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Before Drag Race became the polished phenomenon we know today, some challenges were a lot messier, riskier, and more controversial than they’d ever be now. From public pranks and physical contact to nude photoshoots, dangerous stunts, and insensitive mini-games, we’re looking back at the outrageous moments that simply wouldn’t pass muster in today’s world.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most controversial and insensitive challenges,
00:05as well as logistical nightmares from previous drag race seasons that wouldn't fly today.
00:10But I realize, this is it. If I want to be the next drag superstar, I have to do it
00:14at all costs.
00:16Queens behaving badly.
00:18Find somebody to arm wrestle with you.
00:20Hi, mister. Can I arm wrestle you?
00:25I got some grapes.
00:29You want some grapes?
00:31Can I put it in your mouth?
00:32For the third maxi challenge of the season, drag race producers sent the queens out into the real world to
00:38prank unsuspecting members of the public.
00:40The queens hit Hollywood streets, and through earpieces, had teammates direct them to persuade strangers to perform ridiculous tasks,
00:47including eating sardines taken from a garbage can and cracking an egg on their foreheads.
00:52Is she gonna do it?
00:56She did it!
00:58Worked!
00:59Alright, time's up. Time's up.
01:00Time's up, baby. Time's up. We're good.
01:02It was framed as naughty fun, but today, getting unsuspecting civilians to participate in humiliating film stunts
01:09would raise obvious consent, privacy, and liability questions.
01:12Can we pretend I'm the dog and you're walking me?
01:16Yeah, yeah. It's so fun.
01:21Walk me, walk me. I gotta be here. I gotta be here. I gotta be here.
01:24There is also a practical headache.
01:27Drag Race works hard to protect its cast identities before a season premieres,
01:31and sending recognizable queens into public spaces could create a spoiler factory.
01:35You guys got five dollars to loan me?
01:38Oh, group hug! There's three of you right now. Do a group hug.
01:41Let's do a group hug.
01:42Come on, give me a group hug, y'all. Welcome to Hollywood, girl!
01:45Yay! Thank you!
01:47Slap out a bit.
01:48There's a pretty basic rule of television.
01:51If the joke involves someone getting slapped, make sure nobody actually gets slapped.
01:56Now, Eureka, I don't think there's anything you could say to me that would make me want to slap you,
02:02you sweet, precious child.
02:05H.D.
02:09In this season 10 mini-challenge, the queens delivered insults designed to provoke RuPaul into dramatically fake slapping them.
02:16Unfortunately, Ru accidentally made contact with Asia O'Hara for real,
02:20sending her stumbling backward before she turned the mishap into a comedic moment.
02:24You hit like a girl. Too bad you don't look like one.
02:28Now that was good.
02:30Oh my God!
02:33Oh my God!
02:35Oh, I'm sorry!
02:38Oh my God!
02:40I'm so sorry!
02:41It's about to be Asia O'Hara's drag race!
02:44I'm about to own this whole building!
02:46The incident highlighted the obvious risk of building physical contact into a competition,
02:51particularly when contestants are encouraged to provoke each other.
02:54My name's Aquaria, and my birthday is February 12th, 1996.
03:01Asia here, come here.
03:03You stand right there.
03:05Slap this bitch for me.
03:06Yes, slap her.
03:07When the challenge returned the following season, the format was tweaked.
03:11This time, the queens were the ones doing the slapping.
03:14You made your whole country proud by completely terrorizing Celine Dion.
03:18How does that make you feel?
03:21Let's go!
03:23Oh, everything's a little easier in Canada.
03:26That's what I'm feeling right now, yeah.
03:28Clearly, RuPaul still likes his name in the show's title.
03:31Photo shoot with the winners.
03:33Naysha Lopez, welcome, darling.
03:35In honor of our 100th episode,
03:39I've gathered the champions of RuPaul's Drag Race.
03:42Back when RuPaul's Drag Race had only seven regular seasons
03:45and one All-Stars installment,
03:46getting the winners together was a relatively manageable assignment.
03:49The season 8 premiere brought back Bibi Zahara Benet,
03:52Tyra Sanchez, Raja, Sharon Needles, Chad Michaels,
03:56Jinx Monsoon, and Violet Tchotchke to pose with the new cast.
04:10Recreating that concept today, however,
04:12would be a logistical nightmare.
04:14With more than two dozen winners
04:16across the regular and All-Stars franchises,
04:18simply finding a date when everyone is available
04:21would be improbable.
04:22Some queens would inevitably have touring, filming, or other commitments,
04:26while others, including Tyra Sanchez and Sharon Needles,
04:29no longer have relationships with the show.
04:31I, uh, this sleeve happens to be in my light.
04:34Well, you should move.
04:38Know your place, bitch.
04:40Season 8 winner.
04:41Season 4 winner.
04:43Difference.
04:44And even if everyone could return,
04:47fitting that many winners into a single photo shoot
04:50might qualify as a maxi challenge all on its own.
04:52You got two more left.
04:54I just look shocked.
04:57How about we do like that black-white photo where no one...
05:06Chicken or what?
05:07I am a country queen at heart.
05:10In those early years, I had no money.
