At the end of the world, three things will be left amidst the dust of the apocalypse: cockroaches, Cher and the seemingly endless franchise opportunities of RuPaul’s Drag Race. As coronavirus practically obliterated television production though, the team at VH1 and World of Wonder have managed to pull off a wild feat: season 13 of the hit TV series has been shot and will air starting New Year’s Day. Today, we got our first look at the queens.
After last season was derailed before the finale was shot, and the season’s editing was frantically shuffled around following the revelation that queen Sherry Pie had been accused of catfishing buddy young actors, it’s nice to have a clean slate. So what should we expect from the new line-up for season 13?
Here’s who you’ll be tuning into come New Year’s Day, and where to find them on Instagram so you can get the behind-the-scenes gossip too.
Dubbed Chicago’s Ice Queen, Denali Foxx was the first queen announced. The 28-year-old is known best for being an ice skater, having hailed from the snowy state of Alaska. She’s going to be joined by the Vegas-based queen Elliott with 2 T’s, who has a childhood history of musical theatre from their early days in small-town Texas. Those who stan artistic queens might be drawn to Los Angeles’ Gottmik, or Mik, who carries a fashionable flair akin to that of past winner Violet Chachki. Gottmik is the series’ first trans male star, following the trailblazing appearances of trans women in the show like Peppermint and Gia Gunn. Another LA queen that we have our eyes on is the Arizona-born Simone: Gigi Goode’s drag sister.
Having already accrued tens of thousands of followers online, there’s a lot of heat behind Arizona’s Joey Jay, who’s got the blessing of season 12 finalist Gigi Goode and winner Jaida Essence Hall. Funnily enough, Kahmora Hall is hoping to follow in Jaida’s footsteps too; the Chicago queen is her drag sister, and she’s the mother of the iconique and underrated Soju too.
One of the four queens repping New York City is Kandy Muse, a Dominican, plus-size queen who has already earned fame and acclaim in her home city. Olivia Lux joins her, a musically inclined queen who has lived in the state her whole life. Jan’s drag sister, Rosé, also makes an appearance in season 13; a little Instagram shy, she’s also the second Scottish contestant since Morgan McMichaels in season two. The last NYC queen is Tina Burner; a Tina Turner fan and funny girl who currently holds the nationwide title of Miss Comedy Queen. She’s good friends with fan favourite Nina West.
Atlanta has two queens competing in 2021. LaLa Ri, who counts season two’s Nicole Paige Brooks as a mentor, and the radiant Tamisha Iman, the mother of the Iman Dynasty. And for those missing their dose of Crystal Methyd weird, Utica may be your 2021 balm; her Instagram describes her as a “wacky waving arm inflatable tube queen”.
To learn more about the queens, you can head to the VH1/Drag Race YouTube channel here, before catching the show on New Year’s Day. Good luck, queens, and don’t fuck it up!