“It’s chocolate.” Imagine going back in time and telling any Drag Race fan that those two words — “It’s chocolate” — would become inextricably linked to the Emmy-winning, trailblazing reality competition franchise. They’d look at you the way RuPaul looks at anyone who plays a makeup YouTuber on Snatch Game: complete disinterest with a tinge of bewilderment. But here we are, halfway through Season 14 (or are we a quarter through… or has it just started?!) and “It’s chocolate,” accompanied by the Price is Right sad horns, is as much part of the canon as Tuckahoe.
That’s because those two words are part of a twist on the format, a new rule/promotional opportunity wherein the eliminated queens get one final chance to stay before sashaying away. They pull a RuPaul candy bar from their bra (or, come on, they’re handed the bar from offstage and then pull it out, right?), open it up and, if it’s a golden bar, they shantay. If it’s chocolate, they sashay. It’s so ridiculous, superfluous, and humiliating that it circles around to being highly entertainting television; the sad horns really push it over the top. But will this rule stick around, or is it a one-season wonder? How many more unwrappable tie-in items RuPaul has to promote?
The chocolate bar twist is the latest in a long, long line of rule tweaks and format shifts that Drag Race has deployed over the past 14 years. What was once a top three is now a final four. The penultimate episode music video challenge has been replaced with a girl group number. All Star rules were put into effect, and then lip sync assassins started sniping. Immunity disappeared, but we now get more double shantays. Challenge winners in the UK get RuPeter badges, and eliminated US queens no longer get a Rupaul Tweeterhead maquette. Tradition is a major part of the franchise, but there’s also a tradition of upending tradition. Drag Race, honey, she’s versatile.
With that in mind, and with the franchise turning out close to a dozen seasons a year, it’s important to pause and reflect upon the rules. This is a game show, after all! Are the rules still fair? Do some rules need to go? Do tweaks need to be made? The show’s been given a gradual makeover over the past decade, but is that makeover more like Miz Cookie’s awakening or Rosé after being turnt by Tina? These are the questions that Drag Race fans, podcasters, and reporters ponder endlessly — but we haven’t lived through it. We don’t know the show as well as the queens who have actually competed. So, what do the queens think about Drag Race’s format? And what changes to they want to see made in the future?
For this dissection of the Drag Race rules, we interviewed five alumni separately by phone and email: BenDeLaCreme (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, 5th Place, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3, 6th Place), Laganja Estranja (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, 8th Place), Honey Davenport (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11, 13th Place), Priyanka (Canada’s Drag Race Season 1, Winner), and Choriza May (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3, 6th Place). Here are their combined thoughts and feelings about the twists and turns of the franchise. Interviews have been edited, combined, and condensed for clarity, mama.
Are there any Drag Race twists — like Lip Sync for Your Legacy, Lip Sync Assassins, the Lip Sync Smackdown, etc. — that you love?
Honey Davenport (Season 11): One of my favorite things about RuPaul’s Drag Race is that the format continues to change and we never fully know what we are getting ourselves into. Ru and the team at World of Wonder are definitely some kind of geniuses because they’ve managed to keep growing their audience while evolving the show and keeping us captivated at every turn.
Priyanka (Canada Season 1): I love the lip sync assassin [format]. It really shakes up the competition to have a girl who has had a full 8 hours of sleep, a smoothie, maybe a shot of tequila to come in and just be that bitch for one lip-sync.
Laganja Estranja (Season 6): Well, [as a winning lip sync assassin] I definitely think I should have walked home with $5,000 as opposed to it rolling over to the next week. But in all seriousness, I think it’s really great.
Choriza May (UK Season 3): Something that seems to be happening more often is having the talent shows on Episode 1. This is a great chance for queens to showcase a skill they have that maybe they wouldn’t be able to show off in the challenges that Drag Race normally has, like playing an instrument, doing burlesque, or being totally outrageous like Jimbo.
What about Season 14’s big twist: the chocolate bar?
Laganja: I think it’s pretty lame to be quite honest. It’s already unrealistic to think that lipstick would stay in someone’s bra, so there’s no way a chocolate bar would stay in someone’s bra. It would get all smushed. But hey, props to RuPaul for finding another creative way to continue to promote her products. I totally understand why she’s doing it. Can’t hate on her for that.
