- 5 weeks ago
From iconic to surprising, we’re diving into the most unforgettable RuPaul’s Drag Race first eliminations. Join us as we rank these “Pork Chop” moments, exploring queens whose early departures became instant legend or left fans clawing their wigs. Whether predictable or shocking, these exits shaped the franchise’s drama and set the tone for the seasons to come. Who left the runway with the biggest gasp? Let’s find out!
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00:00It was short, it was sweet, I wish it had been a little spicier.
00:05Adios!
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're ranking all the queens who got the pork chop in every
00:11mainline drag race season based on how surprising their early exit was.
00:15This list reveals the placements of early out contestants,
00:18but spoilers past the first few episodes of each season will be minimal.
00:21I'm not a sewer. I have little sweatshops in Van Nuys that does that for me.
00:26Don't wear bacon!
00:27Victoria Porkchop Parker Season 1
00:32Few first outs are as iconic or as predictable as Ms. Victoria Parker,
00:37codename Porkchop. Although she came in with arguably the most experience of the entire
00:41cast of nine queens, the very first eliminated queen was edited to highlight her hubris.
00:47Oh, I've been doing this 21 years. It's a definite advantage.
00:51She seemed detached during the challenges, and queens like Angina couldn't help but point out
00:56that experience wouldn't necessarily translate to success in the competition.
01:00Porkchop does have the most experience, but sometimes experience doesn't really get you
01:04where you want to be.
01:06In Porkchop's case, it definitely didn't.
01:09She lost a lip sync to Akasha, the franchise's first lip sync assassin,
01:12and was sent packing in episode one.
01:14I hope you take this experience back home with you and continue to do what you do best,
01:19and inspire the children.
01:22It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Thank you for the opportunity,
01:24and I've had a great time, and I wish all of the contestants the best of luck.
01:28Drag Race's last place position has been lovingly termed the Porkchop ever since.
01:33Venus Delight Season 3 Immediately, Season 3's Venus told us she was
01:38here for herself.
01:39Venus' female role models are Madonna, of course, Grace Jones, Barbra Streisand, and Jean Harlow.
01:46She's just a blonde bombshell didsy bimbo.
01:48Her Madonna-centric plastic surgery storyline and meanness saw her getting a delusional edit.
01:54She comes across as defensive, accusing Phoenix of copying her design,
01:58and Mimi I'm First of having no confidence.
02:00So, Venus, who do you think is in the bottom?
02:03I think Mimi's going home.
02:05Yesterday Mimi had her breakdown, and today I could just see it all over her face.
02:11I don't think you can be the next drag superstar with no confidence.
02:14However, when the time came to walk the runway,
02:17her runway look read as a pale imitation of Phoenix's much better ensemble.
02:21When the best part of your outfit is the ponytail, it's clear you missed the mark.
02:25As soon as she said she was saving her good drag for later,
02:29the writing was on the wall.
02:30Choices that I had to make an outfit, it was very limited.
02:33And I'm saving the best for later.
02:35Well, Venus, as you know, in this competition with $75,000 at stake,
02:39everything you do counts.
02:41So that's not really an excuse.
02:43Pushing Shangela during their lip-sync just puts the period on it.
02:47Shangela Season 2
02:49Given her status as a two-time returning contestant,
02:52it's hard to believe, in retrospect,
02:53that Shangela Lacuifa Wadley was completely unprepared her first time out.
02:57But when she made her debut on Drag Race's second season,
03:00she was less than a year into her drag career.
03:02How long have you been doing drag?
03:04For 15 years.
03:05No, ma'am.
03:06Uh-huh.
03:06All right, you better be perfected.
03:08And you?
03:09Only five months.
03:10Oh, wow.
03:11Barely new.
03:11Wow.
03:12Her lack of experience showed.
03:14From the moment she started getting Pandora Box to sew her garment for her,
03:18she was doomed.
03:19Could I beg you just to, like, show me how to sew that little piece together?
03:22Quickly.
03:23I guess.
03:24Hey, I'm not gonna ask her to do it for me.
03:26I wanna learn.
03:27But I need to be right there next to the teacher.
03:29No matter how sharp her confessional interviews were,
03:32Shangela's performing skills couldn't make up for her deficits in sewing, makeup, and style.
