The sixteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 5, 2024. The reality competition series, broadcast on MTV in the United States, showcases fourteen drag queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar" and a cash prize of $200,000.
This season introduced a LaLaPaRuZa Lip-Sync Smackdown competition for the eliminated queens that took place before the finale. Morphine Love Dion, who placed fifth in the main competition, won the smackdown and the title of Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses.
The winner of season 16 was Nymphia Wind, the first ever East Asian winner, with Sapphira Cristál as the runner up and the series' first tied winner of Miss Congeniality, shared with Xunami Muse.
Production In August 2023, the competition series and its companion series, RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, were officially renewed and would remain on MTV. RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars was also renewed for a ninth season by Paramount+. In November, a teaser was released from MTV featuring RuPaul in various promos from past seasons. Sasha Colby, the winner of season fifteen, presented the Meet the Queens via the series official YouTube channel on December 6, 2023. The Meet the Queens video included an 8-minute clip from the season premiere, where the fourteen contestants entered the Werk Room set.
Contestants
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
+ Contestant Age City Outcome Nymphia Wind 27 New York City, New York Sapphira Cristál 34 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Plane Jane 25 Boston, Massachusetts 3rd place Q 26 Kansas City, Missouri 4th place Morphine Love Dion 26 Miami, Florida 5th place Dawn 25 New York City, New York 6th place Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige 34 Miami, Florida 7th place Plasma 24 New York City, New York 8th place Xunami Muse 34 New York City, New York 9th place Megami 33 New York City, New York 10th place Geneva Karr 30 Brownsville, Texas 11th place Amanda Tori Meating 26 Los Angeles, California 12th place Mirage 29 Las Vegas, Nevada 13th place Hershii LiqCour-Jeté 32 Los Angeles, California 14th place
Notes
Contestant progress
Lip syncs Legend:
Episode Top contestants Song Winner 1 Q vs. Sapphira Cristál "Break My Soul"(Beyoncé) Sapphira Cristál 2 Geneva Karr vs. Plane Jane "Shower"(Becky G) Plane Jane Episode Bottom contestants Song Eliminated 3 Geneva Karr vs. Hershii LiqCour-Jeté "Maybe You're the Problem"(Ava Max) Hershii LiqCour-Jeté 4 Geneva Karr vs. Mirage "Dark Lady"(Cher) Mirage 5 Amanda Tori Meating vs. Q "Emergency"(Icona Pop) Amanda Tori Meating 6 Geneva Karr vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige "Control"(Janet Jackson) Geneva Karr 7 Megami vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige "Flowers"(Miley Cyrus) Megami 8 Morphine Love Dion vs. Xunami Muse "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"(Whitney Houston) Xunami Muse 9 Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Plasma "Bloody Mary (Wednesday Dance TikTok Version)"(Lady Gaga) Plasma Episode Top contestants Song Winner 10 Morphine Love Dion vs. Sapphira Cristál "Made You Look"(Meghan Trainor) Sapphira Cristál Episode Bottom contestants Song Eliminated 11 Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Morphine Love Dion "Dim All the Lights"(Donna Summer) Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige 12 Dawn vs. Morphine Love Dion "Body"(Megan Thee Stallion) Dawn 13 Morphine Love Dion vs. Sapphira Cristál "Miss Me More"(Kelsea Ballerini) Morphine Love Dion 14 Plane Jane vs. Q "Better Be Good to Me"(Tina Turner) Q Episode Eliminated contestants Song Winner 15 Amanda Tori Meating vs. Dawn "Damaged"(Danity Kane) Amanda Tori Meating Megami vs. Q "What About"(Janet Jackson) Megami Geneva Karr vs. Morphine Love Dion "Million Dollar Baby"(Ava Max) Morphine Love Dion Hershii LiqCour-Jeté vs. Mirage "Alone 2.0"(Kim Petras, Nicki Minaj) Mirage Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Plasma vs. Xunami Muse "Milkshake"(Kelis) Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige Amanda Tori Meating vs. Megami "The Shoop Shoop Song"(Cher) Megami Mirage vs. Morphine Love Dion "This Time I Know It's for Real"(Donna Summer) Morphine Love Dion Megami vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige "We Got the Beat"(The Go-Go's) Megami Megami vs. Morphine Love Dion "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"(C+C Music Factory) Episode Finalists Song Winner 16 Nymphia Wind vs. Sapphira Cristál "Padam Padam"(Kylie Minogue) Nymphia Wind
Guest judges Charlize Theron, actress and producer Becky G, singer and actress Isaac Mizrahi, fashion designer Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress Icona Pop, electropop musical duo Law Roach, retired stylist Adam Shankman, director, writer, producer, dancer and choreographer Kyra Sedgwick, actress Kaia Gerber, model Jamal Sims, choreographer Joel Kim Booster, actor and comedian Mayan Lopez, actress Kelsea Ballerini, singer Ronan Farrow, journalist
Special guests Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.
Episodes 1–2 Derrick Barry, contestant on season 8 and All Stars season 5 Love Connie, drag performer and actor
Episode 6 Charo, singer, actress, musician and comedian
Episode 7 Melissa McCarthy, actress and comedian
Episode 8 Chad Michaels, contestant on season 4 and winner of All Stars season 1
Episode 10 Leland, music producer Freddy Scott, composer and actor
Episode 12 Claudia "Norvina" Soare, president of Anastasia Beverly Hills
Episode 14 Albert Sanchez, photographer Matt Rogers, comedian, podcaster and television host
Episode 16 Sasha Colby, winner of season 15 Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Miss Congeniality of season 15 Cassandra Peterson, actress
Episodes
Ratings
References