RuPaul's Drag Race (season 12)

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RuPaul's Drag Race
Season 12
RuPauls-Drag-Race-S12.jpg
Promotional poster for season twelve
Hosted byRuPaul
Judges
No. of contestants13
WinnerJaida Essence Hall
Runner-up
Miss CongenialityHeidi N Closet
Companion showRuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked!
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes14
Release
Original networkVH1
Original releaseFebruary 28 (2020-02-28) –
May 29, 2020 (2020-05-29)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 11
Next →
Season 13
List of episodes

The twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on February 28 and concluded on May 29, 2020. The competition was broadcast on VH1 in the United States and saw 13 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". VH1 renewed both RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars for a twelfth and fifth season respectively on August 19, 2019. At the time of the renewal the Drag Race franchise had earned VH1 a total of 14 Emmy nominations.[1] Casting calls were opened in January 2019 while the cast was revealed by season 11 winner Yvie Oddly on January 23, 2020.[2]

Following multiple revelations of misconduct, contestant Sherry Pie was disqualified from the show and mostly edited out of the American broadcast, although initial overseas screenings retained the original edit.[3]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the reunion and finale were held virtually across the country.[4]

The winner of the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race was Jaida Essence Hall, with Crystal Methyd and Gigi Goode being the runners-up, and Heidi N Closet being Miss Congeniality. The Halloween variety show Bring Back My Ghouls, hosted by Essence Hall and featuring season 12 contestants, was broadcast on WOWPresents on October 30, 2020.[5]

Contestants[]

See also: List of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants

Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.

Contestant Age Hometown Outcome
Jaida Essence Hall 32 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Winner
Crystal Methyd 28 Springfield, Missouri Runner-up
Gigi Goode 21 Los Angeles, California
Sherry Pie 27 New York City, New York Disqualified[a]
Jackie Cox 34 New York City, New York 4th Place
Heidi N Closet 24 Ramseur, North Carolina 5th Place[b]
Widow Von'Du 30 Kansas City, Missouri 6th Place
Jan[c] 26 New York City, New York 7th Place
Brita[d] 34 New York City, New York 8th Place
Aiden Zhane 29 Acworth, Georgia 9th Place
Nicky Doll 28 New York City, New York 10th Place
Rock M. Sakura 28 San Francisco, California 11th Place
Dahlia Sin 28 Los Angeles, California 12th Place
  1. ^ Sherry Pie was disqualified from the competition prior to the premiere of the show due to admitted misconduct.
  2. ^ Heidi N Closet was voted Miss Congeniality
  3. ^ Jan Sport is referred to as Jan on the show.
  4. ^ Brita Filter is referred to as Brita on the show.

Contestant progress[]

Legend:

  Jaida Essence Hall won RuPaul's Drag Race.
  Crystal Methyd and Gigi Goode were the runners-up.
  Heidi N Closet was voted Miss Congeniality (Miss C) by viewers.
  WIN indicates the contestant won the challenge in that episode.
  TOP2 indicates the contestant was one of the two best contestants in that episode, but lost the lip sync for the win.
  SAFE indicates that the contestant was declared safe by the judges in that episode.
  BTM (Bottom) indicates that the contestant had to lip sync in that episode.
  ELIM (Eliminated) indicates that the contestant was eliminated in that episode.
  DISQ (Disqualified) indicates that the contestant was disqualified in that episode.
  Guest indicates that the contestant returned as a guest in that episode.
Progress of contestants including rank/position in each episode
Contestant Episode
1[6] 2[7] 3[8] 4[9] 5[10] 6[11] 7[12] 8[13] 9[14] 10[15] 11[16] 12[17] 13[18] 14[19]
Jaida Essence Hall WIN SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE WIN WIN BTM SAFE Guest Winner
Crystal Methyd SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE WIN BTM Guest Runner-up
Gigi Goode TOP2 SAFE WIN SAFE WIN WIN SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE WIN Guest Runner-up
Sherry Pie TOP2 WIN SAFE WIN SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE DISQ
Jackie Cox SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE BTM BTM SAFE ELIM Guest Guest
Heidi N Closet SAFE SAFE SAFE BTM SAFE BTM WIN SAFE BTM ELIM Guest Miss C
Widow Von'Du WIN SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE BTM ELIM Guest Guest
Jan SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE ELIM Guest Guest
Brita SAFE SAFE BTM SAFE BTM ELIM Guest Guest
Aiden Zhane SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE ELIM Guest Guest
Nicky Doll SAFE BTM SAFE ELIM Guest Guest
Rock M. Sakura SAFE SAFE ELIM Guest Guest
Dahlia Sin SAFE ELIM Guest Guest