BenDeLaCreme (Season 6, All Stars Season 3): There’s a lot more room for innovation and new creative approaches. I think that’s what drag is founded in as an art form. That’s what Ru’s been doing since the beginning of her career. She was the lead of a punk band and doing a bunch of genderfuck stuff. And she finally hit on the Glamazon [aesthetic], but even after that she was doing these weird variety shows both on public access in New York and on VH1. She was drawing from different aspects of what people have done in drag history. I think that Drag Race really could stand to draw on some of that energy, you know?
Season 14 is the third consecutive season, and fourth overall, to have a split premiere. Should the show go back to doing one premiere with all the queens?
Laganja: I am partial to the Season 6 intro of how we’re introduced to the girls. Obviously that was started on my season. I think it’s really a great way to start the show, because it really allows you more time to get to know the individual queens, as opposed to when all 14 enter at once.
DeLa: The first time that they did that split, the framing of it both on television and in the room was, “You guys already bonded as a team and now you are going to be at odds with the other half of the cast.” That falls into the larger category of what I would change about the franchise altogether, which is the focus on adversaries and pitting the girls against each other. It also doesn’t work. There was no real tension between the groups [in Season 6] other than Gia making snarky comments, which she does about everybody because that’s part of her gig.
Season 5 was the last time a queen was given immunity after winning a Maxi Challenge. Should immunity make a comeback?
Choriza: I don’t think so! Every day counts when you are on Drag Race. Winning a challenge is already a great reward, especially in the American seasons where they get a cash tip of $5,000! Giving immunity would only make people relax, and there is no time for that in such a fierce competition.
Honey: The concept of immunity would work on future seasons of All Stars, but I don’t think it should come back to the regular seasons. For All Stars, these queens have already been through the gauntlet. This is their second (or, in some cases, third or fourth) chance at the crown. They’ve earned some safety after an impressive win.
How essential are the Mini Challenges to Drag Race?
Priyanka: I ask myself this question all the time. As a contestant these are typically the most fun to do because who cares. As a viewer these are essential because it’s another story beat [and allows us] to see vulnerable sides of some contestants.
Drag Race has a lineup of challenges that appear every season — Snatch Game, the Rusical, the makeover, etc. Do you think any of these challenges need a break?
Choriza: I think all of these [challenges] are great and cover most of what being a drag queen really is. We’ve seen how the makeover challenge has disappeared temporarily due to the pandemic — and I’m already missing it!
Honey: This may be a bit controversial since it’s definitely a fan favorite, but I think the Snatch Game concept is in need of a refresher. I know they have tried to switch it up in the past with variations, but it’s frustrating to me because in the end more queens end up failing at it than succeeding. Even though it is a competition, I really love when drag entertainers get to show themselves in their best light.
Priyanka: As someone who almost got sent home because of Snatch Game, I would say the show would be incomplete about it. The real challenge is if the cast can be as iconic as previous seasons. When there are comparisons and many seasons out there, it’s hard to have a good Snatch Game or makeover challenge — but it’s like a challenge within a challenge [for the queens], right?
DeLa: With so many seasons coming on, it has to be the same [challenges and format] over and over again. There’s no time to reinvent. At some point it becomes an assembly line where it has to be plug and play, just because of sheer volume. I would love to see the whole thing slow down and take its time.
What aspects of drag artistry are not showcased on Drag Race, and how could the show highlight them?
Honey: RuPaul’s Drag Race has done an amazing job of introducing drag to the masses, and honestly has become the biggest queer show on television. That being said, I definitely think there’s room for the inclusion of some other aspects of drag artistry. Drag kings have never been included on Drag Race, and I would love to see such an inclusive and powerful show create space for them.
Priyanka: As a lip sync assassin herself, I love [the lip sync tournament finale] format — but it doesn’t showcase everyone. Not every drag entertainer is a good performer and you don’t have to be a good performer to be the winner of Drag Race. You need to have charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. We’re stepping into a world where everyone is welcome to be an entertainer, but that doesn’t mean that lip-syncing is their talent.
