RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 kicked off on Jan. 2 with the introduction of 14 all new queens entering the famous Werk Room for the first time. In the premiere, Cardi B guest judged alongside RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley as the girls reimagined and repurposed treasures from the franchise vault in the creation of their own signature look.
The queens competing for the crown on Season 18 are: Athena Dion, Briar Blush, Ciara Myst, Darlene Mitchell, DD Fuego, Discord Addams, Jane Don’t, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Mandy Mango, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, and Vita VonTesse Starr.
Read on for our recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 1, titled “You Can’t Keep a Good Drag Queen Down!,” which aired Friday, Jan. 2 on MTV.
“I’m ready to sit this fat ass on these other girls and dominate the competition.”
— Kenya Pleaser
Having already introduced themselves to the world back in the December Meet the Queens special, the new girls literally entered the spotlight for the first time in an atypically dark Werk Room all because Bob the Drag Queen, Raja, and Kim Chi couldn’t power up the Drag Race Generator from their exercise bikes in the basement. Self-described “close to perfect” Athena Dion, drag mother of Morphine Love Dion and “technically” Plane Jane from Season 16, was first to enter, followed by “sexy auntie that’s a ho” and Lizzo impersonator Kenya Pleaser, “conceptual” and “theatrical” Nini Coco from Denver, the “little lady who’s a big problem” Jane Don’t who is little sister to Irene the Alien and Bosco, the “punk maximalist” and live guitar player Discord Addams, a dancing diva Mia Starr who toured with the likes of Rihanna and Britney Spears, the “full f–king production” DD Fuego from NYC, the “party princess of Miami” and Athena’s grandbaby Juicy Love Dion, pageant icon from Alabama Vita VonTesse Starr, “retro” and “goth” Briar Blush from Boston, the “Filipina fruity tooty booty” Mandy Mango, sci-fi/fantasy “demon monster from hell” Ciara Myst, the L.A. queen inspired by “soap opera glamour and Midwest trailer trash” Darlene Mitchell, and the “gorgeously stupid” Myki Meeks.
Once all the girls had arrived, the lights finally came on in the Werk Room because of the power of love, but also mostly to herald the iconic “hello, hello, hello” from RuPaul. Though they were no longer hidden in the shadows, Ru promised that their first mini challenge would “be a scream” and ushered them each to their “Season 18 initiation” with Jamal Sims. In the test to find the best “primal screamography” from a scream queen surrounded by no less than 20 masked men, Kenya was declared the winner of a $2,500 cash prize.
“You wear less than me with more to cover — I don’t know how that works.”
— Athena Dion
Inspired by the drag tradition to “turn the tragical into the magical,” Ru asked that for their first maxi challenge the queens “rummage through materials from past seasons” in the Drag Race Vault to create their own signature look from unconventional items used in past design challenges and looks, like the Ornacia head worn by Ariana Grande. Discord claimed a box of black items and animal prints, Nini took the risk of reclaiming the shopping bags infamously used by LaLa Ri, Kenya managed to not pick up any fabrics at all, and Jane and DD were willing to help Juicy use the sewing machine when even her own grandmother wouldn’t.
Over the course of the first few days, some made the worrisome observation that there are five queens from Florida who could easily form an alliance while others applauded that eight of them are over the age of 30, which stands in stark contrast to recent seasons that were more twenty-something heavy in casting. If there was going to be any alliance at all, the season’s first attempt at one broke down when Briar went back on her word to make a pair of gloves for Athena in a trade for extra supplies. Athena was also privately bothered that Juicy was “claimed Mykonos” in her Werk Room entrance because that’s a place that Athena goes during the summer and took Juicy to originally.
“If the outfit ain’t great, the glam gotta give.”
— Cardi B
After walking in the “Reclaim, Renew, Rejoice” runway category, the judges named Nini, Jane and Vita as the tops and Kenya, Juicy and Mandy as the bottoms of the week. Cardi referred to Nini as “very polished, very pretty, very well-accessorized” and said she would wear her outfit. Carson liked that Jane’s look was “whimsical and celebratory” and Michelle found it clear that she knows how to sew. Michelle was most impressed by Vita’s “glorious” umbrella look and Cardi gave her “tens” for it. Michelle told Kenya she is “filled with stage presence and personality,” but Carson said her look was sloppy. Cardi used Juicy as a way to explain the importance of “how to sell” because she found her look “ugly” while she was standing, but appreciated it more during her runway presentation. Carson thought Mandy needed more editing and Cardi called “the flowers at the bottom insane” and said she hates it.
Later, Cardi and her glam squad dolls Erika La’Pearl and Tokyo Stylez interrupted “Untucked” backstage to give their thanks back to the queens and the culture for being constant inspiration to them in their own careers. Cardi admitted that “some girls did it better than the others,” but stressed that they “dont get discouraged, learn from it.”
When the queens returned to the stage, Ru declared both Jane and Juicy safe, leaving two tops and two bottoms to hear their fate. In a surprise showing of grace, Ru said that no one is going this week and offered safety to Kenya and Mango as well. As the top two queens, Nini and Vita competed in a Lip Sync for the Win to Cardi’s song “Enough (Miami)” in order to earn the maxi challenge win and a $5,000 cash prize. After keeping pace with Cardi’s quick rap lyrics and making full use of the stage, even in their restrictive gowns, either of Nini or Vita easily could have been declared the winner of the lip sync, but the choice was Ru’s to make and she chose Nini as the season’s first challenge champ.
On the Next Episode
The girl group challenge arrives with Nini seemingly to struggle with confidence after a subpar recording session.