The 10 Most Shocking Gags in ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Herstory

RuPaul’s Drag Race // “Frenemies” // Season 4 // Episode 8

What better way to kick off this list than with the original Drag Race gag: Willam’s sudden, inexplicable disqualification and dismissal. Oh—and that shocker happened after Willam threw up on the main stage. A gag before a gag! Willam was the shit-stirrer of the season, but she had the looks and talent to back up that attitude (we don’t talk about her spot-on Jessica Simpson enough). With two wins to her name, she seemed to be a lock to make it to at least the finale—and then Ru sends her packing with zero explanation at the end of a challenge that she also won. This gag would be higher on the list if the show had actually been more forthcoming about the rules that Willam broke, and if the “conjugal visits with her husband” reason given in the finale was actually true. While this elimination was shocking to viewers, Willam’s side of the story makes it seem like production knew what was up from day one.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race // “Grand Finale” // Season 10 // Episode 14

Grand finales are naturally the most high stakes challenge of the season, and the queens that make it all the way to the end pray that they don’t have their worst TV moment right at the end. Sadly, Asia O’Hara’s prayers weren’t answered. Her plan to release live butterflies from her costume went horribly awry when she learned—onstage, with the rest of us—that the cold temperatures needed for TV production also put butterflies to sleep. She put in the work, consulted experts, did the research, practiced, and tried to pull off this potential gag in the most humane way possible—but it was just too cold. It was truly a heartbreaking moment, because Asia really could have gone all the way to the final lip sync. Instead, she was eliminated first and had to publicly apologize for the botched reveal.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race // “Reality Stars: The Musical” // Season 9 // Episode 5

Some of these gags are just sad. After  popping her knee something fierce during Episode 2’s cheerleading challenge, Eureka endured worsening pain up to the point where she had to perform in the Rusical on crutches (as grown baby and galactic queen North West, because Drag Race is art). Following the doctor’s orders, the show had to send Eureka home. This was a bummer at the time, as Eureka definitely had the potential to make it to the finale. Fast-forward a few years and now we’ve seen Eureka undergo a whole character arc across multiple seasons. She’s gone from the sassy pageant queen in Season 9 to a loud competitor in Season 10 to—honestly—the warm, chill matriarch of All Stars 6. Who could’ve seen this fascinating trajectory for her?

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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars // “RuPaul’s Best Judy’s Race” // Season 4 // Episode 8

From its inception, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars has been all about the stunts and shenanigans. There was Raven and Jujubee’s painful, tear-filled lip sync non-battle, -laskatox keeping Ro- in the game at the expense of Tatianna and Alyssa, and then just all of Season 3. But it took until Season 4 for one queen to be truly brave enough to push All Stars Rules to their limit: Naomi Smalls eliminated frontrunner Manila Luzon. None of this “track record” or “you got the harshest critiques” malarky. Manila was obviously a favorite to win the whole season, and Naomi wanted that money. Straightforward and simple. And you can’t be mad at her either, because that’s the game! And as legend Heidi N Closet said, “Everyone’s always like, ‘I want to beat the best, so I’m going to keep them around.’ I’m like, but if you send her home right now, you beat the best. If you sent her home, you just beat her.”

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RuPaul’s Drag Race // “RuPaul Roast” // Season 5 // Episode 7

And here’s another sad gag: Roxxxy Andrews’ emotional breakdown on the runway. But, this being Roxxxy Andrews, this sad gag is actually hidden underneath a bunch of gaggy gags. Truly, the end of “RuPaul Roast” is a wild ride. First there’s the fact that two titans—Roxxxy and Alyssa Edwards—are up for elimination. Then there’s the lip sync itself, a full on battle between two of the best performers the show has ever seen—and it features the very first wig-under-a-wig reveal in Drag Race herstory! And then, in the mere seconds between the end of a lip sync and a queen’s elimination, Roxxxy manages to have a full-blown therapeutic breakthrough as she tearfully reveals that her mother abandoned her and her sister at a bus stop. This unexpected moment broke through business as usual (how could it not?!) and resulted in 1. a choked up RuPaul giving the now iconic line, “We as gay people, we get to choose our families” and 2. a double shantay that kept Alyssa in the competition long enough to give us Alyssa’s Secret.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars // “A Jury of Their Queers” // Season 3 // Episode 8

Shangela’s storyarc was so clear and, potentially, so satisfying: she was first out in Season 2, then she fell short in Season 3, had a joke cameo in Season 4, and—finally—she would get an earned and deserved win in All Stars 3. And Shangela had the challenge wins, too! She could (and can) do everything (except sew). Viewers wanted this and you know production saw Shangela with the crown—and then the jury of eliminated queens voted. Only one queen voted for Shangela—and it was Thorgy Thor! Shangela sent Thorgy home and she still voted for the diva with the most challenge wins! The rest of the cast completely shut Shangela out, leaving her tied for third place and looking totally defeated while wearing an unused reveal.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked! // “Queens in Space” // Season 2 // Episode 2

Shangela doesn’t have a crown, but she does have something that’s worth more than $100,000: reality TV immortality via one of the all-time greatest fights in the entire history of television as a medium. To call this a mere fight doesn’t do the altercation justice, and it also implies that there were two sides at play. There wasn’t. There was Mimi Imfurst reaping and then a whirlwind of a monologue from Shangela. Words cannot do it justice.