Laganja: Anything with branding is always really good. They’ve done that before; Alaska’s comes to mind where she did Red for Filth, the perfume. That’s definitely something I do in my daily life via Instagram, having to do sponsored posts. I also think a makeup challenge would be really good, one that’s literally just focused on makeup. We’re always doing makeup and I think that’s something that isn’t necessarily highlighted as much as it could be.
Should international Drag Race seasons follow the exact format of the US series? Or should they create twists that are unique to their country?
Priyanka: I think Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 was so Canadian that it really made it unique. I like to see some references here and there, but sometimes as an international viewer you can easily get lost or lose interest. I think it’s important to keep key elements to really highlight the integrity of the Rupauls Drag Race brand and let the contestants add the twists that are unique to the country.
Choriza: I think what makes each franchise unique are not the challenges, not the twists, but the queens. In [Drag Race España Season 1], for example, we had a very emotional season where people quit or even refused to lip sync; we saw the host crying for having to eliminate some of the queens. That’s what I want to see.
Choriza: I also think that there is an element of uniqueness in the challenges. Back to Drag Race España: [they] had a runway dedicated to Rosalía and another one dedicated to La Veneno. Even the acting challenge was inspired by an iconic teenage series from the early 2000s called Física o química. At the same time, Drag Race Italia had a runway inspired by Raffaella Carrá. It’s fun to see the different approaches to the same challenges.
All Stars 6 introduced the Lip Sync Smackdown, which was formatted like Top Chef’s Last Chance Kitchen. Are there any rules / formats from other reality shows that you’d love to see on Drag Race?
Priyanka: Okay so currently I am obsessed with Love is Blind. What if RuPaul had to cast his Top 13 based on their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent based on an interview through a wall?! It’s very The Voice meets Love Is Blind meets I just want to meet RuPaul one day.
Shows like Survivor and Top Chef bring past competitors back outside of All Stars seasons. Should Drag Race bring queens back during the regular seasons, or should that remain the domain of All Stars?
Honey: I’m definitely supportive of queens coming back to both All Stars and regular seasons. RuPaul’s Drag Race is an experience like no other; sometimes people don’t get it right the first time, for any number of reasons, and just need a do-over.
DeLa: All Stars is so rapid-fire, we’re seeing the same queens over and over again. I don’t know that finding more ways to bring queens back to the screen is necessarily going to serve the situation. And I love seeing the girls back, I really do. We have an attachment to them. Like personally, I usually have an attachment to them, which makes me even more excited to watch. But I do think that all in all, one thing the [All Stars] could benefit from is slowing down a little.
Newer competition shows like Legendary and Making the Cut allow contestants to work with seamstresses. Would that be a welcome change to Drag Race?
Priyanka: Yes, please! As someone who has worn a paper dress in front of Michelle Visage, I am scared shitless of my next “design” challenge. I can come up with a great idea visually, but executing it is hard. It would be nice to have that help to really show off your drag talents. But sewing challenges do not go away, so until then I will keep practicing in case I end up on an All Stars or something.
DeLa: I think drag overall is about being able to have a cohesive vision of what you’re trying to portray and put into the world, and it doesn’t matter if you can sew it. The runways can become as much of a showcase for the designers as the queens. Sometimes it’s the queens having a really distinct vision and having people execute them, and other times it’s them being a model for someone else’s vision. It makes for beautiful runways, but we learn less about who they are. It would be interesting to take away the idea that you pack a bunch of fashion and come wear them on the runway. I really like the idea of having to confine it to the queens being the visionaries and somebody else being the executor. That would tell us more about who they are.
Season 14 has had multiple episodes where no one was eliminated. Do you like to see episodes where no one goes home?
Laganja: No. I think that’s boring. I’m here to watch bitches go home every week.
Choriza: Part of the entertaining part of Drag Race is seeing people go home. It’s what gets people so involved! One of the American seasons kept the girls for so long! It felt like it was going on forever. I would keep everyone for Episode 2; the first one would be a talent show to showcase what every queen can do or has been doing for the past few years, and then the competition starts. Basically have an introductory episode, an extended version of Meet the Queens almost.
Is there a way to shake up how eliminations work? Is there a different way for the show to feature eliminated queens?
