RuPaul’s Drag Race unveiled the 14 queens competing for the crown, $200K prize, and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar on season 16, which airs its two-part premiere January 5 on MTV.
Six of the queens hail from New York City including Amanda Tori Meating, a wig stylist who’s crafted hair for the reigning queen Sasha Colby.
Amanda’s name ‘comes from all the times I’ve been called into the boss’ office thinking, “F***, I’m about to get fired.” But then I walk out with a big, fat promotion.’
And with only 7K TikTok/Instagram followers, Amanda – who’s a ‘beautiful glamorous, and very professional human woman’ – has the least amount of the cast.
Dawn only moved to Brooklyn two years ago, and she ‘conceptualizes and crafts all of her own pieces from costume to performance.’
RuPaul’s Drag Race unveiled the 14 queens competing for the crown, $200K prize, and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar on season 16, which airs its two-part premiere January 5 on MTV
Dawn – who has 36K TikTok/Instagram followers – described herself as ‘a gremlin of chaotic energy’ and an ‘ethereal elf goddess’ who has ‘big looks – silhouettes, extravagant, never-before-seen!’
Megami is a thique, Nuyorican ‘geek chic goddess of Brooklyn and the Barbie of Staten Island’ whose name translates to ‘goddess’ in Japanese.
Megami – who has 13K TikTok/Instagram followers – ‘started drag as a cosplayer going to geeky conventions like New York ComicCon.’
Nymphia Wind might live in New York, but she’s actually the ‘first Taiwanese queen to grace the stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race.’
Nymphia – who has 34.8K TikTok/Instagram followers – is clearly a comedy queen but crafted her own headpiece and leather jacket for the promo shoot and said her ‘drag is very conceptual, cultural, and very yellow obviously.’
Bringing the ‘1950s Hollywood glamour’ to New York is Plasma, who described herself as a ’65-year-old woman inhabiting this gorgeous 24-year-old’s body.’
Plasma – who has 10.2K TikTok/Instagram followers – boasts a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance so you know she’ll be fighting for the lead in the Rusicals.
Xunami Muse aka ‘the knock-off Naomi Campbell’ is the only contestant this season to have signed with a modeling agency in New York.
Six of the queens hail from New York City including Amanda Tori Meating, a wig stylist who’s crafted hair for the reigning queen Sasha Colby
Dawn only moved to Brooklyn two years ago, and she ‘conceptualizes and crafts all of her own pieces from costume to performance’
Megami is a thique, Nuyorican ‘geek chic goddess of Brooklyn and the Barbie of Staten Island’ whose name translates to ‘goddess’ in Japanese
Nymphia Wind might live in New York, but she’s actually the ‘first Taiwanese queen to grace the stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race’
Bringing the ‘1950s Hollywood glamour’ to New York is Plasma, who described herself as a ’65-year-old woman inhabiting this gorgeous 24-year-old’s body’
Xunami Muse aka ‘the knock-off Naomi Campbell’ is the only contestant this season to have signed with a modeling agency in New York
Xunami – who has 21.5K TikTok/Instagram followers – is the drag daughter of season 13 and All Stars 8’s Kandy Muse (R), who gushed on Wednesday: ‘My f***ing best friend and drag daughter is on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16! F***!’
Xunami – who has 21.5K TikTok/Instagram followers – is the drag daughter of season 13 and All Stars 8’s Kandy Muse, who gushed on Wednesday: ‘My f***ing best friend and drag daughter is on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16! F***!’
Two of the queens hail from Miami, including Mhi-ya Iman Le’Paige aka the ‘Queen of Flips’ famed for her ‘tricks, flips, and performing her a** off.’
And with 212K TikTok/Instagram followers, Mhi-ya has the most followers of anyone in the cast this season.
Also from Miami is Morphine Love Dion, a professionally-trained dancer who’s been featured in music videos for artist like Bad Bunny and Maluma.
Morphine – who has 50K TikTok/Instagram followers – said her drag ‘is all about the mug. The make-up always has to be 100!’
Hailing from Los Angeles is Hershi LiqCour-Jeté, who brings ‘glam camp auntie drag’ and said she ‘loves being beautiful and loves being absolutely stupid.’