Lip syncs[]

Episode Contestants Song Winner
1 Gigi Goode vs. Widow Von'Du "Starships"
(Nicki Minaj) 		Widow Von'Du
2 Jaida Essence Hall vs. Sherry Pie "Call Your Girlfriend"
(Robyn) 		Jaida Essence Hall
Episode Contestants Song Eliminated
3 Dahlia Sin vs. Nicky Doll "Problem"
(Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea) 		Dahlia Sin
4 Brita vs. Rock M. Sakura "S&M"
(Rihanna) 		Rock M. Sakura
5 Heidi N Closet vs. Nicky Doll "Heart to Break"
(Kim Petras) 		Nicky Doll
6 Aiden Zhane vs. Brita "Let It Go"
(Caissie Levy) 		Aiden Zhane
7 Brita vs. Heidi N Closet "Burning Up"
(Madonna) 		Brita
8 Jan vs. Widow Von'Du "This Is My Night"
(Chaka Khan) 		Jan
9 Jackie Cox vs. Widow Von'Du "Firework"
(Katy Perry) 		Widow Von'Du
10 Heidi N Closet vs. Jackie Cox "Kill the Lights"
(Alex Newell and DJ Cassidy ft. Nile Rodgers) 		None
11 Heidi N Closet vs. Jaida Essence Hall "1999"
(Prince) 		Heidi N Closet
12 Crystal Methyd vs. Jackie Cox "On the Floor"
(Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull) 		Jackie Cox
14 Crystal Methyd vs. Gigi Goode vs. Jaida Essence Hall "Bring Back My Girls"
(RuPaul) 		None
Crystal Methyd "I'm Like A Bird"
(Nelly Furtado) 		None
Gigi Goode "Take On Me"
(A-ha)
Jaida Essence Hall "Get Up"
(Ciara ft. Chamillionaire)
Crystal Methyd vs. Gigi Goode vs. Jaida Essence Hall "Survivor"
(Destiny's Child) 		Crystal Methyd
Gigi Goode
  The contestant won the lip sync for the win.
  The contestant was eliminated after their first time in the bottom two.
  The contestant was eliminated after their second time in the bottom two.
  The contestant was eliminated after their third time in the bottom two.
  The contestant was eliminated after their fourth time in the bottom two.
  The contestants were eliminated after the final lip-sync.

Guest judges[]

Listed in chronological order:[20]

Special guests[]

Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

  • Charo, actress, singer, classical guitarist, comedian
  • Vivacious, contestant on season six

Episode 6

Episode 7

  • David Benjamin Steinberg, record producer
  • Erik Paparozzi, record producer
  • Jamal Sims, choreographer

Episode 8

Episode 9

  • Raven, runner-up of season two and of All Stars season one

Episode 13

Episode 14


Episodes[]

See also: List of RuPaul's Drag Race episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air date
1461"I'm That Bitch"February 28, 2020 (2020-02-28)

Seven queens enter the work room, composing of Brita, Nicky Doll, Widow Von'Du, Jackie Cox, Heidi N Closet, Gigi Goode, and Crystal Methyd. RuPaul announces the first mini-challenge is to present two sets of runway looks: one for spring and one for fall, akin to Season 7's first mini-challenge.

For the main challenge, the seven queens are tasked to write lyrics and provide choreography to the track, "I'm That Bitch". Tensions erupt between Brita, Heidi, Jackie, and Widow regarding choreography, resulting in Heidi taking charge of choreography. The queens are able to perform the routine in front of guest judge, Nicki Minaj. The runway category for the episode is "Sparkles".