03:37RuPaul all but telegraphed that she would be back.
03:40But as far as Season 2 goes, she was a non-starter.
03:43You have only just begun.
03:45But I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of you yet.
03:50Good luck, my dear.
03:52Now sashay away.
03:54James Mansfield, Season 9
03:56There's a lot to love about this Milwaukee queen's mid-century-inspired aesthetic.
04:00I build puppets.
04:01I'm a kooky comedy queen that has way more up her sleeve than they know.
04:04However, from the jump, James Mansfield was accused of being too timid and remote to connect
04:09with her competitors or the audience.
04:11Immediately, Sasha Velour clocks her as, quote,
04:14scared and confused.
04:16James Mansfield looks scared and confused when she walks in.
04:22Like, am I in the right room?
04:25It's hard to disagree.
04:26James feels more like the queen's pesky kid sister than their equal.
04:30Guest judge Lady Gaga agrees, saying she's hiding when all the other queens are showing
04:34us who they are as a person and artist.
04:36My bigger issue is I think she's hiding.
04:39It's about her just letting her true self shine through.
04:42No one fared well in the ill-conceived challenge, but as soon as we see her take that dusty tumble,
04:47the first boot narrative is clear.
04:49You do this airhead shtick, and I think if you commit it all the way, it'd be great.
04:53And I think that's what Michelle's getting at, is the confidence to commit 100 percent.
04:58And I feel like it's at 20 percent.
05:00Elisa Summers, Season 4
05:02Entering the workroom, Elisa's biggest statement about her drag is that she is often mistaken for
05:07a cisgender woman when she walks down the street.
05:09I'm definitely a fishy queen.
05:10I can walk down the street.
05:12You know, I don't really get clocked.
05:13People are looking more so at how big my titties and ass are.
05:15Unfortunately, Elisa Summers doesn't make much of an impression.
05:19Given the way she's edited, it's hard to get invested in her.
05:22Her looks were gonna be her biggest asset, but immediately, pride proves to be her downfall.
05:27In the first mini-challenge, she can't take a great picture to save her life.
05:31Literally, the apocalypse-themed photo shoot is a disaster for her.
05:34Give us the drama now.
05:36Yeah, just slide your hair out of your face a little bit.
05:38I want to see that gorgeous face.
05:40Yes, but beautiful.
05:41You're not afraid.
05:42You're giving me beauty.
05:43And while Michelle likes her runway look enough,
05:45it's clear it isn't enough to save her from getting pummeled by Jiggly Caliente in a lip sync.
05:55All I can think about is kill it, kill it, kill it.
05:57Hit every move, hit every beat.
05:59I have to pull out every trick.
06:01Orion Story, Season 14
06:03In her very first appearance in the workroom with her hamburger phone in her hand,
06:07another queen quips In-N-Out.
06:10Don't worry, it's not a real burger.
06:11In-N-Out.
06:12This soon proves to be prophetic.
06:14Orion Story is immediately misunderstood by her fellow competitors.
06:18But a queen can overcome that.
06:19It's her low-key character-based talent show performance that seals her fate.
06:23Playing a chain-smoking, gravel-voiced fitness instructor,
06:26the response is crickets in that studio.
06:29Well, we don't have much time left in class today, I'm sorry, I dropped the ball on that one.
06:34But I want to leave you all with one important position.
06:39That's gonna tone the thighs, strengthen the arms, and it's gonna lift the girl.
06:45While funny in theory, as June Jambalaya states, quote,
06:49It's not bad, it's just not good.
06:51And given how every other queen brought it,
06:53she needed to throw a Hail Mary of a lip-sync to stay in the game.
06:56I don't get dehydrated, I moisturize it daily, I am my information, I am my information.
07:04Soju, Season 11
07:06Any queen who has a following before they make it to the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race is worth watching out for.
07:11There's clearly something to be said for a fanbase, but Soju's credentials as a performer were
07:16immediately questioned by competitor Ariel Versace.
07:19You do your YouTube, how often do you like perform, perform?
07:21I do my YouTube like twice a week.
07:23But do you like consider yourself an entertainer or just like kind of like a blogger?
07:27Oh shit!
07:28Full entertainer.
07:29Okay!
