RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars is considered the worst season in the franchise’s history. It had the lowest rating on IMDB, and according to Collider, lost the support of countless fans. It made people wonder if global competitions were a good idea for the drag competition.

On paper, the concept seemed like it would be an instant hit. One queen from each of the Drag Race franchises from around the world would compete in front of Ru Paul, Michelle Visage, and a cast of judges from around the world. When the cast was announced, which included some of the most popular queens from around the world, fans were excited. So, why did the inaugural Global All Stars flop, and where did it all go wrong?

Why The International Drag Race Format Didn’t Work For ‘Global All Stars’

Drag Race has versions in over 15 countries and has been well-received by audiences from around the world. RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars was faced with accusations of xenophobia and outrage at how the queens who didn’t speak English as their first language were treated.

Competitors From the First Season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars

Drag Race is all about creating a brand, whether that is as a pageant girl, a dancing diva, or a comedy queen. RuPaul struggled to fit the international queens into boxes and tried to form identities based on their nationalities.

Nehellenia, after Kitty joked about her saying Margherita pizza in an Italian accent, inserted a pizza bit into her act to please RuPaul, even when she wasn’t sure why it made the judge laugh so much.

According to Vulture, RuPaul and Drag Race have previously gotten into trouble for their love of ethnic stereotypes. Manila Luzon won a Season 3 challenge for using a Pan-Asian account. Likewise, Ru encouraged Irish queen Jonbers Blonde to play a leprechaun during Drag Race UK’s fourth season’s Snatch Game. Plane Jane even won Snatch Game playing a Russian popstar that Michelle thought was made up!

Some fans of the reality competition show even noted on Reddit that the international format was “an unpleasant reminder of the immigrant experience” and noted how difficult the experience must have been to those competing in their second language. “You have a native-strength knowledge of the dominant culture and a native-strength command of the language, without an accent.”

Did The Judges Favor ‘Ru Girls’?

RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars sold itself as being the “Olympics of Drag,” yet it clearly favored queens from the English-speaking seasons of the franchise, which Ru and Michelle Visage judged.

Fans were quick to notice how the judges preferred queens from the American, UK, and Down Under series of Drag Race. Audiences felt that the judges pushed the queens from the international version of the show aside in favor of the English-speaking girls.

The favoritism towards English language queens came to the forefront during the Snatch Game. Kitty won with her impression of Princess Diana. The queens who ended up at the bottom played characters famous in their country who were not well known to Americans.

• Mexican queen Gala Varo played actress Laura León, and Sweden’s Vanity Vain played Eurovision’s Loreen, two celebs RuPaul had not heard of.

Even the winner of the competition was met with criticism. While Alyssa Edwards is a legend both in the industry and the show’s history, her track record in the series was mediocre and not worthy of the crown.

Fans felt that the entire competition was more like a Lifetime Achievement award for her two decades of experience in the industry rather than a worthy win. TikTok users immediately called out Alyssa as the winner, saying they believed the whole show was set up for her win. As Vulture notes, “[Alyssa’s] win doesn’t feel like a celebration of a worldwide superstar — it feels like an apology for a season that will quickly be forgotten.”

Fans could not help but notice the favoritism. A Reddit post about the show called out how much fans disagreed with the judging. “Literally, the only things I enjoyed about this season were the introduction to queens from franchises I haven’t seen before and another dose of Miss Alyssa Edwards. The season was ruined by blatant favoritism.”

How ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars’ Can Improve In The Future

RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars has the potential to return for a second season, but it needs to be a celebration of international drag. After all, the first season of All Stars was considered a mess but managed to reinvent itself to become a much-loved spinoff.

The main critiques came from the judges and how overproduced the series was. A Reddit poster suggested having a rotating panel of judges from different franchises and not just Ru and Michelle every week. Judging may have been more fair if Brooke Lynn Hytes, Pangina, Mama Pao, and Rita also acted as head judges, rather than the American queen helming the panel every week.

Another criticism was that the episodes felt too short and that much of the process was missing. The editing down of the episode meant fans didn’t see how they recorded music, who planned the looks, who wrote the songs, and how the acting challenges were cast.

Here’s Hw the Show Could Improve If It Comes Back For a Second Season:

• More international songs
• More expensive production value
• Better sound editing
• RuPaul takes a step back
• Improve the prize fund for queens

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RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars

Main Genre

Reality

Network

Paramount+