With 15 seasons under its belt, RuPaul’s Drag Race doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
“We’ll be doing these interviews when it’s RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 72,” joked Season 15 queen Mistress Isabelle Brooks, who was joined on Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted panel by queens Anetra, Sasha Colby and Luxx Noir London.
Season 15 was the biggest yet, literally, boasting the largest cast in the series’ history. The 16 queens competed for $200,000, its biggest cash prize even. It was also the first season to feature biological relatives, twins Sugar and Spice. Season 15 also was the highest-rated season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in three years, after the series moved from VH1 to MTV.
So what is the key to this longevity?
“I feel like Drag Race really just has everything you’re kind of looking for in reality television,” said London. “You have really pretty people. You have really dynamic personalities. They’re all put into one space, and … it’s drama. It’s emotional stories. There’s real people behind all of it. I think that’s what people really like. It’s a combination of literally everything you want to watch on TV.”
Added Brooks: “Drag is so heavily influenced by pop culture that as things change and evolve, it’s never gonna stop growing. I think that’s the key to the show’s success a lot of the time.”
RELATED: Lizzo Thumbs Nose At Tennessee’s Drag Show Ban, Invites Drag Queens Onstage At Knoxville Concert
That connection between drag and pop culture creates an “endless cycle” for the show to continue, according to Brooks. During its run, Drag Race has drawn an even clearer line between the two.
“I think it’s taken a magnifying glass to what already exists in the world and has put it on a world platform so everybody can see and understand,” said Anetra. “I think for our community, especially, we’re at a polarizing stop where people understand us and they get us or they want to include us in entertainment as an accessory, but they don’t really get to see us as people very often.
Added Colby: “Now we get to be the tastemakers and the people that pop culture wants to ask our advice or ask our opinion or emulate.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
