What is Rate-a-Queen? RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 surprise explained

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 has just introduced a brand-new twist that has changed the show’s format entirely.

When it comes to RuPaul’s Drag Race, several elements have become traditions throughout the past fifteen seasons.

Examples include runway challenges for the cast to show off their sense of style, lip sync battles against the bottom two contestants, and the ever-iconic Snatch Game. There are several segments that fans would greatly miss if they ever went away.

For Season 16, it doesn’t appear that any traditional elements have disappeared. In the premiere episode, the new queens were tasked with the talent show challenge of having to display one of their talents in front of the rest of the cast and the intimidating judges.

However, one detail was introduced, and it was the first of its kind.

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What is the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 Rate-a-Queen?

In Episode 1, a new element called Rate-a-Queen was introduced to both the cast and the viewers. 

While the judges still have an important role in figuring out who did the best and who was the weakest after every challenge, this new twist also allows the queens to have a say in the decision.

In the episode, they were tasked with ranking the performances of their fellow queens in confidence, similar to how Big Brother houseguests cast their elimination votes in private.

Viewers will soon see if the queens have the boldness to reveal who they ranked last, their reason behind it, and if any drama arises as a result. Is this going to become a new staple tradition in the series or just a surprise for Season 16? Only time will tell.

To stay updated on RuPaul’s Drag Race and the upcoming seasons, make sure to check our page here.