Believe it or not, the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars is actually upon us. Nine full seasons of queens we know and love (or hate) duking it out for another chance at a cash prize and a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame.
15 regular seasons have come and gone and 196 queens have strutted into the workroom. Of those 196 queens, 69 of them have already appeared on All Stars. That leaves 127 queens who could theoretically be cast on All Stars 9. Now, because season 15 just wrapped up and those 16 queens aren’t likely to appear on All Stars until season 10, that technically leaves us 111 queens to choose from.
Now before you start thinking this is yet another list of the rumored drag queens making its round across the internet (you know what I’m talking about) this is not that. This is very much my own personal list of queens I want to see on All Stars 9 either because their time is overdue, they would bring much-needed drama, or they are downright talented.
Of course, I can’t take all the credit. My Drag Race-obsessed husband helped craft this list. We are the stereotypical gay couple hooting and hollering at the TV screen every Friday night, wine glasses in hand. Drag Race to us is like pro football. And this — this is our fantasy league for All Stars 9.
Laganja Estranja (season 6)
Okay All Stars 9, let’s get sickening, okur!
Langaja Estranja from season 6 was one of the most talked about queens of her season after delivering the now-famous line “I’m feeling very attacked!” in Untucked. She was always a superstar lip-sync performer, but the trans icon returned for All Stars 6 to prove just how much of an assassin she really is. Her lip sync against Trinity K. Bonet remains one of the best in Drag Race herstory. Honestly, I don’t know why it’s taken the show so long to bring her back. Now is the time, “Yas gawd!”
Joslyn Fox (season 6)
Waa, waa! Joslyn Fox is one foxy lady!
This season six alum was, is, and always will be a personal favorite drag queen of mine. Her innocent giggles, ditzy personality, and deadpan humor are exactly what All Stars 9 needs to liven up the joint. I’m forever haunted by her “cumin” line from Snatch Game when she impersonated RHONY alum Teresa Giudice; she would kill it on the Snatch Game of Love, I have no doubt. On season six, Joslyn went home sixth, which isn’t bad and definitely warrants a second chance. I don’t know why but I have a sneaking suspicion she was already asked to return but said no. That’s the story I’m running with. For everyone’s sake, Josyln (but mostly mine), please say yes — ahem, I mean, waa waa.
Kim Chi (season 8)
It honestly makes no sense — why hasn’t Kim Chi hasn’t been on All Stars yet? She already feels like an All Star. The brutally shady queen with a big heart was a runner-up in season eight and has been traveling all over the world, guest appearing in every drag queen’s YouTube video, launching her own makeup line (KimChi Chic Beauty) and touring the Australian Werk the World tour. Just bring Kim Chi back already, okay? She’ll slay the competition so fast they won’t know what hit them.
Peppermint (season 9)
Category is… “P-e-p-p-e-r, b***, you know the rest!”
I’m such a fan of Peppermint. She’s a queen who can slay the house down boots but is equally as endearing as she is a threat. She may have skated by with just one challenge win, but there’s no doubt she’d come back stronger than ever after perfecting her craft these last six years. She’s only one of two queens to make it as a runner-up with just one challenge win under her belt. Her spitfire lyricism, shimmy-shake capabilities, high-fashion looks, and six years of incubating could mean the difference between one win and the win. When I think of an All Star, I think of Peppermint. It’s time to bring her back!
Kameron Michaels (season 10)
Representation matters on Drag Race and Kameron Michaels represents the muscle queens of the industry. On season 10 she struggled to come out of her shell, and famously had to lip sync four times to stay in the competition because of it. All the same, she managed to come out on top, literally, making it to the top four on her season and becoming the only queen to lip sync that many times and still shoot her shot for the crown at the finale. Something tells me if she came back for All Stars 9 she’s be able to do it again, this time for real. It’d be stiff competition with this lineup, but Kameron knows a thing or two about (protein) shaking it to the top.
