RuPaul is best known as the host and creator of RuPaul's Drag Race, but the self-described "Queen of Drag" is more than America's biggest drag competition. Since the series debuted in 2009, RuPaul's Drag Race has expanded from a small presentation on Logo to an international franchise found in countries like Australia, Canada, , Thailand, and the United Kingdom. While there have only been a handful of winners, hundreds of contestants featured on RuPaul's Drag Race have gone on to enjoy highly established careers, with some queens like Bob The Drag Queen and Laila McQueen known as close collaborators.
It's been fifteen years since RuPaul's Drag Race was first introduced to the world, and with a steady pattern of one season a year, RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 kicked off 2023 with sixteen new queens ready to be America's Next Drag Superstar. With Carson Kressley, Ross Matthews, and new judge Ts Madison along for the ride, RuPaul has plenty of talent to weed through to determine the next victor, which includes Miss Continental Sasha Colby. While internet s have been busy getting to know the newest RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, here's what they need to know about Mama Ru herself.
What To Know About RuPaul's Early Life
RuPaul, whose full name is RuPaul Andre Charles, was born on November 17, 1960; his parents, Ernestine and Irving Charles divorced when he was a child. Per RuPaul's taste in drag first arose when he began to try on his sister's clothes. Although RuPaul prefers to keep his personal life under wraps, he revealed to the New York Times in 2014 that he has been sober since the late 1990s after decades of substance abuse.
What To Know About RuPaul's Career
RuPaul's career launched in the early 1980s after he began to appear on a local Atlanta program, The American Music Show, in 1982; around the same time, RuPaul formed his first band, RuPaul and the U-Hauls. A few years later, with several uncredited film roles under his belt, RuPaul left Atlanta and moved to New York City, where he quickly became known around the East Village. By the 1990s, RuPaul was known as an accomplished musician and actor; RuPaul's album Supermodel of the World became a club hit, and he appeared on popular sitcoms like Sister, Sister, and the 1995 film The Brady Bunch Movie. Ten years before the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race launched in 2009, RuPaul hosted his own talk show, The RuPaul Show.
What To Know About RuPaul's Awards & Accolades
Although RuPaul's Drag Race started off small, RuPaul's global franchise has led to an impressive collection of 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, the first being awarded in 2016 after RuPaul's Drag Race season 8. In addition to the Emmy Awards, RuPaul has been honored by the Critics' Choice Real TV Awards, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars by the Producers Guild of America.
What To Know About RuPaul's Friendships & Love Life
RuPaul, who found out that he and New Jersey senator Cory Booker are cousins in 2020, has been close friends with Elton John and fellow drag queen and former roommate Lady Bunny since the 1980s. However, RuPaul's best friend is RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, who he met in the late 1980s. While RuPaul's friendships are frequently mentioned on RuPaul's Drag Race, his relationship with Georges LeBar is kept more private. RuPaul and Georges, who met in 1994, married in January 2017 and split their time between California and Wyoming. In 2019, the RuPaul's Drag Race legend told Vanity Fair that he and Georges have an open relationship and that "I wouldn't want to put restraints on the person I love the most on this planet."
Sources: Biography, New York Times, Vanity Fair/YouTube