‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Returns to 90-Minute Episodes Following Fan Uproar

Halleloo, halleloo, halleloo — RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 is going back to 90-minute episodes! Announced via the official RuPaul’s Drag Race Twitter account, episodes of the show will expand from 60 minutes to 90 starting with the episode airing on March 10. The news comes after the controversial decision to cut episodes of Season 15 down from 90 minutes to an hour, a move that came along with the series’ move from VH1 to MTV. Prior to the move, VH1 aired 90-minute episodes for seasons 10-14. Now as of March 10, Drag Race will be back to its full uncut length.

The news comes as a relief to the show’s viewers, who criticized the short episodes for not including as many personal moments between the queens and — most noticeably — cutting the runway portion in half. That’s what we found when we analyzed an episode from Season 14 and Season 15, comparing how much time was devoted to each segment. The edit also resulted in the loss of the deliberation between the judges, which also cut the iconic phrase “bring back my girls” from the episode — a catchphrase that the franchise has used as the title of a single and a series on WOW Presents Plus. All of the controversy surrounding the edit has caused the actual contents of the season to be overlooked — and it’s actually a really fierce season.

Get ready, racers 🏁 #DragRace returns to 90-minute episodes starting Friday March 10 at 8/7c on @MTV 👑

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 9, 2023

Also caught up in the controversy was the new reality TV series The Real Friends of WeHo. Since it was put on the air immediately after the hourlong Drag Race and sandwiched between episodes of Drag Race and the companion series RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked, viewers presumed that they were losing a half hour of Drag Race to accommodate the new show. Granted, Real Friends of WeHo already caused a stir when it was announced, before anyone knew about the shorter episodes of Drag Race.

If the schedule remains on its current track, then the series will return to 90-minute episodes in time for Episode 11 of Season 15. While an episode order for Season 15 has not been announced, it’s likely that this season will consist of 16 episodes (the same number as last year). That means that we will get 6 90-minute episodes before the end of the season: 4 challenge episodes, the reunion, and then the finale.

UPDATE: As for Untucked, it will return to its old slot immediately following RuPaul’s Drag Race. All of these changes will happen in tandem with the launch of a new docu-competition series, The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist. The six-episode competition will pit seven artists against each other to win $100,000 and will get an exhibit at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. The Exhibit premieres on March 3 after the last 60-minute episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The next week — March 10 — will see the premiere of MTV’s new Friday night lineup:

• 8 – 9:30 p.m. ET: RuPaul’s Drag Race
• 9:30 – 10 p.m. ET: RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked
• 10 – 11 p.m. ET: The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist

As for The Real Friends of WeHo — its run ends at the end of February. Season 1 was always intended to run for six episodes.

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs on MTV on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.