Laganja: This is stolen from a new show that I’m watching right now that I’m obsessed with called Hot Haus. It is a show on OutTV and basically they’re looking for the next queer sex icon, so it’s a bunch of gay sex workers with Tiffany Pollard as the host. What I love about the format of their show is instead of the person going home, they then become a judge. I really love that spin and I think it goes into the whole All Stars idea where they vote off each other. I definitely love the idea that when you’re eliminated, there’s some way we still see you. There’s another show called Making It, which is about crafters, and at the end of each episode they end up joining a band with the hosts. At the end of each episode, you see the band grow bigger and bigger. Something like that could be really fun with Drag Race. You know, maybe they’re all sitting in a cafe and at the end of each episode, the cafe gets fuller.
Choriza: There is a competition in Mexico, which is massive, called La Más Draga and it is a similar format to Drag Race — but when the queens get eliminated, they still walk the runway. This footage is shared as extra content on their YouTube channel. They even take pictures of them to share on Instagram. I think this is the least we deserve after we invest so much into the season when there is a chance you might not get to showcase any of the costumes, wigs, jewelry etc.
Painted with Raven introduced a points system. Rather than sending contestants home right away, they gained points depending on how well they did during a challenge. Could a points system work on Drag Race?
Honey: Yes! That’s interesting. I think a point system could be a good way to evolve the show. It would really help to clarify the judge’s decisions, and may give viewers a bit more insight into the decisions of why certain queens are chosen to go home.
DeLa: My grand sweeping statement, which I’m aware is not on the table but I would be remiss not to mention it, is that I just don’t think the competition element is — I think the competition element is potentially great. I know that it drives the season forward. I think the points system you’re talking about certainly would shift part of it. So much of these eliminations are based on whatever we’re doing that week. Do the judges understand what the queen is doing yet, having just met her? I think that we do a disservice to the queens when we don’t give the judges an opportunity to get a sense of who they are and how they’re approaching [drag]. If we had people through the entire season, it’s very likely that somebody who’s in the bottom toward the beginning of the season would rise to the top over the course of it. The way that Gottmik developed as an artist over the course of his season is a real testament to the possibilities of somebody changing over the course of that period and growing and learning from it.
Project Runway’s contestants work with a set budget week to week, but also when they create their 10-look collections for the finale. Is a budget something you’d like to see Drag Race incorporate?
Choriza: This is something I firmly believe in. Then we are all competing with the same amount of money. And privilege and cash are not so important, but creativity and skill become the focus.
Honey: I think a set budget for the queens would definitely equal the playing field. One of my favorite things about the earlier seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race is that you could see that some of the queens might not have had a big budget, but they made amazing art with what they had.
Laganja: I feel like it’s one of the main reasons I don’t go back to the show, because people are spending $25K alone on their package for the grand finale. It’s getting out of control. Even if they did put a budget on it, queens are crafty and they’ll figure out a way to work around that. I don’t know that it would really stop those who have financial capability of spending money like that from stopping, but I do think it’s an interesting idea because it might really force people to be more creative, as opposed to, you know, just putting ostrich feathers on things.
DeLa: That’s a tried and true, trusted and time-tested reality TV thing. On Top Chef it’s like, “Here’s a basket of stuff. What can you do with it?” I would much rather see Drag Race say, “Okay, here’s your money, there’s the cap, show us what you can do with that.” It levels the playing field in a way that not only gives people access who wouldn’t otherwise have access to certain things, but also there are girls who do have access but go into serious debt. This is a show that should be supporting our queens and their livelihood. It’s a show that makes a great deal of money and gets a great deal of accolades for the work that these queens do, and I’d like to see them support them in that way when there’s certainly funds there to give everyone a budget. And I think it would be much more interesting to see what happens when everyone has the exact same resources. That’s where you get to see a queen’s creativity shine.
Follow the queens on Instagram: BenDeLaCreme , Laganja Estranja, Honey Davenport, Priyanka, Choriza May
Where to stream RuPaul’s Drag Race
Stream RuPaul’s Drag Race UK on WOW Presents Plus
Stream Canada’s Drag Race on WOW Presents Plus