On the main stage, four girls (Gigi Goode, Widow Von'Du, Brita, and Jackie Cox) are given high praises, despite critiques on Brita's verse not showing much of her personality and Jackie's makeup not being able to hide her beard. Crystal Methyd is given mixed reviews on her runways but praise for her verse. Heidi N Closet and Nicky Doll receive negative critiques, with the latter coming off as nervous during the performance despite the judges loving her runways and the former selling her performance (even after a trip to the emergency room) but faltering on her looks. After the judges deliberate, Brita, Jackie Cox, Crystal Methyd, Nicky Doll, and Heidi N Closet are all declared safe, leaving Gigi Goode and Widow Von'Du to be declared as the top two of the episode. They lipsync to "Starships" by Nicki Minaj; Widow Von'Du wins the lipsync, earning the first win of the season.

  • Guest Judge: Nicki Minaj
  • Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
  • Mini-Challenge: Walk the runway showing off two looks; one from their spring collection, the other from their fall collection.
  • Main Challenge: Write and record an original rap verse to "I'm That Bitch" and choreograph a routine to be performed live on the main stage.
  • Runway Theme: Sparkles
  • Top Two: Gigi Goode and Widow Von'Du
  • Challenge Winner: Widow Von'Du
  • Lip Sync Prize: A $5,000 cash tip
  • Lip Sync Song: "Starships" by Nicki Minaj
  • Eliminated: None
1472"You Don't Know Me"March 6, 2020 (2020-03-06)

At the beginning of the episode, the remaining six contestants are introduced: Rock M. Sakura, Dahlia Sin, Sherry Pie, Jan, Jaida Essence Hall and Aiden Zhane. For the mini challenge, each queen needs to present two sets of runway looks: one for spring and one for fall.

For the maxi challenge, the queens are asked to perform in an introductory musical number inspired by Fosse. The theme for the runway is tulle.

During critiques, the queens receive mostly glowing critiques, especially Jaida Essence Hall and Sherry Pie, albeit Rock M. Sakura receiving a mild negative critique about using fart humor and mixed reviews regarding her runway. Dahlia Sin receives negative feedback and is called out for letting her nerves get to her and for not fully showing who she truly is. After deliberations, Jan, Aiden Zhane, Rock M. Sakura, and Dahlia Sin are all declared safe, leaving Jaida Essence Hall and Sherry Pie as the top two of the episode. After they lipsync to "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn; Jaida Essence Hall is declared the winner of the challenge.

After the episode, the six queens meet the first seven girls of the season.

  • Guest Judges: Robyn and Thandie Newton
  • Alternating Judge: Ross Mathews
  • Mini-Challenge: Walk the runway showing off two looks; one from their spring collection, the other from their fall collection.
  • Main Challenge: Write and record an original Fosse-inspired jazz number.
  • Runway Theme: Tulle
  • Top Two: Jaida Essence Hall and Sherry Pie
  • Challenge Winner: Jaida Essence Hall
  • Lip Sync Prize: A $5,000 cash tip
  • Lip Sync Song: "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn
  • Eliminated: None
1483"World's Worst"March 13, 2020 (2020-03-13)

The episode begins with the first seven queens meeting the last six queens in the werkroom. They kiki over what transpired during their respective weeks, resulting in the second group revealing that there have been spats between them, particularly between Jaida Essence Hall and Sherry Pie. The first group conceals the earlier argument between Jackie Cox, Brita, Widow Von'Du, and Heidi N Closet as a sort of unity tactic against the second group.

The mini-challenge is for the two past challenge winners, Widow and Jaida, to rank their competition from their opposite weeks between "Tops" (their fiercest competition) to "Bottoms" (their least intimidating competition), resulting in Widow, Jaida, Heidi, and Aiden Zhane as the team captains of the week.

