"Ru Paul's Drag Race" Spot the Season Quiz

Answer: Season 4

During the 4th season of "Drag Race", contestants Phi Phi O'Hara and Sharon Needles didn't get on at all. Phi Phi was a very successful pageant queen. Sharon, on the other hand, sported a style very new for "Drag Race"; one gothy-macabre look after another. The two fought repeatedly, and a number of their clashes were aired on the show, including Phi Phi's hollering her memorable 'Party City' line in episode 4. A lot of memorable queens participated in that season, including Chad Michaels, Manila Luzon and "May I call you Jiggly?" Caliente. Willam was disqualified in the 8th episode for sneaking his boyfriend into his hotel room.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a guest judge on season 10 of "Drag Race". When Conservative critics howled, she snapped back with the Tweet "Go back to Party City where you belong!"

Answer: Season 13

As late as 2018 in an interview with 'The Guardian', Ru Paul stated that she wouldn't allow transitioning queens on her show. "You can identify as a woman and say you're transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body" she argued. Those comments caused quite a furor and she rethought her position on gender identity.

Many drag race alumnae have come out after their seasons, but it was only in season 9 that Peppermint to come out as trans on air. Gottmik, on season 13, was the first trans man. Kylie Sonique Love, who'd competed on "Drag Race" season 2 and had since transitioned, took the "All Stars" season 6 crown. Since then a cis (gender identity and gender at birth are the same) woman, Victoria Scone, competed on "Ru Paul's Drag Race UK" season 3, and a straight man, Maddy Morphosis, competed on "Drag Race" season 14. At least a third of the cast of "Drag Race" season 14 identified at some point during the season as well.

Not-so-fun fact: There are a lot of trans people who aren't so happy. Says one, "Drag makes a lot of trans women extremely uncomfortable. It feels like a bunch of gay men dressing up as us... for fun".

Answer: Season 12

It was the Covid lockdown that shut down production on the last two episodes of "Drag Race" season 12. The queens were sent home and the reunion episode was all done on "Zoom". For the finale the finalists, Crystal Methed, Gigi Goode and Jaida Essence Hall, all lip synced three times from their living rooms. Production worked from home, as did Ru Paul. Despite the restrictions, both episodes showed great fun and creativity.

The following seasons of both "Drag Race" and "Drag Race UK" were filmed under extremely strict conditions. "Rupaul's Drag Race: Corona Can't Keep a Good Queen Down" (2021) documents the measures taken to keep everyone safe. The finale of the 2021 series was held in an empty Las Vegas theatre and the audience watched it from a drive-in across town. In 2022, the season 14 finale was back to normal, in a Vegas theatre playing to a full house.

Season 12 also saw Sherry Pie's elimination for extreme misconduct off the show.

Answer: Season 3

Season 3 of "Drag Race" boasted a strong group of contestants, quite a few of whom would go on to stardom, including Shangela, who came back after being eliminated first on season 2 and this time placed 6th. She reported later that she got asked back because she auditioned again. Michelle Visage was supposed to be a judge from the beginning, but prior commitments kept her busy. Merle Ginsberg was merely filling in. Perez, a celebrity gossip blogger, spilled the T on the winner (Raja), citing "multiple sources" inside production.

The "Drag Race" team sprang into action and in subsequent seasons, the top three all had publicity shots wearing the crown, and the finale was live. In 2016, DR started suing leakers of unaired material.

It was in this season, by the way, that Mimi Imfurst inspired Ru's "Drag is not a contact sport!"

Answer: Season 7

Season 7 of "Drag Race" featured a lot of exceptional queens, including Jasmine Masters, Kennedy Davenport, Miss Fame and Pearl (the sleepwalker who later feuded with Ru Paul). There was a lot of complaining about an excess of acting challenges, which was difficult for a lot of the contestants that season who were look queens.

The horrible scripts didn't help either. Santino Rice was replaced as judge that season with Carson Cressley and Ross Matthews. Ru Paul and Santino have both kept silent on exactly why. Violet Chachki, the winner, later stated in an interview that probably Ginger Minj, who was a very talented actor, should have won.

She implied the show had been rigged in her favour. She also said she'd be glad to come back on an "All Stars" and compete again. Good luck, Violet.

