Is ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 13 the Longest Season Yet?
With plenty of twists and gags this season, fans look forward to more episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13. However, they are still a few weeks away from finding out who will be crowned, “America’s Next Drag Superstar.”
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13.]
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 13 premiered in January 2021
With two groups competing towards the beginning of Drag Race, a double shanté between Symoné and Kandy Muse, and a documentary premiering a week before Snatch Game, season 13 may have the most episodes in Drag Race herstory.
In terms of the largest cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race, season 11 takes the cake, with 15 queens who sashayed into the Werk Room. That doesn’t mean there were 15 episodes of the season — including the finale and the “reunion,” there were 14 episodes in total.
In fact, Out reports that since season 9, each “regular” season of RuPaul’s Drag Race “had 14 episodes that went on the air for 14 consecutive weeks.” It has been over two months since the premiere of season 13 and there are still a handful of queens in the competition.
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 13 had the COVID special
As RuPaul said, even a pandemic can’t keep a good queen down. Season 13 is different from those in the past due to extra safety precautions, highlighted in the documentary-style COVID special of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“I’ve been tested, my hands are washed, I’ve been quarantined,” Kandy Muse said in the preview. Utica Queen added, “they were doing everything in their power to make sure COVID didn’t rain on this parade.”
There were some COVID-related snags during season 12 of the reality competition series. Typically, the queens would meet in person to spill tea during the reunion. Due to the pandemic, the contestants met virtually, in their respective cities. The finale followed a similar socially distanced format.
Is season 13 the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season with the most episodes?
It wouldn’t be RuPaul’s Drag Race without a few surprises from the host. During the premiere for season 13, the queens competed in the lip-sync smackdown, resulting in two groups who competed for the crown.
For their first challenge, the queens wrote their own verses for RuPaul’s songs. In both the “Winner’s Circle” and the “Pork Chopped” queens, no one was eliminated. Even Elliott, who was voted off by the “Pork Chopped” contestants, stayed to compete with the other group.
Considering the double shanté, the “Condragulations” and “Phenomenon” episodes, and the COVID special, season 13 could be the longest season in Drag Race herstory. (The season with the fewest number of episodes was season 8.)
Presumably, more information regarding the finale and reunion will be announced in the coming weeks. New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiere on VH1.