The main challenge of the week is an improv challenge where the queens are grouped into fours for a talent competition called "World's Worst". The queens are grouped as follows: (1) Aiden Zhane, Sherry Pie, and Brita; (2) Heidi N Closet, Gigi Goode, and Jackie Cox; (3) Widow Von'Du, Nicky Doll, and Crystal Methyd; and (4) Jaida Essence Hall, Rock M. Sakura, Dahlia Sin, and Jan. On the runway, the category is Buttons and Bows.

After the runway presentations are complete, Aiden Zhane, Brita, Gigi Goode, Jaida Essence Hall, Jan, Rock M. Sakura, and Widow Von'Du are all declared safe. Heidi N Closet, Jackie Cox, and Sherry Pie are given positive critiques for both their performances and runways, and Heidi is commended for stepping up her game as team captain. Meanwhile, Crystal Methyd, Dahlia Sin, and Nicky Doll receive negative critiques for their performances in the challenge, while Nicky receives high accolades for her runway with both Crystal and Dahlia garnering mixed reviews. Ultimately, Sherry Pie is declared the winner of the challenge, while Nicky Doll and Dahlia Sin are declared the bottom two and duel to a lipsync to Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea's "Problem"; Nicky wins the lip sync, eliminating Dahlia who hastily leaves the stage.

  • Guest Judge: Olivia Munn
  • Alternating Judges: Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley
  • Mini–Challenge: Queer-Peer Assessment
  • Main Challenge: Improv in a talent competition, called "World's Worst"
  • Runway Theme: Buttons and Bows
  • Challenge Winner: Sherry Pie
  • Main Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip (VH1 and World of Wonder donated $5,000 to The Trevor Project as a result of Sherry Pie's disqualification from the competition.)[23]
  • Bottom Two: Dahlia Sin and Nicky Doll
  • Lip Sync Song: "Problem" by Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea
  • Eliminated: Dahlia Sin
  • Farewell message: "Keep Ur Heads UP I♡U ALL! -Dahlia ♡"
1494"The Ball Ball"March 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)

For the mini-challenge, the queens get into quick drag dressed up as bees and shake their stingers in a beehive jive dance-off to raise awareness about the decreasing global bee population. Gigi Goode is declared the winner and RuPaul announces that this week's maxi challenge is a ball-themed ball (known as The Ball Ball) where the queens need to participate in three categories: Lady Baller, Basketball Wife Realness, and Balls to the Wall Eleganza. The queens must make the final look from scratch having already brought looks for the other two categories. As the queens are preparing, Nicky Doll expresses her bewilderment with not being able to bring her silly side to the runway and feeling so reserved in front of the judges, despite being freely goofy and comedic in the werkroom, and vows to change that, while Rock M. Sakura tells the others about how her makeup style, resemblant of Kim Chi and Trixie Mattel, originated from racist remarks against her supposed work-ethic as a drag queen. Tensions rise when Aiden Zhane proceeds to take a nap after she finishes her final runway look far ahead of everyone else, irritating the other queens as they feel she isn't working as hard as them to push and elevate their drag in order to win the competition.

On the main stage, the girls present all of their outfits and Crystal Methyd, Heidi N Closet, Jackie Cox, Jan, Sherry Pie, and Widow Von'Du are declared safe. Gigi Goode, Jaida Essence Hall, and Nicky Doll receive positive feedback from the judges on all their outfits, but Nicky is once again critiqued for presenting herself too stiff onstage and is encouraged to continue to let go and do weird things. Meanwhile, Aiden Zhane, Brita, and Rock M. Sakura are negatively critiqued by the judges. Aiden is told her Lady Baller runway is a "home run" but is heavily clocked by Michelle for doing nothing more than gluing balls to a corset for her Eleganza look and her last two looks being far too simple. Rock M. meanwhile is praised for her creativity but is critiqued for doing too much particularly on her Eleganza runway and not editing her aesthetic, and Brita receives overall mediocre feedback, particularly for her Balls to the Wall creation. After the judges deliberate, Gigi Goode is announced as the winner of the challenge, while Brita and Rock M. Sakura face off in a lip sync to "S&M" by Rihanna. Brita is the winner of the lip sync and Rock M. is eliminated from the competition.

