‘Drag Race’: 5 Best Moments from the Season 10 Premiere

Adam Salandra
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TV

After a grueling seven-day wait, RuPaul’s Drag Race is finally back on our TV screens. That’s right, kitty girls, there’s no time to mourn the results of All Stars 3 because the monumental tenth season of Drag Race is here. With 14 amazing queens to get acquainted with — and a new 90-minute format — there’s no time to lose. So let’s jump in with the best moments from the Season 10 premiere.

Royalty Returns for Mini-Challenge

To celebrate 10 years of churning out over 120 drag personalities, RuPaul brought back some of her favorite children, including Bob the Drag Queen, Jinkx Monsoon, and recent All Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel, to take part in the first mini-challenge of the season. The new crop of queens were forced to work the runway in front of the past contestants, who would be judging them every step and sashay of the way. Eureka kicked things off with low energy, but she was probably just nervous she might fall off the stage and hurt her knee again. Mayhem Miller taught us that you can be dressed in a glamorous gown and still do a cartwheel across the stage. But it was New York’s Monét X Change that ultimately won it all. And like most mini-challenges, the winner felt totally arbitrary, but hey — congrats, girl!

First Looks Out of Drag

One of the funniest parts of every Drag Race premiere is when the queens de-drag and see each other as boys for the first time. This proved difficult for Yuhua Hamasaki, who had to go around asking each black contestant “which one are you?” because she couldn’t tell them apart out of drag. Yikes. It was also when the ladies dubbed Kameron Michaels the official “trade of the season” — which means they’re all attracted to the muscle queen’s ripped body, in case you don’t speak fluent drag.

A New Feud Is Born

Alyssa versus Coco. Trinity versus Eureka. It’s a small drag world, so the series often has contestants who not only already know each other, but who already have drama outside of the show. For Season 10 that honor goes to New York queens Aquaria and Miz Cracker, who fans apparently already have a hard time telling apart. As the queens were getting ready, many noticed that both contestants were applying the same makeup and serving the same eyebrows. Aquaria said Cracker takes inspiration from her looks, despite being 12 years younger than she is. One thing is clear, the drama is just getting started between these two.

Farrah Moan Returns?

After the first runway of the season, Ru said words that we’re all too familiar with at this point: “There’s one more thing.” Those four little words always mean there’s a gagworthy twist in store, but what could it be this time? She announced that she’s adding one more queen to the competition, and the contestants were not thrilled at the idea of a past queen returning. The host then introduced Season 9‘s Farrah Moan to the stage. But don’t worry, queens. It wasn’t a twist at all, but rather an elaborate joke to introduce this week’s guest judge, Christina Aguilera, who Farrah Moan is often compared to. Xtina does one of her signature runs into the microphone to prove it’s really her, and after having Lady Gaga last year, it’s nice to know we may get a powerhouse pop star for every premiere.

Drag on a Dime

Ru announced that they’d be taking things “back to the start” for the inaugural challenge, revealing that the queens would have to take part in the first challenge from the first episode of the first season of Drag Race — Drag on a Dime. That meant the queens had to rummage through dollar store trash to create their runway look. Giant shopping carts full of random objects were wheeled out and the queens had to race to collect the items they wanted most. It looked like a scene straight out of one of the earlier seasons of the franchise and the nostalgia factor was the perfect way to kick off the monumental tenth season.

The runway looks were impressive overall, but in the end, it was Mayhem Miller’s latex glove dress that won the week. The bottom two were Kalorie Karbdashian-Williams and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, and the latter was forced to sashay away. It was a slightly devastating loss because although she wasn’t the best queen up there, she was definitely the best character. But that’s the way “the cookies” crumble and it is likely the first of many eliminations that will shake things up this season.

What did you think of the Season 10 premiere? And which queen is your favorite? Head to Twitter and let us know! And stay tuned for our weekly power ranking of the remaining queens.

Adam Salandra
Adam Salandra is an Entertainment Editor for FANDOM. When he's not covering the latest in pop culture, you can find him playing with his French Bulldog pup or hovering over the table of food at any social gathering.