Hershi’s drag sister is season 14 Miss Congeniality winner Kornbread ‘The Snack’ Jeté, who’s ‘one of the most annoying, aggravating women that I know in this world, but I love her to death.’
Hershi – who has an impressive 120K TikTok/Instagram followers – also has the distinction of being the only queen raising two small children with her boyfriend.
Two of the queens hail from Miami, including Mhi-ya Iman Le’Paige aka the ‘Queen of Flips’ famed for her ‘tricks, flips, and performing her a** off’
Also from Miami is Morphine Love Dion, a professionally-trained dancer who’s been featured in music videos for artist like Bad Bunny and Maluma
Hailing from Los Angeles is Hershi LiqCour-Jeté, who brings ‘glam camp auntie drag’ and said she ‘loves being beautiful and loves being absolutely stupid’
Hershi’s drag sister is season 14 Miss Congeniality winner Kornbread ‘The Snack’ Jeté (R, pictured in 2019), who’s ‘one of the most annoying, aggravating women that I know in this world, but I love her to death’
Hershi – who has an impressive 120K TikTok/Instagram followers – also has the distinction of being the only queen raising two small children with her boyfriend (pictured February 4)
Mirage is a Native American and Mexican beauty from Las Vegas, who entered the work room in villain mode declaring: ‘I hope you trash bags are ready to lose!’
Mirage is a Native American and Mexican beauty from Las Vegas, who entered the work room in villain mode declaring: ‘I hope you trash bags are ready to lose!’
‘I am known as the legs of Las Vegas,’ the ‘stripper who shops at Claire’s’ – who has 65K TikTok/Instagram followers – said.
‘I am feeling like a bad bitch because I just called everyone trash. I hear the whispers and I am choosing not to address them.’
Geneva ‘Vroom Vroom’ Karr is the first Mexican-born queen to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but she now lives in Brownsville, TX.
Geneva – who has 59K TikTok/Instagram followers – said she’s ‘very dramatic, scandalous, and brilliant fantasy. Of course I’m Mexican Spice!’
Plane Jane was a competitive ballroom dancer as a child, so she’s not afraid to lip sync for her life.
Referencing season 7 and All-Star 2’s Katya Zamolodchikova, Plane – who has 14.2K TikTok/Instagram followers – described herself as ‘the authentically Russian clown hooker from Boston.’
Q is not only a theatre queen, she’s also a designer and seamstress from Kansas City, MO.
Geneva ‘Vroom Vroom’ Karr is the first Mexican-born queen to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but she now lives in Brownsville, TX
Plane Jane was a competitive ballroom dancer as a child, so she’s not afraid to lip sync for her life
Q is not only a theatre queen, she’s also a designer and seamstress from Kansas City, MO
Last but not least is Sapphira Cristál from Philadelphia, PA, who boasts six-octave singing pipes after studying ‘music composition, vocal performance, and opera’
Season 16 will introduce a new twist with the cast divided into two groups (MTV’s Spring Break and the Queen Choice Awards) that will ‘Rate-A-Queen’ and rank each other’s talent show performances (pictured in 2022)
The long-running competition was originally created in 2009 by drag icon RuPaul (pictured in 2019), who’s won seven consecutive Emmy Awards (2016 to 2022) for outstanding host for a reality program
Q – who has 10.7K TikTok/Instagram followers – is an ‘artist, diva, beyond’ that declared in her entrance: ‘Cue the music because the show is about to start!’
Last but not least is Sapphira Cristál from Philadelphia, PA, who boasts six-octave singing pipes after studying ‘music composition, vocal performance, and opera.’
The 34-year-old drag queen – who has 17K TikTok/Instagram followers – said her drag is ‘more is more, bigger is better’ and declared in her entrance: ‘I think this place is haunted.’
Season 16 will introduce a new twist with the cast divided into two groups (MTV’s Spring Break and the Queen Choice Awards) that will ‘Rate-A-Queen’ and rank each other’s talent show performances.
This season’s episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race will run 90 minutes rather than the controversial 60-minute episodes from season 15.
The long-running competition was originally created in 2009 by drag icon RuPaul, who’s won seven consecutive Emmy Awards (2016 to 2022) for outstanding host for a reality program.