05:12I would eat anything.
05:14And now, that's what you're gonna do.
05:17Bull testicles.
05:18Frog legs.
05:19Cow brains.
05:20No, this wasn't an especially unhinged episode of Fear Factor.
05:24It was a drag race mini-challenge.
05:26The queens were blindfolded and asked to sample mystery foods,
05:29then determine whether they were actually chicken.
05:31The correct answer is...
05:34What?
05:35Mystique has two, right?
05:37Morgan has two.
05:38And Pandora has two.
05:41What you just put in your mouth was soy chicken.
05:45When a tiebreaker was needed,
05:47Mystique, Morgan McMichaels, and Pandora Box
05:49raced through baskets filled with chicken,
05:51rabbit, alligator, and deep-fried cow brains.
05:54You have to eat everything.
05:57All right, yeah.
05:59Empty mouth.
05:59All right, she ate everything.
06:00Mystique is...
06:01We have a winner over here.
06:02Mystique might as well have picked up the basket,
06:04opened the hatch, and just dropped it down.
06:06She was done like that.
06:07The challenge is a relic of early reality television,
06:09but mystery ingredients and rapid-fire eating
06:12would raise obvious concerns today.
06:14From allergies and dietary restrictions
06:16to choking hazards.
06:17The episode also played into jokes about Mystique's size.
06:21Mystique's gonna finally win a challenge.
06:24Finally.
06:24The gross-out factor was fun back in 2010,
06:27but the liability factor would be considerably less fun today.
06:31The hazardous waste photo shoot.
06:33Nothing says welcome to Drag Race
06:35quite like those early season premiere photo shoots.
06:38Now the pit crew will be using their hoses
06:41to spray you with hazardous waste.
06:44All of this while you spin around in this toxic dump.
06:48I'm a soldier and I'm ready.
06:50Season 4's Roo-pocalypse now opened with one
06:52in which contestants posed on a rotating platform
06:55while being sprayed with a substance
06:56presented as hazardous waste.
06:59The whole thing was designed as campy,
07:01post-apocalyptic imagery,
07:02but the setup involved movement,
07:04liquid,
07:04and contestants performing an elaborate drag
07:07while trying to get a good photograph.
07:08Okay, now find the camera.
07:13Uh-oh!
07:16Topsy-turvy, toppled over, fatty.
07:18And I'm like, damn.
07:19Queen down!
07:20A modern production could recreate the visual,
07:23but it would likely involve
07:24much more extensive safety planning
07:26and tightly controlled materials.
07:28Early Drag Race had a seemingly
07:30reckless approach to challenges.
07:32Today, the same photo shoot
07:33would probably come with a risk assessment
07:35and a safety briefing.
07:37Queen down!
07:37Queen down!
07:38Ooh!
07:39Wait a minute, are those?
07:41Are those your underwear?
07:41Are those your panties?
07:42Oh, yes!
07:43Keep spraying her!
07:44They're artificially inseminating her
07:46with that toxic waste!
07:48The crying game.
07:49Making drag queens cry
07:50can make for great television.
07:52Asking them to reopen genuine grief
07:55because tears happen to be the competition, however,
07:57is a different story.
07:59I knew that one day
07:59I wanted to become a woman.
08:04I know this will be hard to believe,
08:06seeing as I'm the most polished,
08:09prettiest drag queen here.
08:11In this Season 5 episode,
08:13Rupal challenged the queens
08:14to create heartbreaking backstories
08:16and then produce real tears on cue.
08:18Detox became genuinely emotional
08:20while explaining that the exercise
08:22had brought up memories of her boyfriend
08:23who had died two years earlier.
08:25I lost my boyfriend two years ago.
08:30Looking around the room
08:31and seeing mournful-looking characters
08:34and I feel like I felt the day
08:36that I saw him dead
08:37and it's really hard for me.
08:39She ultimately won the challenge
08:40alongside Alyssa Edwards.
08:42The moment highlighted
08:43an uncomfortable reality of reality TV.
08:46Contestants can be rewarded
08:47for turning their deepest pain
08:48into entertainment.
08:50I'm so glad that she's sharing her story
08:52and it's never something
08:53that's going to get easy
08:54but something that every time
08:55you talk about
08:56will make it easier.
08:57The challenge was never repeated,
08:59although its spirit arguably lives on
09:01in the finale tradition
09:03of showing queens their childhood photos
09:04and encouraging an emotional response.
09:07And I want to thank you.
09:10Even when I didn't think
09:11that we could do it,
09:13you did.
09:15And I'm so proud of us.
09:17Nude photo shoot.
09:18There was a time when asking the queens
09:20to get completely naked for a challenge
09:22was apparently considered fair game.
09:24For today's mini challenge,
09:25you'll be posing for a tasteful,
09:28intimate, feminine portrait
09:30and you'll be doing it in the nude.
09:34In this season 3 episode,
09:37the contestants were tasked with posing nude
09:38for photographer Deborah Anderson.
09:41For some queens,
09:42including Alexis Mateo and Delta Work,
09:44the experience was understandably nerve-wracking,
09:46with both appearing uncomfortable
09:48about stripping down
09:49in a room full of strangers.
