickie Lawrence, Busy Phillips, Rachel Dratch (!!!), Janice Dickinson, Wendy McClendon-Covey, Elvira, Beth Ditto, and Cheri Oteri acting as guest judges. RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race premieres Monday, October 22 at 9 PM ET/PT on Logo with a special “Rupersized” episode containing 10 bonus minutes, followed by the premiere of the companion series Untucked: All Stars, which will air directly after All Stars each week.
