With a new batch of queens and plenty of inventive twists, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 is already set to blow fans’ minds — now, all it needs are some sickening celebrity guest judges.
On Thursday (Dec. 14), MTV announced the full slate of celebrity guest judges set to appear on the upcoming season of Drag Race. For the show’s two-part premiere, Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron will join the panel for the first episode (Jan. 5), while Latin superstar Becky G will welcome the second batch of contestants for episode two (Jan. 12).
After the queens enter the workroom, subsequent episodes are set to feature stars such as Icona Pop (Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo), Kelsea Ballerini, Adam Shankman, Isaac Mizrahi, Jamal Sims, Joel Kim Booster, Kaia Gerber, Kyra Sedgwick, Law Roach, Mayan Lopez, Ronan Farrow and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Alongside the show-stopping roster of celebrity guests, MTV also unveiled the official trailer for season 16. Throughout the minute-long teaser, fans get just a glimpse at some of the runways from the 14 new contestants, with the trailer promising “gags,” “feels,” “looks” and “stars” all throughout the show’s upcoming run.
The trailer also teased a few of the twists set to challenge the contestants. Along with the previously announced “Rate-A-Queen” premiere twist — in which the queens will be forced to rank each other’s performances in the annual talent show to determine the week’s tops and bottoms — Ru also revealed the return of immunity rules, allowing one week’s winning queen to be exempt from elimination the following week. Season 16 promises to be a cutthroat event, with Ru warning toward the trailer’s end, “Safe queens rarely make history.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 premieres Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Check out the official trailer for the season below.
