August 22, 2023
'RuPaul's Drag Race' Greenlit for Season 16 at MTV While 'All Stars' Gets Season 9 at Paramount+
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Let RuPaul's ever-expanding global queendom rejoice: Franchise OG "RuPaul's Drag Race" has gotten the go-ahead for a 16th season on MTV, while "Drag Race All Stars" will stream a 9th season on Paramount+.
"RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked!" which airs on MTV, will also be back.
"New episodes of the main competition of the Emmy-winning franchise will return to MTV in the near future, the network revealed Monday, while 'All Stars' 9 will again stream on Paramount+, with fan-favorite queens re-joining the series for a shot at a spot in the 'Drag Race' Hall of Fame," Entertainment Weekly reported.
"The announcement comes on the (high) heels of 'Drag Race' franchise's nine Emmy nominations, including another nod for RuPaul as host and for the overall series in the Outstanding Reality Competition category," EW noted.
"If RuPaul wins in the host bracket for an eighth consecutive time at the January 2024 ceremony, he will extend his record as the most-decorated Black artist in TV Academy history."
"Drag Race" continues its unprecedented global success, adding new international spinoffs in Brazil and Mexico this year. Other countries with their own versions of the show include Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Holland, Italy, Spain, and Thailand, among others. A German edition has also been announced.
EW noted that "the American iteration of 'Drag Race' crowned two winners in season 15's Sasha Colby and 'All Stars' 8 champion (and 'Canada's Drag Race' alum) Jimbo."
More than an entertainment juggernaut, the "Drag Race" franchise has also served as a beacon of resistance in the face of intensifying anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-drag rhetoric and legislative attacks.
"In an exclusive interview with EW's Quick Drag podcast following her victory, Sasha revealed that her decision to lip-sync for the crown in a nearly nude ensemble was a deliberate 'fuck you' to conservative politicians pushing anti-drag and anti-trans legislation around the country," EW relayed, "which prompted the series to partner with the ACLU to launch the Drag Defense Fund initiative."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
