This week on the 6th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” the five remaining queens joined forces with the WOW Presents Plus animated series “Drag Tots” to create their own unique characters with magical powers. The challenge tested the depth of imagination of the queens and their ability to create characters and runway-worthy garments from scratch. As standard for this season, the challenge results in one top performing queen and a set of bottom queens for the week. The top queen lip syncs against a secret assassin for the chance to choose which of the bottom gals should be eliminated. If the assassin wins, a group vote determines a consensus choice to leave instead.
In episode 1, Yara Sofia went head-to-head against Coco Montrese, but lost, and the safe queens’ choice for elimination, Serena, was sent home. In episode 2, Queen of the North and Canada’s Drag Race judge Brooke Lynn Hytes tied with challenge winner Ra’Jah O’Hara in the lip sync, and both held the lipsticks that signaled Jiggly’s elimination. Then at the end of episode 3, Laganja Estranja shablammed her way to a win over Trinity K. Bonet and pulled the group choice lipstick to eliminate Silky Nutmeg Ganache. Jessica Wild returned to the show in episode 4 to battle Jan, defeating her to a Britney classic and sending Yara home based on the safe queen vote. Episode 5 culminated in a battle between Ginger Minj and Mayhem Miller that resulted in Ginger sending Scarlet Envy home and in episode 6, A’Keria C. Davenport succumbed to Kylie Sonique Love‘s decision to send her home after earning that right beating Manila Luzon in the lip sync. By the end of episode 7, Trinity became the first tw0-time challenge winner, but lost to lip sync assassin Alexis Mateo who announced that the safe queens tied between Pandora Boxx and Jan. The tie meant that Trinity must break it, and she chose to say goodbye to Jan. Ginger became the second two-time winner in episode 8 and then defeated Heidi N Closet in the lip sync to make the choice to send Pandora home instead of Trinity.
Below, check out our minute-by-minute recap of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 6 episode 9 to find out whose character creation wasn’t up to scratch in “Drag Tots.” All Stars 6 is airing this summer on Paramount+ with new episodes added to the streaming service every Thursday at 3 am ET.
02 min – Ginger’s second challenge win raised her to Trinity’s level as a co-frontrunner of the season and while congratulations were certainly in order, what the queens really wanted to know is if anyone voted to send Trinity home over Pandora. After looking through the lipsticks it was revealed that everyone voted for Trinity to stay, representing for her a belief from her peers that she belongs among them. That helped energize her for a new challenge ahead of them after being disappointed with her performance in the “Snatch Game of Love.”
06 min – The next morning RuPaul Charles joined the girls in the Werk Room to present a mini challenge, “Class of ‘AS6 Superlatives.” In the game, Ru named a superlative and asked each queen to write down the name of the queen that fits the category. Anyone that writes the name that is also the majority, scores a point. When asked who is most likely to steal a boyfriend, Kylie was the majority vote. When asked who is the prettiest queen, Kylie was the majority vote again. When asked who is the most likely to have a sugar daddy, Kylie was voted unanimously. When asked who is the messiest queen and who is the gassiest queen, Eureka was the majority vote in both. When it came to who is bossiest, Eureka was majority again, slightly over Ginger. The question of who is shadiest tripped a couple of the girls up, but Eureka was still the majority vote. Ginger finally became the majority vote when they were asked who is most likely to become President. Everyone voted Trinity as the moodiest, except Trinity who voted for Eureka. Finally, Ru asked who is the most likely to go home next and the answers were: Trinity and Kylie said Trinity, Ra’Jah and Ginger said Eureka, and Eureka said Ra’Jah. Once the points were tallied, Ginger and Kylie were declared the winners for being in the majority most often.
11 min – For the maxi challenge, Ru tasked the girls with transforming themselves into magical live-action characters that would be incorporated into the concept of “Drag Tots,” a cartoon series for kids of all ages that features animated versions of Drag Race all stars within the school environment. To create their characters, Ru wanted the queens to come up with a name, complete backstory and magical powers and then design a head-to-toe look that can be brought to life on the runway.
13 min – As they began to plan out their characters, the queens realized that this was the sort of challenge that incorporates everything: sewing, character-building and performance ability. They also looked back on the answers everyone gave in the mini challenge. Trinity got in her head about being called moody and that she’d go home next, but Eureka advised her to not let the opinions of anyone else block her confidence. Ra’Jah also wanted to hear from Eureka about why she thought she’d be going home to which she replied that she got tough critiques in the previous challenge.