  • Guest Judge: Leslie Jones
  • Alternating Judge: Ross Mathews
  • Mini–Challenge: "The Beehive Jive" dance competition
  • Mini–Challenge Winner: Gigi Goode
  • Mini–Challenge Prize: A $2,500 cash tip
  • Main Challenge: Create three looks based on Sports Balls; Lady Baller, Basketball Wife Realness, and Balls to the Wall Eleganza
  • Challenge Winner: Gigi Goode
  • Main Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip
  • Bottom Two: Brita and Rock M. Sakura
  • Lip Sync Song: "S&M" by Rihanna
  • Eliminated: Rock M. Sakura
  • Farewell message: "To all of my special queens, make sure you do what I couldn't do. Love yourself, respect yourself, and remember to show the world that you care about what you believe in. I‘m devastated I couldn‘t stay longer. But choose forward to looks of for memories with you. Rock M. Sakura ♡ Love you all truly ♡"
1505"Gay's Anatomy"March 27, 2020 (2020-03-27)

The episode begins with the queens entering the workroom after Rock M. Sakura's elimination, with Jackie Cox and Brita emotional over Rock M.'s departure. The queens sit on the couch, discussing Gigi Goode's win, and Nicky Doll's constant criticism from the judges for being unable to show a lighthearted, comedic side of her. Aiden Zhane discusses her performance in last week's ball, defending her looks while Jaida Essence Hall admonishes Aiden for making excuses, saying that she should have been in the bottom two. The queens disperse, with Heidi N Closet and Widow Von'Du discussing Aiden's overall performance in the competition.

The next morning, the queens enter the workroom and RuPaul informs the queens that they will be acting in a Grey's Anatomy parody titled "Gay's Anatomy". The queens randomly select pills to decide which two queens will get to assign roles, and Gigi Goode and Nicky Doll choose the winning pills. The queens discuss which parts they want, and most of the queens end up getting the roles they requested. However, Aiden Zhane and Widow Von'Du receive different roles to their dismay. Carson Kressley directs the skit, and critiques Jaida Essence Hall for not being able to deliver her lines, Brita for inconsistent acting, and Nicky for being low energy. He gives praise to Gigi for her acting, Widow for incorporating improv into her performance, and to Aiden for following his direction.

On the main stage, with Normani as a guest judge, the queens walk the runway wearing capes. The queens see the final cut of Gay's Anatomy. Aiden Zhane, Gigi Goode, Jackie Cox, Jan, Sherry Pie, and Widow Von'Du are the best of the week, with Sherry Pie being the winner, while Brita, Crystal Methyd, Heidi N Closet, Jaida Essence Hall, and Nicky Doll were overshadowed. Crystal receives positive critiques for her runway and performance and is the first to be deemed safe. Jaida receives lukewarm reception for her performance, but is praised for her runway and is declared safe. Brita receives mixed reviews for her performance and is the last queen to be deemed safe. This leaves Nicky and Heidi in the bottom, as they both receive negative reviews on their runway looks and for their performance in Gay's Anatomy. The two queens lipsync to "Heart to Break" by Kim Petras, Heidi N Closet is the winner, and Nicky Doll sashays away.

  • Guest Judge: Normani
  • Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
  • Mini–Challenge: Pink Pill or Silver Pill
  • Mini–Challenge Winners: Gigi Goode and Nicky Doll
  • Mini–Challenge Prize: Assigning the roles for the main challenge
  • Main Challenge: Overact in Gay's Anatomy, a parody of the popular TV show Grey's Anatomy, which focuses on a group of young doctors that work in a hospital.
  • Runway Theme: Planet of the Capes
  • Challenge Winner: Sherry Pie
  • Main Challenge Prize: A $5,000 cash tip (VH1 and World of Wonder donated $5,000 to The Trevor Project as a result of Sherry Pie's disqualification from the competition.)
  • Bottom Two: Heidi N Closet and Nicky Doll
  • Lip Sync Song: "Heart to Break" by Kim Petras
  • Eliminated: Nicky Doll
  • Farewell message: "I may not have gotten a crown. But I have gotten a sisterhood. I♡U. Your French sister! (I'm still the prettier)
    WIKI