“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” debuts its historic tenth season on Friday (May 9, 2025) on Paramount+. The six returning queens competing in the series premiere will include Aja (Season 9, All Stars 3), Bosco (Season 14), Irene the Alien (Season 15), Olivia Lux (Season 13), and Phoenix (Season 3) — also known as the Orange Bracket.
Just days before the premiere of the Tournament of All Stars season, the group sat down with TheWrap to discuss why they ultimately decided to return to the competition, with many of them admitting that the newly revealed bracket-style format was a deciding factor.
The format will separate the 18 queens into three brackets of six queens each. The top three queens from each bracket will advance to the season’s semifinals. The queens who manage to earn a spot in the finale will then face off in a Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown.
’Drag Race’ Season 14 Sisters Praise New Bracket Format
“It’s such a shake-up,” said Bosco. The “Demon Queen of Seattle” originally appeared on Season 14 of “Drag Race,” which also featured a gimmick – a golden chocolate bar that could save a queen from elimination. In Season 14, the gimmick saved Bosco from having to sashay away, but said that the bracket format is “Unpredictable for both us and the fans. It brings a new freshness and unexpected developments.”
Paramount+Bosco’s Season 14 sister Deja Skye echoed the sentiment, adding that the new format actually made it harder to fade into the background despite record-breaking size of the cast. “We’re all All Stars and there’s only six of us, so you might think it’s easier to stand out, but it’s actually harder because the microscope is so zoomed in and you only have so much time,” Deja told TheWrap.
Paramount+While Bosco and Deja both made it to the end of Season 14 of “Drag Race,” other queens revealed that they were motivated to return to the competition after failing to impress on their original seasons.
Early-out Queens Return for a Second Shot at the Crown
Irene the Alien, who was the first queen to be eliminated on Season 15, explained that “In many ways, this is my first opportunity. I was on one single episode and we didn’t really do a proper maxi challenge. So the whole [All Stars] season, I was experiencing everything for the very first time.”
“It was such a weight off my shoulders knowing I get the chance to try again,” Irene added.
Paramount+Phoenix, who was the second queen to sashay away on Season 3 of “Drag Race” echoed the sentiment, adding that it meant more to return as a queen from an earlier season. “Coming from a season so many years back and getting kicked off early, it’s a good feeling because you can sometimes feel you have been forgotten about,” said Phoenix, who hasn’t appeared on the “Drag Race” stage since 2011.
Paramount+“Coming into it, it felt like I was competing for the first time since I had not done it in so long,” Phoenix added. “At the end of the day, ‘Drag Race’ is a game. The more you play a game, the better you get at it.”
Ballroom Confidence Motivates ‘Drag Race’ Returns
Some contestants, like Season 13’s Olivia Lux, recalled that they immediately said yes to the offer to return for “All Stars,” hoping that the season would bring them a sense of resolution. “I said yes instantaneously,” said Olivia, adding, “I felt like I lost myself a little seeing the audience reception of me on TV. I felt like I could not give my whole self and I didn’t know why, so it was a lot of soul-searching after Season 13.”
Olivia added that her attitude towards the competition after she joined the ballroom scene and the House of Miyake-Mugler in 2021. “I quickly found myself up there finding a newfound fire and confidence for my artistry and for myself,” Olivia revealed, adding, “I’m ready for [All Stars].”
Paramount+Unlike her House of Miyake-Mugler sister, Orange Bracket contestant Aja revealed that she was more hesitant when it came to returning to “Drag Race.” “When I was first invited back, I was honestly hesitant,” Aja told TheWire. She continued, “As a trans woman, I had internalized this idea that doing drag might somehow invalidate my womanhood…But then I remembered the truth: trans women have been the backbone of drag history since the beginning.”
Ultimately, Aja decided to return to the competition after competing on both Season 9 and All Stars 3, saying, “The world has never seen this version of me yet – and I felt like it was time.”
Paramount+Bosco, Deja Skye, Irene the Alien, Phoenix, Olivia Lux, and Aja will sashay into the werkroom for the premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10” on Friday, May 9 on Paramount+.
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‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10’ Queens Reveal Why They Returned to the Competition