09:50Oh, Jesus, take the wheel.
09:53I just really don't want to do this.
09:55I have been single for a reason
09:57and now America's gonna find out why.
09:59A challenge like this
10:00would likely face much more scrutiny today.
10:02Bodily autonomy and explicit consent
10:04are taken far more seriously.
10:06And asking queens to get naked
10:08when they may feel pressured to do so
10:09to remain in the competition
10:11could spark serious backlash.
10:13Horrible.
10:13The feeling is just horrible.
10:15I just want it to be over.
10:16Lexus, Lexus, look at me.
10:18You're not there.
10:19All I see is your nervousness.
10:20In the end,
10:21Carmen Carrera,
10:22who had a reputation as the body queen,
10:25won the challenge.
10:26Hey, I won.
10:27Here's the case.
10:28She done already done brought it on.
10:30RuPaul's Drag Race has asked its contestants
10:32to sew, sing, dance and act.
10:34For one challenge,
10:35apparently that wasn't enough.
10:37They also needed to become cheerleaders.
10:39I cannot believe
10:42what they are asking us to do.
10:44Dip one, bend three.
10:48Okay, make sure when you go back down,
10:49you reach for their shoulders.
10:51There's gonna be a severe injury on this episode.
10:53This season nine episode required the queens
10:55to perform choreography involving lifts,
10:57tumbling and stunts.
10:59The risks quickly became reality.
11:01Eureka O'Hara tore her ACL during the challenge
11:04and was removed from the competition.
11:06I land and I feel my knee pop,
11:09but I knew there was no way I was stopping.
11:11Bitch, I'm on a roll.
11:13Charlie Hydes also later said
11:15that she injured her ribs
11:16while lifting another contestant.
11:18Cheerleading can obviously be performed safely
11:20with proper training and equipment,
11:21but these were drag performers
11:23competing under time pressure.
11:24After injuries like these,
11:26asking contestants to execute
11:28potentially dangerous stunts
11:29for an elimination challenge
11:30feels like something a more recent season
11:32would approach very differently.
11:34The judges are gonna have a tough time
11:36scoring this one.
11:36I feel bad for them.
11:38Oh, wait, I'm a judge.
11:40WTF, Wrestling's Trashiest Fighters.
11:43The crowd was chanting
11:44and all the signs that had our names everywhere.
11:47It felt so good.
11:48I was ready to beat those bitches down.
11:50In the words of RuPaul,
11:52drag is not a contact sport.
11:54Well, until it is.
11:55Just one season after uttering that quote,
11:58RuPaul made the queens create wrestling personas
12:00before performing actual matches in a ring.
12:02Bitter, bitter pill to swallow.
12:05The Bitter Bettys win.
12:10Those other teams better watch out
12:11because me and my girls, we kicked ass.
12:14The performances were choreographed
12:15and deliberately campy,
12:17but contestants still had to execute
12:18physical wrestling moves
12:20while wearing costumes, wigs,
12:21and in some cases, heels.
12:23Madame Laqueur was also dealing with an ankle injury.
12:26I am a little bit worried about Madame Laqueur's ankle.
12:29I mean, if you're the captain of the ship,
12:31you're going down with the ship.
12:31Unlike the cheerleading challenge,
12:33this one didn't produce the same level
12:35of documented injury,
12:36but it still created an obvious safety burden.
12:39A show filming under modern protocols
12:42would probably require a lot more supervision and checks,
12:45which could fundamentally change
12:46what made this challenge so unhinged.
12:49The princess, she's not going as crazy as I am,
12:53so if I get in the bottom two because of this bitch,
12:56it ain't gonna be cute.
12:56The controversial mini-challenge.
12:58When you're famous,
13:00people scrutinize every inch
13:02of your charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
13:06And when you're a famous drag queen,
13:08there's even more pressure to be unspookable.
13:12Some challenges age badly.
13:15Others become so problematic
13:16that the show eventually removes them
13:18completely from circulation.
13:20This mini-challenge from season six
13:22asked queens to examine close-up photographs
13:24and determine whether they belonged
13:25to cisgender women or drag queens,
13:27using terminology now widely regarded
13:30as an offensive slur against transgender people.
13:32Female or female?
13:34Spook, spook, spook.
13:36Female?
13:37Shemale.
13:38Detox.
13:39Ah!
13:40I love that she always discuss,
13:42I had my lips done,
13:42I had my cheeks done,
13:43I had this,
13:43and she kept that nose,
13:45and she run out of money.
13:46The premise also treated gender
13:48as something contestants could visually identify
13:50from someone's body.
13:52The challenge generated complaints,
13:53and the segment was subsequently removed
13:55from later versions of the episode.
13:57Female?
13:58That's actually Michelle Visage.
14:00Ha ha ha ha.
14:01Ooh.
14:02Alleged female.
14:03Oh my.
14:04The franchise eventually changed
14:06other gender-related terminology too,
14:08including replacing
14:09the old roomail alert
14:11the following season.
14:12She's all ready to have her.
14:14By today's standards,
14:16turning gender identity
14:18into a guessing game
14:19would be extraordinarily difficult
14:20to defend.