Historically, the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise loves a comeback queen. Some of these queens come back during their very own season, returning to the competition after being eliminated during an earlier episode. Other times, these queens are brought back during a subsequent season to try winning the crown against a different set of contestants.
Over time, there have been many returning queens on Drag Race. There is a select group of comeback queens who really proved themselves worthy of that second chance. However, there are many others who failed to advance any further than they had before. Read below to find out who are the best (and worst) returning queens in the history of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
10 BEST: VANESSA VANJIE MATEO
Miss Vanjie, Miss Vanjie, Miss… Vanjie.
After Vanessa Vanjie Mateo’s unforgettable chant during her elimination in the very first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10, there was little to no doubt that the queen would be brought back to compete on season 11. A year later, our wishes came true, and Miss Vanjie was back on TV better than ever.
Despite the judges’ criticism that Vanessa Vanjie Mateo only wore one silhouette during season 11, the queen definitely outperformed her time on season 10. What’s more, Miss Vanjie did not disappoint during the confessional interviews and acting challenges – bringing her hilarious personality to everything she did.
9 WORST: CYNTHIA LEE FONTAINE
It’s hard not to love Cynthia Lee Fontaine. After all, there is a reason this ‘cucu’ queen won the Miss Congeniality title on season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, one has to ask if bringing Cynthia back for season 9 was actually worth it for the queen and for the show.
Cynthia Lee Fontaine placed 10th on season 8, and despite going home after her very first lip sync (against Robbie Turner), she did walk out as Miss Congeniality. On season 9, Cynthia yet again placed 10th, landing in the Bottom Two twice and walking out without any title.
All in all, Cynthia Lee Fontaine landed in the Bottom Two more times on season 9, did not have a better placement, and did not earn any title.
8 BEST: SHANGELA
Shangela is the ultimate “back, back, back again” queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race. After being sent home first on season 2, RuPaul saw that there was a lot more to the queen, deciding to bring her back for season 3. On that season, Shangie made it to the Top 5.
While this is now commonplace for the franchise, that was the very first time that RuPaul brought back a queen for Drag Race. On season 4, Shangela played a stunt along with the show and pretended that she’d be back yet again.
Many years later, Shangela was cast on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, where she made it to the Top 4. What’s more, many fans claim that the queen was ‘robbed’ during All Stars, saying that she deserved to make it to the Top 2 and lip sync against Trixie Mattel (who took the crown).
7 WORST: MORGAN MCMICHAELS
It’s impossible to remember Drag Race season 2 without thinking about Morgan McMichaels. Despite the fact that this queen placed 8th, she was involved in many of the most iconic moments of that season, including her Pink impersonation for the first-ever Snatch Game and her fight with Mystique Summers Madison.
It was a given that Morgan McMichaels would return for All Stars at some point, but when it came time to compete there, the queen bit her tongue and ended up being sent home first. Then, after BenDeLaCreme’s shocking self-elimination, Morgan returned to the competition – only to be sent home in the very next episode.
One has to wonder if Morgan McMichaels’ performance on All Stars 3 was successful, and question whether she should have returned to the competition simply because she went home first.
6 BEST: LATRICE ROYALE
We often think of Shangela as the ultimate queen who has returned to Drag Race many times, but Latrice Royale is actually pretty close to Shangie when it comes to comebacks.
The season 4 Miss Congeniality was cast on the ill-fated All Stars 1, and many fans operated under the assumption that you could only compete once on the spin-off. However, RuPaul broke the mold on All Stars 4 and brought back Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon to compete, giving them yet another chance in the franchise.
During All Stars 4, Latrice was eliminated in the fourth episode, but came back two episodes later. Unlike most other queens who returned to the competition during the same season, Latrice Royale was not eliminated in the very next episode. In fact, she won the next episode and made it to the Top 5.
5 WORST: NAYSHA LOPEZ
Naysha Lopez was certainly a beautiful and charismatic queen that competed on season 8 of Drag Race, but her track record on the show is certainly weird.
Despite being a Miss Continental winner, Naysha Lopez was the first eliminated queen on season 8. Then, she returned to the competition in the third episode (“RuCo’s Empire”) only to be sent home in the very next episode (“New Wave Queens”).
All in all, Naysha is a comeback queen who was featured on a total of three episodes of Drag Race, two of which she was eliminated on.
4 BEST: MANILA LUZON
Alongside Latrice Royale, Manila Luzon was given another chance on All Stars after the two queens competed as a team on the first season of the spin-off. It is safe to say that Manila was well on her way to winning All Stars 4, if it wasn’t for her landing in the Bottom Two and being sent home by Naomi Smalls.
Despite her unfortunate elimination, Manila Luzon’s performance on All Stars 4 definitely proved that this queen deserved another shot at competing by herself on the spin-off. At that point in the competition, Manila had won three challenges, being tied with Trinity The Tuck as the frontrunners of All Stars 4.
3 WORST: KENYA MICHAELS
Straight from Puerto Rico, Kenya Michaels is one of the ‘fishiest’ queens to ever appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race. During season 4, Kenya was sent home after her very poor performance as Beyonce in the Snatch Game. However, the queen was brought back in the 10th episode (“DILFs: Dads I’d Like to Frock”). Unfortunately, Kenya was sent home in the very same episode.
The return of Kenya Michaels made sense. In hindsight, however, it is one of the weirdest (and shortest) comebacks for a queen on Drag Race ever.
2 BEST: EUREKA O’HARA
On Drag Race season 9, Eureka O’Hara injured herself during the cheer-leading challenge that took place in the second episode (“She Done Already Done Brought It On”). A few episodes later, Eureka was sent home to the injury, but RuPaul extended her an open invitation to come back to the show after she healed.
As promised, Eureka O’Hara was cast on season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she competed without any injuries. Many fans believe that the injury turned out to be advantageous for the queen, as she came back to the show with a higher budget and a better sense of who she was. Unlike her time on season 9, Eureka actually seemed to have a chance at winning season 10 – making it all the way to the Top 3 and lip syncing for the crown.
1 WORST: CARMEN CARRERA
Carmen Carrera may be the OG ‘relying on that body’ Drag Race queen, but the judges absolutely loved her on season 3. After her elimination in the 10th episode (“RuPaul-a-Palooza”), Carmen was brought back by a unanimous vote between the judges.
During the makeover challenge in the “Jocks in Frocks” episode, Carmen Carrera was brought back to compete. However, her time on RuPaul’s Drag Race ended there and then, without even lasting an episode more.
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