Fresh off of her Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor is joining RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 as a guest judge. “I’m going wherever you want me to go,” she tells a contestant in MTV’s official trailer.
Taylor is no stranger to reality TV, having competed on — and won — The Masked Singer Season 7 while wearing a Firefly costume. But this is the first time the actress and singer will be judging talent. Taylor is receiving the best reviews of her career for playing Perfidia Beverly Hills, the love interest of Leonardo DiCaprio‘s ex-revolutionary character, in Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another, an Oscar frontrunner in many categories. Perfidia disappears about a third of the way through the film, but it looks like RuPaul’s Drag Race has finally found her.
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Other “dazzling” celebrity guest judges to appear on the 18th installment are Cardi B, Zara Larsson, Benny Blanco, Dove Cameron, Brooke Shields, Iman, Atsuko Okatsuka, Law Roach, Jamal Sims, Amy Taylor, Annaleigh Ashford, Danielle Pinnock, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Sherman, and Leland.
The mainstay judges will once again be RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, Ts Madison, and Law Roach. To date, RuPaul has won 14 Emmy Awards for hosting and producing Drag Race.
“You’re blinding me with your beauty!” RuPaul proclaims in the video teaser. The 14 new queens “shine brighter than ever, and the competition is all lit up,” the host adds before declaring, “ready … set … glow!”
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 cast photosMTV
Debuting Jan. 2 with weekly 90-minute episodes, Season 18 will begin with the contestants paying tribute to those who came before them on the Emmy Award-winning show. The first challenge — titled “Reclaim! Renew! Rejoice!” — will task the ladies with using leftover items from the Drag Race vaults to create their own signature looks.
Among the contestants are five who hail from Florida: Athena Dion, Discord Addams, Juicy Love Dion, Mia Starr, and Myki Meeks. That state is home to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law from 2022 that restricted classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. Following worldwide scrutiny, the law became the subject of a legal challenge that resulted in a settlement in March 2024. In 2023, the state also enacted the “Protection of Children Act,” which was dubbed the “Anti-Drag Show Law” and sought to prevent children from being exposed to “adult live performances.” The law would have essentially banned most drag performances in the state, but it has been blocked by a federal appeals court.
The ultimate winner will earn the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and receive the cash prize of $200,000. Meet the 14 contestants in our photo gallery.
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