Is "RuPaul's Drag Race" Dying?

It has been over a decade since RuPaul shared his baby with the world. From the infamous "Season 1" filter of 2009 to the internationally renowned and acclaimed competition series that it is today. With countless international spinoffs and with the love of drag being at its peak, it truly is amazing how far "Drag Race" has been able to push the art form in 10 years. However, with all the content we're getting, some fans are finding the show too repetitive.

Season 11 crowned queen Yvie Oddly at its lip sync finale and, love her or hate her, she definitely made her mark on the season as a whole, wether or not she won the crown. Most fans rejoiced at Yvie's win as she had brought something different (or some may argue, unpolished) to the show in a similar way to Sharon Needles. Yet, the tragic double win of All Stars 4 was almost universally hated by all fans, with Manila Luzon, who dominated the entire competition, being sent home before Top 4 and a messy double crowning, this was one of the lowest points in the history of the franchise.

But back to the question, is Drag Race dying? From a financial standpoint? No. Definitely not.

2020 will kick off with a brand new "Celebrity Drag Race" season in January, which will see past queens (including Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change and more) acting as mentors to celebrities who will compete, with one winner each episode. This will be followed by Season 12, a summertime release of All Stars 5 and the year will end out with Season 13. So yeah, there's a lot of Drag Race going on. And with Drag Race UK being a hit, there's only more to come; and it's not for no reason, the numbers have only grown over the years, more people than ever are tuning in, so it makes sense that we keep seeing more of the show. But... how much is too much?

It has been a long running rumour that, with RuPaul getting older, he may be passing on the mantle of host to somebody else. The top picks for a new host amongst fans are Strictly Come Dancing icon, Michelle Visage, All Stars 2 winner Alaska Thunderf*ck, drag legend Lady Bunny and All Stars 3 winner alum Shangela. Whilst this is an exciting opportunity for the one chosen, we can only hope that audiences will still be interested in watching "RuPaul's Drag Race" without RuPaul. Whilst we would like to think so, other drag reality competition shows such as "The Switch" and "Dragula" whilst offering something new and exciting, yet familiar, have not quite been able to achieve the same awareness as RuPaul's franchise. However, it is difficult to say wether the reason for this the lack of RuPaul's charm or the drag showcased, or if the issue is the distribution of these shows. "Dragula", the current main competitor to "Drag Race", in particular had problems with Amazon Prime for releasing it's Season 3 episodes and the Boulets have since moved the project to Netflix, where the show can hopefully reach a larger audience.

So, while the show is doing well at a glance, looking deeper, the core fans seem to be losing interest. Despite data showing growth with every season, the original fan base are almost fed up with the show's new, monotonous machine that it has become. Ru leaves 99% of the judging to everyone else, trying not to offend the fans, the All Stars format is just a way to get rid of the potential best candidates for the crown for a cheap gag and it feels like there's no heart anymore. This needs to be recognised and addressed to keep the show alive. Let your voice be heard, make noise on social media and maybe we can restore the show that we once loved.

RuPaul has had an insane decade, and things are looking bright for the New Year, with the premiere of his own scripted comedy "AJ and The Queen" coming to Netflix and countless other projects in the works, his career has only been on the rise. Hopefully it stays this way and the upcoming seasons of Drag Race feel fun and fresh (like Drag Race UK) and see RuPaul being active and eager to be apart of each new season. The future doesn't need to be bleak for this influential show, let's hope that the next decade is better than the last!