in a guttural trance.
[There will be] tears, apologies, non-apologies, and maybe even a bitch slap or two.
MTV
Get ready for a lot of shade.
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 16 cast of queens.MTV
I dont want to saybackstabbery, Im trying to think of a cuter word, thats bad.
Okay, well, theres a lot of that.
“Theres a lot of honesty.
EW’s exclusive interviews with the cast of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 16.MTV
In other words,Untuckedis about to be epic but, so are the twists to the format.
It’s a good mix,” Megami explains.
“Regardless of being on it, this is my favorite show of all time.
The cast is so f—ing amazing.
We literally all came out the gate gunning for this prize.
It’s an intense season, but also probably one of the bestDrag Racehas ever put on.
I say that as a fan and Redditor myself.”
RuPaul’s Drag Raceseason 16 premieres Friday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. onMTV.
Watch EW’s exclusive interviews with the new queens ahead.
But, you also might get robbed.
I basically just think,what would make my mother blush?
I Did it Again,Keshas Blow, and audio from the infamously vile bathroom scene fromBridesmaids.
Such a number is an apt showcase for her wide-ranging interests in drag.
With both live vocal prowess and theatrical experience (she proudly reveals that she played Angel No.
Im a reformed theater girl, she stresses.
Im more like the BFA dissector.
Put it back together in hot glue, in a different formation, so its more like an AFB.
And what does AFB stand for?
Absolutely f-able butt, she reveals because, in Amandas executorial agenda, of course it does.
Am I evil or am I fun?
But, whats the definitive source of her vision?
she muses to EW.
For any given show, its done up in spikes.
For other occasions, it might be ocean waves and butterflies.
Born in Mexico and currently living in Brownsville, Tex.
I venture to incorporate my culture and where I come from into everything I do, she explains.
It always has to be big, over the top, and energy, she says.
Splits, kicks, dips, and, hopefully, I get back up.
Perhaps she can bring our jaws with her.
Hershii LiqCour-Jete
Hershii LiqCour-Jete is living her American Dream.
She was peering behind the mirror, and I said, Oh, she thinks Im beautiful.
Thats kind of the magic of drag and being a queer person in general.
Were not bound by the same rules that society wants us to be.
What Megami wants to be, it seems, is everything all at once.
Shes also fronted a one-woman, 10-minute theatrical production referencing every season ofAvatar: The Last Airbender.
Yeah, Megami isthatlevel of Comic-Con geek and shes proud of it.
Cosplayers can make the impossible possible, she says.
I hope people learn to not under-estimate cosplayers because we can do anything.
Theres a lot of crossover, and I hope I can represent where it meets in the middle.
Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige
To find Mhiya Iman LePaige, youll most likely have to look up.
Into the rafters… or the pole scaling the side of the building… ormaybeonthe ceiling.
Im a risk-taker, I just do whatever.
Mhiya believes that her talent is natural.
Second-nature, if you will.
Ive never been injured, she says.
But, you know, that doesnt stop her from winning.
I was doing pageants because people wanted me to do them, she says, ever so sweetly.
Because I have talent, and talent plays a part in pageantry.
So, I kind of just did it, just because.
Mirage
Mirage’s journey to supreme drag artistry began atop a legendary canvas: her face.
She did it on my face and I looked in the mirror and I said, Its over.
Its over for you hoes.
This is me, now.
And Ive been doing drag ever since.
Thats when I knew she was my drag mother.
And yet: Im not from Florida, Im from Miami, she jokes.
Its a different state.
When Morphines on stage, its a new state of mind for all who gaze upon her, too.
Nymphia Wind
When you support the troops, you support Nymphia Wind.
Just sitting there, playing my Game Boy.
Very hard at work, serving face.
She may have finished her service, but she dutifully continuesserving.
I feel like thats kind of a sense of rebirth.
Youre cutting off the dead weight, the process of dying, getting rebirth from the ashes.
Theres something beautiful in death for me.
Wherever shes going, were at attention.
I love poop humor.
I pulled out a am I allowed to say dildo?
A dildo, she says, feigning a demure attitude.
I squatted, squatted, squatted down, there was so much squatting in that number.
You mightve already guessed, but theres no typical performance when it comes to Planes art.
Thats the essence of a Plane Jane show.
You cant help but be entranced by what youre looking at.
Just give me all your money.
My backup dancers wheeled me around the theater as my skirt is blowing up.
I probably looked like a dog in that makeup, but you couldnt tell me s—.
You still cant, actually.
Mental health is very important.
I love to turn the old, classic Hollywood tropes on their head.
Im always about big, grandiose, and more is more.
Now, Q is ready to find herself and a spot in theDrag Raceseason 16 finale.
She earned her place in the center of the stage by defying industry rules.
All these things coming together, thats what makes me who I am.
Now, all she needs is theDrag Racecrown to enter her lifelong honeymoon era.
And she plans to bring that same energy to the Main Stage for a personal renaissance of her own.
I decided, I want more for my life than to just be sitting here on this couch.
Xunami Muse
Xunami Muse issucha supermodel, that she considers her resting interview face a cover-girl pose.
Am I not already?
And though she proudly bears the Muse name, shes looking to make a singular name for herself.
After joking that shell rehabilitate Kandys image on season 16, she asserts her presence as a singular force.
You have to reel them in.
Sometimes, I had to do that.
She also did that, as the kids say, on stages across New York throughout her drag career.
What exactly that means at a drag show versus on TV or in movies remains a mystery.
Youre going to have to come to a show to find out, she teases.