Plastique Tiara (season 11)
I live for an epic lip sync battle like the next Drag Race fan, but every season needs at least one solid lewk queen. Plastique Tiara from season 11 is famous for her social media transformations and equally as famous for her runway looks on the main stage. Plus, she’s Alyssa Edwards’ drag daughter and Laganja’s drag sister, so the two of them in the same season would be epic. Can you imagine? Yas gawd!
Nina West (season 11)
Nina West is the embodiment of Miss. Congeniality. Even though she finished in sixth place on season 11 she went on to become a fan-favorite thanks to her campy humor and genuinely sweet personality. She’s been at the top of every fan-cast list for All Stars since season 6 so I say it’s about time this former Entertainer of the Year recipient strut her stuff back into the workroom.
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (season 10,11)
Miss. Vanjie. Miss Vanjie. Miss… Vanjie.
Like Kim Chi, Miss Vanessa Vanjie Mateo is one of those Drag Race alum who already felt like an All Star when she was on her original season(s). It’s mindboggling to think Vanjie hasn’t actually been on All Stars yet. Some queens walk into that workroom and simply have that “it” factor. Vanjie was one of them. You can’t say she isn’t polished. You can’t say she isn’t funny. You can’t say she doesn’t have personality. Miss. Vanjie has come a long way since season 10 and girl, can you imagine the tea, the drama, the eloquence of her presence on All Stars 9? I’m manifesting.
Brooke Lynn Hytes (season 11, Canada Drag Race judge)
Yes, it would feel a bit awkward (at least for me) for a queen who is the host of a Drag Race spin-off to come back for All Stars, but can you imagine the gagginess of it? And with her ex, Miss Vanjie there too? Brooke Lynn Hytes has been successfully hosting Canada’s Drag Race since 2020, but if she can come back as a lip sync assassin against Ra’Jah in All Stars 6 then she can come back as an All Star herself. She’s known for her twirls, her runway eleganza lewks, and that oh-so-famous lip sync battle against Yvie Oddly. A return from Brooke Lynn in All Stars 9 would immediately up the ante. Let’s just pray she’s worked on her Snatch Game impersonations, though, because yikes.
Gigi Goode (season 12)
Look out, it’s G-G-G-G-Gigi Goode. She’s a good girl, and she’s gonna bring the fashion to this bad world. (You’re welcome for getting that stuck in your head).
Gigi Goode quite literally slayed the competition in season 12. Her quirky personality mixed with her haute couture fashion took her all the way to finals. As a matter of fact, her creativity was behind some of the most iconic looks from season 13’s winner Symone. If Gigi is able to sprinkle in a pinch more authenticity and less forced quirkiness, she really stands a chance at making it to the finals again on All Stars 9. She’d give Plastique Tiara a run for her money, that’s for sure.
Jackie Cox (season 12)
I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of Jackie Cox on her season (the overdrawn lip, honey, the overdrawn lip), but she still lingers in the back of my mind from time to time. A few extra years of polishing her drag will have done wonders. She already had a strong foundation on season 12, she just wasn’t done baking in my opinion. If you take a look at her Instagram it’s clear she’s refined her craft. Plus, she knows how to deliver an emotional lip sync. She’s the queen that made Jeff Goldblum cry, after all. Best of all, you know she has a fiery personality. Season 12’s Kumbaya-ness never allowed it to flourish, but put her in the All Star pressure cooker with other big personalities? The drama, darling. The drama.
Gottmik (season 13)
Gottmik was, by far, the strongest contestant on season 13. (Sorry, Symone, I still love you). I remember putting on my Sunday best that night of the season finale, sauntering to the club with my husband to celebrate the biggest gay day of the year, so confident Gottmik would walk away with the crown. When she came out in that eleganza look with the Swarovski red heart in the middle of her chest? Dead. I was so sure she would win. As the first trans man to appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Gottmik represents a vital aspect of the Drag community. If she (or he out of drag) were to return for All Stars 9, the other queens would be quaking in their heels. That alone speaks to the mark of a true All Star.