Answer: Drag Race All Stars: UK vs the World

In his "All Stars" series, Ru Paul picks the top two queens and they lip sync for the win. The winner then has to eliminate one of the queens on the bottom. Over the years, most of the winning queens have tried to be fair and eliminate the contestant they felt really deserved to go. Nevertheless, this has always caused trouble.

In 2022, this really broke down on "UK vs The World". This time the queens started eliminating their biggest competition. In the third elimination, Pangina Heals sent Jimbo home and then the next week saw Blu Hydrangea sending Pangina sashaying. Pangina's sobs were heartrending. Seeing as Jimbo and Pangina were the two front-runners, the fan reaction was unbelievably toxic. Both eliminated queens had to post pleas for the trolls to stop sending death threats. Blu seemed sad, yet at the same time gleeful for having eliminated Pangina and later declared in an interview that Jimbo had told her to eliminate the Thai queen.

It was clear from the shade she cast at the finale that the Canadian queen was still very annoyed.

Answer: "All Stars" season 3

On season 3 episode 6 of "Drag Race All Stars, Ben DeLa Creme had been in the top four out of 5 times and had won twice, and therefore had to eliminate a queen on the bottom. Winning again, she decided to eliminate herself. "I already feel like a winner" she said on her way out. Ru Paul was astonished (and hasn't mentioned it since), some of the other queens were scornful, some disappointed and a very few, understanding. Bebe Zahara Benet observed that the strain of eliminating other queens and facing their recriminations was getting too much for her.

Bebe was right. Bendela would later write: "Our culture has embraced bloodlust, and for some, reality TV has become our coliseum. The creators set up impossible situations for us to navigate without any of the support systems of the real world. Situations that cause some of us pain and anger and sadness. They don't do it because they are monsters, they do it because they are under the impression that's what you, the viewer, demands."

Answer: Season 10

Some critics point to season 10 of "Drag Race" as one of the shadier seasons of the series. Eureka, an unbelievably talented but fractious big girl, injured herself on season 9 but was asked back. The Vixen, a beautiful and very hypertense queen, was obviously chosen to complete because she would create 'drama'. She didn't disappoint, mixing it up with Miz Cracker and Eureka and literally chasing Aquaria out of the werkroom at one point.

It was this season that heightened the issue of what's called "the villain edit". Although editor Jamie Martin insists that the team tries to "maintain the integrity of the queens' stories", it seems clear that the production team creates characters and 'stories' out of the queens competing. The Vixen here was definitely cast to play the Bad Guy of the piece. She walked out halfway through the reunion episode, and Asia O'Hara took Ru Paul to task for promoting the 'angry black woman' trope to boost ratings and fuel racist fans. The Vixen later explained in an interview that the producers were pushing her to fight with Ru at the reunion. She says "You want me to argue about drag and race with RuPaul on RuPaul's Drag Race? No thank you, I'm not doing it....it became very clear that it was going to be a witch hunt. I didn't deserve that, and I didn't have to stick around for it."

Vanjie was eliminated in the first episode, but due to massive fan pressure, was asked back the next season.

Answer: "All Stars All Winners" season 7

"Drag Race All Stars Season 7 All Winners" queens are some of the American winners of their respective seasons and The Vivienne, who won "Drag Race UK" season 1. It was a surprise to everybody when Raven appeared in the werkroom in the first episode. She was runner-up on both "Drag Race" season 2 and the first season of "All Stars". Ru Paul had to announce that Raven (David Petruschin) is a makeup artist for the show and had just won an Emmy for outstanding makeup. She took a bow and gracefully exited.

In this season, the 'queens eliminating each other' format was replaced. Now there would be no eliminations, but the winner each week would win a badge (hello, "Drag Race UK"), and the chance to block another queen from winning a badge the next episode. In the end, the four queens with the most badges face off for the crown

Answer: Season 5

The drama started on season 5 in the first episode, when Alyssa Edwards spotted Coco Montrese entering the werkroom. They'd had a falling-out over a pageant and fought a lot. Jade Jolie couldn't help mentioning Alyssa's backrolls. The biggest conflict would come, however, from 'Rolaskatox', the little gang consisting of Roxxxy, Alaska and Detox.

The lowlight of the season was Roxxxy's relentless bullying of Jinkx, portrayed on the show as a defenseless, sad puppy. Jinkx later said that she gave as good as she got, but they didn't show that on air. Roxxxy apologized repeatedly on air and on social media, but that did not prevent the inevitable fan backlash.