07:31Recording a Drag Race recap show for YouTube is one thing, but live performance is another.
07:36Eventually, it would actually be the fashion design that trips her up.
07:40Her excuse for not having her head in the game is equally memorable and disgusting.
07:44I got diagnosed with tendonitis and I have a cyst.
07:48I'm currently oozing.
07:52And then it popped in the plane right here.
07:55So it's just been a messy week.
07:57Lovingly labeled as a weird oversharer by Ross Matthews, her fanbase couldn't save her from leaving first.
08:03Soju, your time here is short.
08:08But you'll always be part of our family.
08:12Now, sashay away.
08:17Drag daughter of season 14's cornbread jeté, Hershey is feeling herself when she walks into the workroom.
08:23I'm very loud and I command attention when I walk in the room.
08:26So I'm absolutely ready to show the world what they've been waiting on.
08:30I broke a damn nail.
08:31She promises to steal all the attention.
08:33But immediately, RuPaul's improv during a mini-challenge throws her off.
08:37You want me to come from around this counter and show you seven?
08:40I'll give you nine movie violations.
08:43For a little bit.
08:44I get thrown off and I can't tell if he was saying that for real or was this the banter.
08:49Hershey never finds her footing.
08:51She nails the talent show, a lip-sync track, getting plenty of laughs.
08:55If anything, she was giving mid-season boot.
08:57But the third episode's maxi-challenge, A Ball, sees her delivering two underwhelming looks.
09:02You put your piece of fabric on the inside pocket.
09:05You didn't make the pants.
09:06The look is very basic.
09:08The shoes don't match for me.
09:10I think the hair is very flat.
09:11Losing the lip-sync to Geneva Carr, Hershey becomes the first eliminated queen of season 16 as a result.
09:17She might have made it a couple more weeks if the design challenge had come later on.
09:22I know it's my time for me to start touring.
09:25I want people to know that Hershey LeCourgette is a sickening performer,
09:28and she's worth every dollar that you tip her.
09:30Dahlia Sin, Season 12.
09:32Many fans were gagging over the Season 12 contestants Meet the Queens video.
09:36Some were even putting money on Dahlia Sin to be a frontrunner.
09:39I feel like if you are a drag queen, you have to keep your look fresh.
09:42If you're sticking to the same look all the time, same silhouette all the time,
09:46same makeup all the time, no one's gonna pay attention to you.
09:49But if there's one thing RuPaul and the judges take seriously, it's branding.
09:53Dahlia knows she looks gorgeous.
09:55It's what else she offers that she isn't too clear on.
09:58Her self-composed verse in the first challenge is riddled with mistruths.
10:01I grew up in a big city full of sin, where everyone knows my name.
10:07I've won titles, sold out venues, took their money and their guys.
10:11She calls herself a title winner from a city of sin.
10:14However, as Michelle Visage points out, she hasn't won any titles, nor is she from Las Vegas.
10:19So what I'm saying is I didn't get to know much of you,
10:22and I'd like to get to know you a little bit more.
10:24I got you.
10:25Her stumbles continue into the third episode,
10:28where she is taken out by Nicki Dahl and is clearly not happy about it.
10:32Vanessa Vanjie Mateo — Season 10
10:35As far as being iconic goes, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo gave us one of the best
10:39first exits in RuPaul's Drag Race' herstory.
10:42Her viral Miss Vanjie meme still gives us life.
10:45Miss Vanjie! Miss Vanjie! Miss Vanjie!
10:55In the first episode of Season 10,
10:57it's a toss-up between her and Calorie Kardashian-Williams as to who will go home first.
11:01But Vanjie has the outsized personality, the look, and the pedigree to go far.
11:06Her drag mother is Season 3 finalist Alexis Mateo.
11:09You have a big, like, drag family?
11:11Yes, guys!
11:11I'm Alexis Mateo's drag daughter.
11:14Oh, a Mateo.
11:16I don't remember her.
11:18Unfortunately, Vanjie's design skills leave a lot to be desired.
11:21Calorie sends her packing in the first lip sync.
11:24Clearly, she's a star, though.
11:26She fares much better when she's invited back for Season 11.
11:29I feel very lucky to be back.
11:31Get those cookies, get those cookies.