Without a doubt, this legendary moment would be at the top of this list if it had been allowed to actually impact the course of the season. As Season 3 queens Alexis Mateo and Stacy Layne Matthews have said in interviews, Shangela and Mimi threw more than just a drink. According to them, an actual fist fight broke out and blood stained the Interior Illusions lounge. As they recall, production had to be halted for three weeks while production tried to figure out what the hell to do! But as depicted on the show, Shangela threw a drink at Mimi, there were no real consequences, and then Mimi went home the next week (after inciting another gaggy moment when she lifted India Ferrah during the lip sync). This moment is #4 on a technicality, honey.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race // “Grand Finale” // Season 9 // Episode 14

You want a televised moment that changed the entire trajectory of Drag Race as a franchise? Here it is, a flurry of rose petals cascading across Sasha Velour’s intense, emotive visage. Up until this very second, Shea Couleé had Season 9 in the bag—but this breathtaking wig reveal secured said bag for her frequent collaborator and Werk Room bestie Sasha. It’s an undeniably powerful, iconic moment that unfolds in an almost Shakespearean fashion. This is the first time a season finale included a lip sync tournament, and this is the first time we see Sasha Velour lip sync—and she does this? Truly, the storytelling in the last third of Season 9 is masterful. And it’s no wonder why nearly every finalist since Sasha has relied on reveals to secure a win, but—as far as finales go—nothing will ever top this moment.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars // “Handmaids to Kitty Girls” // Season 3 // Episode 6

Guuuuuurrrl—! Every Drag Race fan remembers exactly where they were when they saw those four letters scribbled on this lipstick. BenDeLaCreme was not the first queen to take themselves out of the competition, but Shannel and Adore Delano walked so DeLa could ascend. After winning five out of six challenges, an unheard of winning streak, BenDeLaCreme removed herself from the competition in a move that nixed her place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame, but guaranteed her a place in the Drag Race Hall of Infamy. This moment is still polarizing today.

Oops—I smuggled an op-ed of mine into this list! It reads:

The cynical view of DeLa’s exit casts her as holier-than-thou at best and a sanctimonious fool at worst. Personally, I call bullshit on that take, which is only valid if you believe that every single gay does everything for money and could never possibly do something genuinely selfless. It’s a POV that robs gays of the ability to be legitimately sincere, and it’s a toxic POV that runs rampant online. So, I call bullshit! I believe this moment is exactly what DeLa says it is: it’s her atoning for a choice that she grew to realize was hypocritical (eliminating Morgan McMichaels in Episode 1 even though she didn’t get the worst critiques), and her realization that she only needed validation from herself and not from the show. She came, stunted, slayed, showed what she wanted to show, and had a blast. Prize money not factoring into a decision on Drag Race? The gag of it all!

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RuPaul’s Drag Race // “Your Pilot’s On Fire” // Season 9 // Episode 9

Drag Race is a TV show. It is crafted. Casts are snapped into place like a puzzle, creating a satisfying whole. And Drag Race does it, it does it, it does it well. That’s what the Emmys are for! And that’s why moments like this stand out, like discovering your cool airbrushed wizard portrait has a few pieces of a cuddly teddy bear puzzle in the box.

It was clear that the show loved Valentina—and how could they not? A young, beautiful, charismatic diva full of TV-ready confidence (and delusion)? The crown was low-key hers, and her sisters knew the score. She won a challenge, landed in the top in three more, and her Snatch Game performance was (and is) underrated. She didn’t land in the bottom, let alone the bottom two, until week 9! Did Aja’s assertion that the judges would love anything Valentina presented get into her head? Did she really think she could get away with lip syncing while wearing a mask? What is this, 2020? And… also 2021. Get vaccinated, people.

That is why this moment is the gaggiest gag in all of Drag Race herstory! Not only did Valentina try to get away with lip syncing sans lips to hide the fact that she did not know the words to Ariana Grande’s “Greedy,” she had the nerve to talk back to RuPaul—politely. She did say “please“! Unfortunately, not knowing the words is the one impossible-to-edit-around sin of Drag Race. Ru’s forgiven a losing lip sync performance in order to keep a charismatic queen on the show (Kandy Muse, BenDeLaCreme, etc.), but they knew the words. There was no saving this frontrunner, and you can see the disappointment on RuPaul’s face when she says, “I thought you had the stuff to go all the way.” Valentina didn’t go all the way to the top, but she did go all the way to the top of this list.

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