The twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on February 28 and concluded on May 29, 2020. The competition was broadcast on VH1 in the United States and saw 13 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". VH1 renewed both RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars for a twelfth and fifth season respectively on August 19, 2019. At the time of the renewal the Drag Race franchise had earned VH1 a total of 14 Emmy nominations. Casting calls were opened in January 2019 while the cast was revealed by season 11 winner Yvie Oddly on January 23, 2020.
Following multiple revelations of misconduct, Sherry Pie was disqualified from the show and mostly edited out of the American broadcast, although initial overseas screenings retained the original edit.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the reunion and finale were held virtually across the country.
The winner of the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race was Jaida Essence Hall, with Crystal Methyd and Gigi Goode being the runners-up, and Heidi N Closet being Miss Congeniality.
The Halloween variety show Bring Back My Ghouls, hosted by Jaida Essence Hall and featuring season 12 contestants, was broadcast on WOWPresents on October 30, 2020.
Contestants
Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
+Contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 and their backgrounds Contestant Age Hometown Outcome Jaida Essence Hall 32 Milwaukee, WisconsinWinner Crystal Methyd 28 Springfield, Missouri Runners-up Gigi Goode 21 Los Angeles, California Sherry Pie 27 New York City, New York Jackie Cox 34 New York City, New York 5th place Heidi N Closet 24 Ramseur, North Carolina 6th place Widow Von'Du 30 Kansas City, Missouri 7th place Jan 26 New York City, New York 8th place Brita 34 New York City, New York 9th place Aiden Zhane 29 Acworth, Georgia 10th place Nicky Doll 28 New York City, New York 11th place Rock M. Sakura 28 San Francisco, California 12th place Dahlia Sin 28 Los Angeles, California 13th place
Notes:
Contestant progress
Lip syncs Legend:
Episode Contestants Song Winner 1 Gigi Goode vs. Widow Von'Du "Starships"(Nicki Minaj) Widow Von'Du 2 Jaida Essence Hall vs. Sherry Pie "Call Your Girlfriend"(Robyn) Jaida Essence Hall Episode Contestants Song Eliminated 3 Dahlia Sin vs. Nicky Doll "Problem"(Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea) Dahlia Sin 4 Brita vs. Rock M. Sakura "S&M"(Rihanna) Rock M. Sakura 5 Heidi N Closet vs. Nicky Doll "Heart to Break"(Kim Petras) Nicky Doll 6 Aiden Zhane vs. Brita "Let It Go"(Caissie Levy) Aiden Zhane 7 Brita vs. Heidi N Closet "Burning Up"(Madonna) Brita 8 Jan vs. Widow Von'Du "This Is My Night"(Chaka Khan) Jan 9 Jackie Cox vs. Widow Von'Du "Firework"(Katy Perry) Widow Von'Du 10 Heidi N Closet vs. Jackie Cox "Kill the Lights"(Alex Newell, DJ Cassidy, Nile Rodgers) None 11 Heidi N Closet vs. Jaida Essence Hall "1999"(Prince) Heidi N Closet 12 Crystal Methyd vs. Jackie Cox "On the Floor"(Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull) Jackie Cox Episode Contestants Song 14 Crystal Methyd vs. Gigi Goode vs. Jaida Essence Hall "Bring Back My Girls"(RuPaul) Crystal Methyd "I'm Like a Bird"(Nelly Furtado) Gigi Goode "Take On Me"(A-ha) Jaida Essence Hall "Get Up"(Ciara ft. Chamillionaire) Final contestants Song Winner Crystal Methyd vs. Gigi Goode vs. Jaida Essence Hall "Survivor"(Destiny's Child) Jaida Essence Hall
Guest judges Listed in chronological order:
Nicki Minaj, rapper Robyn, singer Thandiwe Newton, actress Olivia Munn, actress Leslie Jones, comedian and actress Normani, singer Daniel Franzese, actor Jonathan Bennett, actor and television host Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman Winnie Harlow, model Chaka Khan, singer Jeff Goldblum, actor Rachel Bloom, actress Daisy Ridley, actress Whoopi Goldberg, actress and television personality Jamal Sims, choreographer
Special guests Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage.
