RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 premiered on January 5, 2024 on MTV at 8 pm ET. The series is expected to have a weekly release schedule, with new episodes being shown every Friday on MTV at the same time.
The last season of RuPaul's Drag Race It ended in April 2023 with Sasha Colby being crowned “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and giving her a prize money of $200,000.
The series has officially announced only two of its upcoming episodes, namely Episodes 2 and 3, which bear the titles Queen's Choice Awards And mother of all balls, respectively. However, the season is expected to consist of 16 episodes, since seasons 15 and 14 had 16 episodes each.
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 episode runtime, contestants, judges and more
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 15 was subjected to significant fan uproar after the series' makers cut the episodes to 60 minutes from the show's previous 90-minute format. After four 60-minute episodes, season 15 returned to a 90-minute format for the remainder of its episodes. The original runtime of Season 16 is scheduled to be 90 minutes.
This season's contestants were introduced before the premiere of Season 16, on the official YouTube channel of RuPaul's Drag Race. They were shown wearing high heels in the show's Werk Room, putting an end to fans' curiosity for the long-awaited moment.
They were introduced by Sasha Colby, the winner of the final season of the show.
List of 14 contestants for season 16 RuPaul's Drag Race The cities they represent are as follows:
1) Amanda Tori Meeting, 26, Los Angeles, California
2) Tebadown, 24 years old, New York City, New York
3) Geneva Carr, 30, Brownsville, Texas
4) Hershey Liquor Jetty, 31, Los Angeles, California
5) Megami, 33 years old, New York City, New York
6) Mahia Iman LePage 34 Miami, Florida
7) Mirage, 29 years old, Las Vegas, Nevada
8) Morvin Love Dionne, 25 years old, Miami, Florida
9) Nymphea Wind, 27, New York City, New York
10) Blaine Jean, 24, Boston, Massachusetts
11) Plasma, 24, New York City, New York
12) S, 26, Kansas City, Missouri
13) Saphira Crystal, 34, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
14) Zonamy Muse, 33, New York City, New York
This season will feature several guest judges alongside regular judges Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley and TS Madison. The first episode saw Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as guest judge.
The new season will also feature guest appearances from the previous season's winners and runners-up such as Sasha Colby and Malaysian Baby Doll Foxx.
What happened in the season 16 premiere? RuPaul's Drag Race
In the first part of the premiere of the second part RuPaul's Drag Race In season sixteen, half of the contestants were introduced, with the other half saved to be introduced in the second part of the premiere. Fans watched the queens compete in a photo shoot contest, a talent show showdown, a best dress contest, and the ultimate lip sync battle.
The episode was won by Sapphira Cristál from Philadelphia, who bested Q from Kansas City in the final lip-sync battle, battling between the top two contestants of the episode, and also secured the first immunity of the season.
Next episode of RuPaul's Drag Race It will be shown next Friday, January 12, 2024 on MTV at 8 pm.
