RuPaul's Drag Race might seem like it's all glitz and glamour while the contestants lip-sync and sashay down the runway towards the crown, but there's a lot of "werk" that goes on behind the scenes to make the popular reality TV series so entertaining. Now in its 14th season, fans have always been able to hear the queens spill the tea during curated interviews, but the contestants often aren't allowed to reveal the most interesting things about the set of RuPaul's Drag Race until well after their season has aired.
From how many hours they spend in the Werk Room each day to the skinny on craft services, life on the RuPaul's Drag Race set is full of surprises. Much like the secret to RuPaul's skincare regiment, there's a lot that fans don't know.
Being A Queen Isn't Always Glamorous
RuPaul's Drag Race is in essence all about illusion, but beyond simulating femininity with wigs, lashes, and pads, there are a lot of other elements to the series which aren't what they seem. According to The Tab, those cocktails in the lounge? Watered down cranberry vodkas. Those clocks in the Werk Room? They don't actually work (but the contestants do get time checks from the crew).
And when it comes time to crown the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race, every finalist has to film a video of them accepting the prize, though only one will actually air. That means the reaction fans are seeing is a very convincing performance.
Mornings Are The Best
In an interview with Buzzfeed, season 13 winner Symone spilled the tea about the pace on set. Mornings were the best because the contestants could interact without cameras catching every interaction, so there was time to get excited for the day. Once the cameras started rolling, there was no time to slow down.
Getting up every day at 5:30 AM for weeks meant that the contestants didn't always get a lot of time to decompress, even after filming had wrapped for the day. Once they got to the set, every action was scrutinized and edited, putting everyone on edge.
Filming Includes 14 Hour Days
In the same Buzzfeed interview, Symone talked about a typical day of filming, which required the contestants to get up at 5:30 AM and be ready for an incredibly long day. Over a period of roughly six weeks, it wasn't atypical for contestants to be working 12 and 14 hour days.
"No matter how many times we talk about it," said Symone, "people think it's like, 'La, la, la,' like the girls are just having a good time. Literally, the minute we get on set and we're filming, it's go, go, go. There's really no time to sit and chill." With no opportunity to appear exhausted — even if they were — it's easy to see why there are big beefs between Drag Race contestants while working under the pressure of a grueling schedule.
It Can Be Lonely
According to an interview in Cosmopolitan with Brooke Lynn Hytes, a runner-up in 2019, it was easy for contestants to get lonely. Though they spend a lot of time around each other (especially living in the same hotel during production), they often miss their families, friends, and significant others back home.
"The further you got on in the process, " she explained, "the more worn down you got, and wanted your home back and to talk to people. I missed my cats a lot, so that was hard.” Without access to their phones and a kibosh on visitations, it's no wonder the contestants can feel isolated and alone.
RuPaul Doesn't Stick Around To Chat
RuPaul often has a powerful personality that comes across as both comionate and firm — it's no wonder he's called Mama Ru. But don't expect him to buddy up to a contestant when the cameras are off. In an interview for Hey Queen, Pearl revealed a heartbreaking moment when Ru told her that nothing she said mattered "unless that camera is rolling."
Brooke Lynn Hytes elaborated a bit more, stating "We'd probably see him once or twice a day. He's very professional, and I think it's important that people realize that there has to be a kind of separation from the judge and the contestants. He's not chumming it up with us all the time. When the cameras aren't rolling, he doesn't speak to us really, because we're making a TV show it needs to be kept for TV." Saving the best reactions for live television ensures that each episode is full of entertaining Drag Race and phrases.
Everyone Gets Top-Notch Catering
Given that the contestants live out of a hotel for the entirety of filming, it's not hard to imagine them surviving on vending food fare or something else quick and easy. However, it turns out that couldn't be further from the truth thanks to the generous gourmet craft services offered on the set.
“I had three square meals a day, " Hytes said, "and awesome snacks. It's lovely, there’s an on-site caterer and they give you a menu and you order. They took good care of us that way.” With long days dedicated to creating stunning looks — and commentary — on camera, it's good to know that no expense is spared when it comes to fueling the girls' creativity.
Every Interaction Is Heavily Edited
By now, most fans know that reality TV is heavily edited, and RuPaul's Drag Race is no exception. So much so that Phi Phi O'Hara indicated to Vulture that watching herself on her season was "an honest letdown" due to the many inaccuracies generated by the editing process.
"It’s like watching a completely different show," she revealed. "Because it’s nothing like what happened on set...people truly don’t understand how context comes into play, and they’ll cut off something and add it to another thing and then make this whole different story." When Phi Phi revealed that the bulk of her rants directed at Alyssa Edwards were actually answers to producer-fed questions edited into one long villainous diatribe, it's not hard to see why some contestants would take umbrage at how they're perceived.
The Interviews Are Very Specific
Some fans have wondered why the interviews feature contestants wearing ostensibly the same outfit for weeks but with subtle differences in their physical appearance. This allows for the editors to be able to splice together the sort of soundbites they want from every contestant while keeping the cringiest Drag Race moments to a minimum. Sometimes, it means last-minute wardrobe changes despite a contestant's wishes.
“We did those interviews for like two hours a day, " Hytes said, "and have to wear the same thing each time for consistency. I brought a really cute interview look — this beautiful motorcycle jacket — which they approved beforehand, but then they mic'd me and said it makes too much noise. So I had to do all my boy interviews in the clothes I wore in the van to the first interview, which was that horrible red hoody.”
Judges Need Time To Come Up With Runway Commentary
Even though RuPaul's Drag Race has truly iconic guest judges, they aren't on top of their commentary game every time the cameras are rolling. That's why according to Hytes the contestants do multiple runway walks, first with music and then without music because "if the music's playing it's harder to hear, and it also gives the judges the chance to come up with the commentary.”
So none of the hilarious jabs and zingers the judges give the girls is off the cuff but rather the result of material that gets polished through trial and error until it's witty enough to be used in the final cut.
Ru's Crew Is One Big Family
The camera crew for RuPaul's Drag Race has been nearly the same since the show's inception, and as a result, the group has bonded in a way that feels like a family. A lot of the familial feelings come about from the way RuPaul treats them, and a communal sense of pride.
“Every time RuPaul walked into the room he knew every cameraman's name, every PA's name, he knew who everybody was," Hytes explained. "A lot of those people have been with him for 10 years. They really are like a family. They all work really well together.” Giving recognition and acknowledgment for the work done by the camera crew shows how much respect Ru has for the team he's built when they could so often be upstaged by the talent.