Episode 1 Kimora Blac, contestant on season 9 (impersonating Kim Kardashian) Mayhem Miller, contestant on season 10 (impersonating Kanye West) Raven, runner-up of season 2 and of All Stars Season 1 The Vivienne, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 1 (impersonating Donald Trump)
Episode 2 Kim Chi, runner up of season 8 (impersonating Anna Sui) Mayhem Miller, contestant on season 10 (impersonating Andre Leon Talley) Raven, runner-up of season 2 and of All Stars season 1 Sonique, contestant on season 2 (impersonating Karl Lagerfeld) Zaldy, fashion designer
Episode 3 Charo, actress, singer, classical guitarist, comedian Vivacious, contestant on season 6
Episode 6 Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, contestant on season 10 and season 11
Episode 7 David Benjamin Steinberg, record producer Erik Paparozzi, record producer Jamal Sims, choreographer
Episode 8 Bob Harper, personal trainer and author
Episode 9 Raven, runner-up of season 2 and of All Stars season 1
Episode 13 Victoria "Porkchop" Parker, contestant on season 1 Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, contestant on season 10 and season 11 Lisa Rinna, reality television personality Harry Hamlin, actor
Episode 14 Rachel Bloom, actress and comedian Bob the Drag Queen, winner of season 8 Monét X Change, contestant on season 10 and winner of All Stars season 4 Adore Delano, contestant on season 6 and All Stars season 2 Bianca Del Rio, winner of season 6 Scarlet Envy, contestant on season 11 Daniel Franzese, actor Whoopi Goldberg, actress and comedian Adam Lambert, singer Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, contestant on seasons 10 and 11 Dolly Parton, singer Peppermint, runner-up of season 9 Kim Petras, singer Robyn, singer Latrice Royale, contestant on season 4 and All Stars seasons 1 and 4 Yvie Oddly, winner of season 11 Sasha Velour, winner of season 9 Vivacious, contestant on season 6 Nina West, contestant on season 11
Episodes
Disqualification
On March 4, 2020, Ben Shimkus, a 25-year-old actor, posted an update to Facebook detailing his experiences with the contestant Sherry Pie, whose real name is Joey Gugliemelli, and accusing him of catfishing when the two studied together in the musical theater program at SUNY Cortland. Shimkus' post alleged that Gugliemelli deceived him using a fake identity of "Allison Mossey" to make promises of a musical career on Broadway. Shimkus also claimed that Gugliemelli coerced him into sending sexually suggestive fetish videos as part of the audition process.
In these videos, Shimkus was asked to play the character of Jeff, a steroid-dependent individual obsessed with growing muscle and gaining physical strength. In the script provided by Gugliemelli, Shimkus explained, the character of Jeff was supposed to appear ostensibly pleased with his body odor that resulted from taking steroids.
In an article with BuzzFeed News published on March 5, 2020, four other men came forward with similar allegations of Gugliemelli posing as Mossey and leading them to believe that recording sexually daring audition videos would increase their chances of being noticed by casting directors.
Another former classmate at SUNY Cortland alleged that Gugliemelli similarly deceived him to film various provocative scenes wearing revealing clothing as part of his audition for a musical production of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which he was told was affiliated with the director Tim Burton. One victim claimed that Gugliemelli had explicitly asked them to masturbate on camera. As of March 6, 2020, a total of seven victims of Gugliemelli's alleged misconduct have come forward, including Season 12 contestant Jackie Cox.
Gugliemelli posted an apology on his Facebook page, staying that he was sorry for "[causing] such trauma and pain" and that he had been "seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC". On March 6, 2020, VH1 released a statement regarding the incident, and made the decision to disqualify Gugliemelli from the contest. According to the statement, the season would air as planned but Gugliemelli would not appear in the live finale. After both episodes 3 and 5, wherein Sherry Pie won the challenge and received $5,000 cash tips, World of Wonder donated $5,000 to The Trevor Project.
The contestant was originally one of the Top 4 queens, alongside Gigi Goode, Crystal Methyd and Jaida Essence Hall but due to her disqualification, she finished in 4th place, resulting in Season 12 being the first to feature a top 3 since Season 8.
Awards
At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards the season won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Competition Program. With "I'm That Bitch" as the submitted episode, it also won:
Outstanding Costumes For A Variety, Nonfiction Or Reality Program
Outstanding Picture Editing For A Structured Reality Or Competition Program Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling For A Variety, Nonfiction Or Reality Program Outstanding Contemporary Makeup For A Variety, Nonfiction Or Reality Program (Non-Prosthetic) Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program
Rupaul also won for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Competition Program.
Ratings
References