11:33I want to show America that I'm more than just a meme.
11:35I'm not a one-episode trick pony.
11:37Penetration Season 5
11:39We love a good double entendre.
11:41Season 5's Penetration was personally voted onto the cast by Facebook fans.
11:45I'm here because I was chosen by thousands of people in the online voting contest.
11:51You're the win, though?
11:52You guys should be happy to know that everybody actually wanted me here.
11:55Her anointed place as the queen people actually wanted on the season should have spoken to her
11:59potential success. She's set up as the opponent of the season's youngest and pettiest queen,
12:04Serena Chacha. While Serena gets the immature villain arc,
12:08Penny's experience and maturity should position her as the winner of their duel.
12:12Unfortunately, she fails to impress in the very first challenge.
12:15I think with the dress, it starts to fall apart after the bust line.
12:19The left and the right look like different shapes.
12:22I just think if you took this front slit and made it into a side slit,
12:27I think it would have been just more flattering.
12:29Her look lands her in the bottom, and her less-than-word-perfect lip sync
12:33sees Serena staying over her.
12:34Penny Trash, even though this isn't the Hollywood ending you dreamed of,
12:40never, ever stop reaching for the stars. Don't worry about that.
12:45Didi Fuego, Season 18.
12:47I've been doing drag for 15 years, and I am the most beautiful woman on earth.
12:52Are we playing two truths and a lie now? I'm a virgin.
12:56With her charming and playfully delusional preseason Meet the Queens video,
13:01this queen was one to watch. Out of all the first outs,
13:04Didi Fuego probably has one of the most memorable workroom entrances in a long time.
13:09Can I say the F word?
13:12Fuego!
13:14Can we say the F word? She's fabulous.
13:17Didi was polished walking into the season.
13:19With her radiant smile and striking fashion sense,
13:22she did not give Porkchop energy at all.
13:24But in Episode 2, she landed in the bottom for her less-than-stellar performance
13:29in the Girl Group Challenge and lost the lip sync for your life against Mandy Mango.
13:33If you're saying too much, baby, go find that.
13:36If you can't keep up, stay below, I guess.
13:40Fans were sorry to see her go so soon.
13:43Kimora Hall, Season 13.
13:45I'm Kimora Hall, and I'm Chicago's premier Mackie Barbie doll.
13:48Kimora Hall is always living that rich white woman fantasy.
13:51She is just dripping in luxury. You can smell the privilege off of her.
13:55Chicago's Mackie doll probably came through with one of the most expensive runway packages
14:00the show has ever seen. With genuine designs by Cher and Carol Burnett's favorite designer,
14:05Bob Mackie, Kimora Hall was destined to be a threat on the runway.
14:09However, no designer could make a dress fabulous enough to make her a convincing actress.
14:13Misery! Why did you leave me? I was rooting for us!
14:19Cut!
14:19How would you say that line?
14:20I was rooting for us!
14:22How would Tyra Banks say it?
14:24I was rooting for you!
14:25Her luxury gown ends up being her downfall in a lip sync against Denali,
14:29as it's far too heavy to let her move freely with such an upbeat song.
14:39I have this heavy ass train on me, I can barely move, but the show must go on.
14:46Despite that, some fans feel her runway should have kept her from the bottom too.
14:50Sadly, she's just another one of Drag Race's fallen fashion angels.
14:54Tempest Du Jour, Season 7.
14:56A Drag Race cast could see a healthy amount of queens who can barely thread a bobbin.
15:01I'm very excited to see what you're coming up with,
15:02because I know you're a costume designer.
15:05I am. I teach it.
15:06So I feel a little pressure for my students who are going to be watching this.
15:10When you come into the competition as a professor and costume designer,
15:13you're already announcing you have a major leg up.
15:16Tempest Du Jour has all that and more.
15:18Her entrance is still one of the funniest and most demented the franchise has ever seen.
15:22Who's ready for some hot tuna casserole? Because mama's home.
15:25She's clearly funny, experienced, and has the skills to make it far.
15:29But her three runway looks just don't read with the judges for whatever reason.
15:33Her performance style also proves to be the wrong match for RuPaul's track Geronimo.
15:38In the end, it just isn't her day.