17 min – During a check-in with the queens, Ru spoke to the subversive nature of animation historically and whether or not the characters they create would also be subversive. She also touched base with them about their reactions to the mini challenge and that one of the biggest messages of cartoons is to not take life too seriously. When it came to her chat with Ra’Jah, Ru strongly urged her to consider changing the name of her character away from Queens Simi because it doesn’t roll off the tongue very well. That sent Ra’Jah into a tailspin of doubt over whether or not she should start from scratch.
25 min – Well into the workday, it was clear that the feedback from Ru put Ra’Jah in a really tough headspace that she couldn’t escape. Ginger said she’d expect Ra’Jah to hear the critique and run with it, but instead it made her stall. Meanwhile, Kylie and Eureka were experiencing frustrations on a different level as they struggled to construct garments from scratch for the runway.
27 min – The next morning, the day of the runway, Ginger and Trinity were in high spirits about what they came up with, but Kylie and Ra’Jah remained unsure of whether they’d do well. As the only queen without a win yet, Eureka was certainly feeling the pressure to get to the top for the week. She also explained that the reason she came back to the show this season is so that a big girl, and her specifically, could finally be named the champion.
31 min – Joining Ru on the runway this week was Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, and special guest judge Charli XCX. In order to showcase the Drag Tot creations of the queens, actual Drag Tots Latrice Royale and Bianca Del Rio (their animated versions) were also on set as the girls walked the runway in their custom character looks. Trinity opened as Fierce Furlicia the Feline in a furry pink cat jumpsuit and a voiceover explaining that she’s the queen of the catwalk with a special power of poise and posture that helps teach kids to walk the runway. Ginger was next as Tara Belle, a Southern belle with a magical parasol that helps teach the power of charm and communication. Third was Ra’Jah as I See Ya Queen, a purple character with the powers to change people’s mood into a more positive groove and the ability to “swerve into another dimension.” Then came Eureka as Alexandria the Queen, a villain with the powers of toxic gas and death stares used to combat bullies with a bad attitude. Last was Kylie as Miss Behave, a witch-like character with an enchanted spellbook and a drag bag that help her be both bad ass and in good spirits at the same time.
40 min – Before critiques, both Ru and Michelle agreed that the final five were making it really hard for them to find any faults in them. With Trinity, Michelle thought that she created a character that allowed her to act out her words without overdoing any of the performance. Charli and Ross really liked her runway look as well. Michelle and Charli gave Ginger high marks for the polish of her custom garment and Ross thought that her character was never boring and never one-note. Ru began Ra’Jah’s critique by saying that she chose a name change correctly and furthered it by calling her runway look a “superstar” look. Michelle prefaced Eureka’s critique by saying she loves a villain and then went on to say that for her to make a gown was risky, but well-executed. Ross thought Eureka’s strength was making fun of herself by taking the superlatives and incorporating that into this challenge. Finally, Charli liked Kylie’s stage presence, but Michelle thought she could have pushed it a little further in the performance aspect.
44 min – Based on the critiques, Ru gave the challenge win to Ra’Jah and clarified that the other four were all in the bottom and vulnerable to elimination by either Ra’Jah or a vote among themselves. Backstage, Ra’Jah admitted that she didn’t expect to be in the top considering her doubt all week, but obviously she was excited as the only one assured a spot in the top 4. As she met with each of the queens, Ra’Jah considered track record, relationships and ability. Kylie pitched that Eureka hasn’t won a challenge yet and that she has worked really hard in order to come back to the series and deserves a spot at the top. Trinity petitioned that she and Ra’Jah have a strong bond, but Ra’Jah questioned whether it’d be smart to get rid of her considering how similar they perform as queens. Ginger pointed out that all season everyone has been voting based on track record, insinuating that that should keep her in the competition and eliminate Eureka. Eureka defended her track record as better than anyone is giving her credit for because she hasn’t been in the bottom yet, and then she got emotional over always being so close to the win and never getting there.
54 min – On the main stage, Ra’Jah faced off against this week’s lip sync assassin Kameron Michaels to the Charli XCX bop “Boom Clap.” Ra’Jah performed the song as if it were her own and she was a pop star on a concert stage while Kameron turned acrobatic tricks across the stage and used the train of her elaborate gown as a prop. It was a rather conservative presentation from both of them, but ultimately Ru declared Kameron the winner. Kameron’s win meant the elimination would be determined by group vote. That vote was revealed to name Eureka as the queen deserving to go home.
59 min – As Eureka prepared to leave the Werk Room, Ru arrived on screen to caution her about the game within a game, but this time instructed her to report back to the main stage in preparation for the lip sync of her life.
