These are the most iconic moments from each of the queens competing on ‘Drag Race All Stars 9’
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The 16th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race only just crowned its (totally bananas 🍌) winning queen three days ago, but lest you have a moment to catch your breath, All Stars 9 is imminent, arriving to Paramount+ on May 17!
This morning, our gag-worthy cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 was Ruvealed, bringing back fan-favorite queens from franchise herstory, and we have a lot of feelings!!!
Here, before we dive in, take a moment to watch these dazzling divas strut into the Werk Room for a second (or third!) time:
Hello, hello, hello!
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This time around, the queens are here to “save the world” and will be competing for charity! Whether or not the queens will still be making some moolah of their own remains unclear, but as far as “twists” go, this is definitely one we can get behind.
Plus, word on the street internet is that this will be another non-elimination season, a la the all-winners All Star7, which would make sense given the whole charity angle and the fact that this is a relatively smaller cast.
But enough chit-chat! Let’s meet these queens, shall we?
Previous Season | Placement: 2022’s Season 14 | Top 5 Finalist
Check the track record! This southern belle from ATL had an incredibly strong turn right out the gate, placing high for the first five challenges and winning two of them. A seasoned pageant queen, her eye for glamour and that flawless mug always made her a jaw-dropper on the runways, and she proved herself to be a versatile performer, too. If anything, we saw that pesky inner-saboteur start to get the best of her in the competition, but we have no doubt this beloved diva will bounce back this time around and be a force to be reckoned with.
Most Iconic Moment: You know, it might just be the Olympic feat of turning ugly into a three-syllable word (“let me tell you something, you ug-uh-ly b*tch!”), which single-handedly won her the “SuperTease” acting challenge.
Gottmik
Previous Season | Placement: 2021’s Season 13 | Top 4 Finalist
Gagatrondra! The competition’s first ever trans male contestant returns, looking sickening as ever. As soon as Gottmik arrived, she secured her place as one of the fiercest fashion dolls to ever grace the Main Stage—she had the season’s Ball Challenge all sewn up from the jump. (if she has any disadvantage this time around, it’s that we don’t see how she could possibly elevate her runway package further!) But, what no one saw coming was that she was hilarious, too, roasting with the best of them and easily snatching that Snatch Game win.
Most Iconic Moment: And on that note, we are still sliving for Gottmik’s note-perfect take on Paris Hilton, which was so visually and sonically uncanny, we’re not convinced that wasn’t the hotel heiress cracking us all up.
Jorgeous
Previous Season | Placement: 2022’s Season 14 | 6th/7th Place
The Lip-Sync Assassin is back, and this time she’s pulling no punches. Tiny as she may be, Jorgeous is a fighter, and proved that, even when the challenges might trip her up, she was ready to throw it down on the Main Stage. Honestly, All Stars‘ Lip-Sync For Your Legacy format might be a disadvantage for this queen, since she can’t dance her way out of the bottom. But we also have a gut feeling that, with a new sense of confidence in the competition, Jorgeous just might surprise us this time around as a comedy queen, too.
Most Iconic Moment: Honestly, it has to be her very first LSFYL versus Orion Story to Ava Max’s “My Head & My Heart”—it’s like when she untied that floral corset, the beast was finally unleashed!
Nina West
Previous Season | Placement: 2019’s Season 11 | 6th Place
This Miss Congeniality is back with something to prove. Known for her comedy chops and her heart of gold, Nina West has had quite the post-Drag Race career, hosting a Pride Month variety special for Disney+ in 2021, writing a children’s book, touring the country in the musical Hairspray, and even releasing her very own ice cream flavor. As the cast ruveal video makes clear, she’s been putting in the work, and it seems like she’s finally ready to come back to competition and show us how she’s stepped her drag all the way up.
Most Iconic Moment: Sweet as she can be, Nina West is something of a roast-master supreme. She won the stand-up challenge her first season, and was even brought back to host the Secret Celebrity Drag Race roast.
Plastique Tiara
Previous Season / Placement: 2019’s Season 11 | 8th Place
Plastique may not have made it as far in her original season as her competitors, but she is not to be counted out. First of all… have you seen her? She’s drop-dead gorgeous, and has somehow managed to perfect perfection since we last saw her in the Werk Room. Beyond her stint as a Vegas showgirl in RuPaul’s Drag Race LIVE!, Plastique has also earned the distinction of being the most followed RuGirl across social media platforms, racking up millions of fans on Instagram—and even more on TikTok!
Most Iconic Moment: Again, the success of her post-Drag Race career has sort of dwarfed her quiet run in the competition, but she never disappointed on the runway‚especially in her show-stopping finale eleganza.
Roxxxy Andrews
Previous Seasons | Placements: 2013’s Season 5 | Top 3 Finalist, 2016’s All Stars 2 | 4th Place
She’s Roxxxy Andrews and she’s here to make it clear: This diva wants a crown bad—and she deserves it! Both of her original seasons are still talked about amongst the fandom as two of the most entertaining, most competitive seasons of the show to date, and, without a doubt, Roxxxy played a huge part of making them so legendary. She brings the drama, mama! It’ll be her first season without her “Rolaskatox” besties Alaska and Detox by her side, which only makes us more certain that All Stars 9 crown just might be hers to lose!
Most Iconic Moment: Oh god, where to even begin? It might just have to be her “Whip My Hair” lip-sync, in which she removed her wig to reveal… another wig, delivering the first wig reveal in the show’s herstory.
Shannel
Previous Seasons | Placements: 2009’s Season 1 | 4th Place, 2012’s All Stars 1 | Top 4 Finalist
Considering the All Stars 9 cast is so stacked with more recent-season competitors, it’s incredible to see an original season queen back to show’em how its done. Excuse us: The original queen, as Shannel holds the distinction of being the first-ever queen to step into the Drag Race Werk Room over 15 years (!!!) ago. And guess what? She still looks fierce as ever. In her last All Stars run, Shannel won the challenges that previously landed her in the bottom (improv, the ball), so she’s back to prove why she’s truly a vers queen!
Most Iconic Moment: When her headdress fell off in “The Greatest Love Of All” lip-sync, we all gasped in horror, only for her to fight her way through and win with a vulnerable performance—a move she later admitted was planned. Shannel knows how to play the game!
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Previous Seasons | Placements: 2018’s Season 10 | 14th Place, 2019’s Season 5th Place
Get these cookies! In a way, Miss Vanjie has already had her rudemption, getting the Pork Chop, creating the most quoted moment of the season, then returning a year later and taking it all the way to the penultimate episode. But she still has some unfinished business! For example, did you know Vanjie has never won a Maxi Challenge? Shocking, but true, and we have a strong feeling she’s going to be breaking that track record very soon. Plus, we are never going to complain about seeing more Vanjie—she just knows how to make good TV!
Most Iconic Moment: Miss Vanjie… Miss Vanjie…. Miss… Vaaaaanjie! (Obviously.)
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 premieres on Friday, May 17, streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