15:40What means most to me is what my kids see, and I want them to see that they can live their dreams,
15:45and they can have a chance to do whatever they want to do. You're never too old. You're never too anything.
15:49I think the most important element of my drag has to be
15:55appearance. It sounds so shallow, but my drag is flawless, it's gorgeous, it's stunning, it's gorgeous, it's everything.
16:03RuPaul often calls her show the Olympics of Drag. But unlike that international sporting event,
16:08there aren't preliminary rounds. However, if there is an unofficial pre-competition
16:14competition where Drag Race is concerned, it might as well be Miss Continental.
16:18And I won this pageant. It's an international pageant. It's called Miss Continental.
16:21And it is one of the most prestigious pageants.
16:24I've heard of it.
16:25Yeah, so I'm a former Miss Continental.
16:27The prestigious drag pageant has turned out many winners and finalists who have gone on to compete
16:32on Drag Race. Sasha Colby, Brooklyn Heights, and Roxy Andrews are all Miss Continental alums.
16:37However, Neisha Lopez's title couldn't keep her out of the bottom. Stunning as she may be,
16:42her lack of sewing skills let her down in the first episode.
16:45This is actually the first garment I've ever made. I don't really sew.
16:50I felt like it was wearable and, you know, I got the challenge down.
16:56All right. Well, thank you very much.
16:58Lucky Stars, season 17. Her lemonade-centric talent show was high art,
17:03but her Monopoly-inspired design was a real lemon.
17:18Lucky Stars pranced into the season 17 workroom with a highly conceptual look that was a head-to-toe
17:23transformation. She served more of the same in the premiere episode's talent show. Even the Queens were
17:29impressed, awarding her performance third place in the Raida Queen vote.
17:32Next up, Lucky Stars.
17:36Okay.
17:36You could've knocked us over with a feather when she ended up going home just two episodes later.
17:42Lucky became the unlucky recipient of the pork chop after her designs left the judges seeing stars and
17:47not in the good way.
17:48I honestly am surprised to be Sasha Ingaway. First, I know that I had so much more to show.
17:54I just want to say, be true to your heart and sip on that lemonade handy.
17:59Irene the Alien, season 15.
18:02Some Queens are ready to start a fight the moment they walk into the workroom.
18:06As soon as Irene the Alien questioned Luxe Noir London's hair length,
18:09we knew we were getting good TV out of her.
18:23She had a great look, a cutting sense of humor, and a strong sense of irony. The storyline possibilities
18:29were there from the jump. However, she wasn't long for season 15. Her talent show performance,
18:34a tongue-in-cheek tutorial about making iced water, is kind of genius in theory.
18:38You just get a little ice, and you just put some ice right into the glass.
18:48No one's laughing.
18:49And you get the feeling watching it that if the show wanted her to go farther,
18:53they would've added in some generous laughter in post-production. Instead, she becomes one of the
18:57more notable first outs. I wasn't expecting to go home first. I don't think it was necessarily my
19:03time to go, but I won the first mini-challenge, so at least I won something.
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19:22Kelly Mantle Season 6
19:26Her resume was stacked. Her personality was kooky. Her face was the spitting image of Carol Burnett.
19:32I am an actor. I've been on a bunch of television shows,
19:35but I promise I'm not gonna walk around reciting my IMDB page like some people we know from past seasons.
19:41Kelly Mantle has since gone on to be a podcasting legend in her own right. But even in 2014,
19:46she was a threat. Well, Gia Gunn didn't think so, but still, there's something to be said for a
19:50working queen with that much experience.
19:52Kelly looked a mess. The look was nothing to gag over. Glowing hearts on a simple dress
19:58is not giving me drag.
19:59Somehow, though, the queen with guest-starring roles on NYPD Blue, CSI, and Nip Tuck, who was
20:05already a legend among working queens, couldn't escape that dreaded last place. Her bacon-adjacent
20:11runway look took her down. We're just sorry an All-Stars hasn't happened sooner.
20:15Over a decade later, we're still bacon, sorry, begging for more.
20:19She was very lackluster, but despite that fact, I do feel like there's something
20:23underneath. I agree. You know, she's intelligent, she's funny, and she's a seasoned queen.
20:28Which elimination do you think was the most memorable? Let us know in the comments.
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