RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 cast - meet the queens
Will who be America's next Drag Superstar?
RuPaul's Drag Race has announced the cast for season 16, featuring 14 queens set to compete for the title of America's Next Drag Superstar and a cash prize of $200,000.
Scheduled to premiere on Friday, January 5, season 16 will kick off with a two-part first episode. It will feature the return of the Maxi Challenge and the 'Rate-A-Queen' twist, where contestants will be asked to rank each other's performances.
Until then, meet the queens who will sashay down the runway in season 16.
Nymphia Wind
Name: Nymphia Wind
Age: 27
RuPaul's Drag Race's first queen to hail from Taiwan, 27-year-old Nymphia Wind moved to the United States to build her fanbase of 'Banana Believers' — a term coined by Nymphia's fans themselves due to her signature colour yellow.
Her drag is inspired by Asian culture, art and tradition.
Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige
Name: Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige
Age: 34
Prepare for your world to be turned upside down with the next contestant: performer Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige.
Known as the Queen of Flips, the 34-year-old gained fame after videos showing herself flipping onto café tables and along sidewalks blew up on social media. Now, she hopes to turn the competition on its head.
Hershii Liqcour-Jeté
Name: Hershii Liqcour-Jeté
Age: 31
Sister of former Drag Race star Kornbread Jeté and one half of the Haus of Jeté, Hershii hopes to slay on the main stage.
Outside of the performance world, 31-year-old Hershii is very family-oriented, raising two young children with her boyfriend.
Morphine Love Dion
Name: Morphine Love Dion
Age: 25
Body, beauty and "mug", Morphine Love Dion started out doing makeup tutorials on social media. Now, she's the self-proclaimed "It Girl of Miami".
Can this trained dancer – who has been featured in Maluma and Bad Bunny music videos – cha-cha her way to the top of the competition?
Amanda Tori Meating
Name: Amanda Tori Meating
Age: 26
Calling all staff: There's a mandatory meeting to discuss this funny queen!
Ready to take it to the top with her wit, wigs, and energetic moves, 26-year-old Amanda Tori Meating has previously created wigs for former Drag Race queens Kerri and Sasha Colby, as well as Beyoncé's music video dancers.
Sapphira Cristal
Name: Sapphira Cristal
Age: 34
34-year-old Sapphira Cristal is a musician with a six-octave vocal range and is known as Philadelphia's crown jewel.
Having studied Music Composition, Vocal Performance and Opera, Sapphira can be found hosting, singing, dancing and performing comedy while in drag. Is there anything this diva can't do?
Geneva Karr
Name: Geneva Karr
Age: 30
Geneva Karr is Drag Race's first Mexican-born queen who grew up witnessing her parents work tirelessly to get her family safely to the United States in search of a better life.
A dancing queen with mischievous energy, 30-year-old Geneva hopes to be the first Mexican-born queen to win the crown.
Xunami Muse
Name: Xunami Muse
Age: 33
A self-described "knock-off Naomi Campbell", 33-year-old Xunami Muse originates from Colón, Panama but moved to New York City, where Drag Race superstar Kandy Muse became her drag mother.
Can she strut her way to the top?
Plane Jane
Name: Plane Jane
Age: 24
Raised in Boston with Russian roots, 24-year-old Plane Jane is no stranger to competition, having been a competitive ballroom dancer since childhood.
Glamorous and wickedly funny, she has now set her sights on becoming America's Next Drag Superstar.
Q
Name: Q
Age: 26
26-year-old Kansas City-based Q is a theatre queen who makes all her own looks, plus many commissioned costumes for prior Drag Race stars.
Ready to go all the way in this competition one design challenge at a time, Q is the only letter of the alphabet you ever need worry about!
Dawn
Name: Dawn
Age: 24
The self-described "ethereal elf goddess of Brooklyn", 24-year-old Dawn is a kooky and artistic queen who designs all her own looks.
She's known for always bringing a story when she hits the stage, and she's hoping her ethereal presence will give her a Drag Race happy ending.
Megami
Name: Megami
Age: 33
This "geek-chic" queen started doing drag as a cosplayer at conventions such as Comic Con, later incorporating high fashion into her designs.
Proudly claiming Nuyorican culture, 33-year-old Megami (which means "goddess" in Japanese) hopes to be a creative force in the Drag Race world.
Mirage
Name: Mirage
Age: 29
A heady mixture of "stripper heels and stripper moves", 29-year-old Mirage is the "Legs of Las Vegas".
Hailing from Sin City, this Native American and Mexican beauty towers in 7" heels and is already a showgirl sensation on the Strip.
Plasma
Name: Plasma
Age: 24
Straight out of Old Hollywood, this vintage-inspired femme fatale was raised listening to Julie Andrews, Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. New Yorker Plasma has since channelled her love for divas into drag, and the rest is herstory.
Can this queen's BFA in Musical Theatre Performance raise the roof at RuPaul's Drag Race?
Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
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