Hi all!

Today I am discussing the worst season to ever come out of RuPaul’s Drag Race – Global All Stars. We are going to dive deep into why this supposed ‘once in a lifetime event’ was wildly unsuccessful. If you love all things drag, don’t forget to follow me on TikTok, where I recap every single episode of every season of Drag Race, Dragula and Drag Duel. Without further ado, let’s get into it! 

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD! 

1.) The Complete & Utter Favouritism of the ‘Ru Girls.’  

Marketing a season as the ‘Olympics of Drag’, only to favour the English speaking queens, was the biggest mistake Global All Stars made. Production seemed to believe fans would only be interested in seeing representatives from the US, Down Under and UK franchises, not realising we were there for the rest of the world. Throughout the entire season, I questioned the point of Global All Stars. It was set up only for the mainstream queens to succeed. Week after week, we watched an international queen get eliminated (most of the time, unfairly) and the English speaking queens get pushed by production, even when they didn’t deserve it. The cherry on the cake was Alyssa Edwards, the US representative, winning the entire competition. If she had dominated all season long, I would’ve been able to accept her crowning, but her track record was quite mediocre. It felt like she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for her 23 years experience in the industry, rather than for a well-deserved victory. The favouritism was so blatant, the more toxic members of the fandom targeted the ‘Ru Girls.’ Giving queens unnecessary wins puts a target on their backs. It felt like production didn’t care about any of the contestants by the end.  

2.) The Xenophobia and Lack of Regard for Other Cultures.

What could have been a beautiful celebration of cultures all around the world, turned into a season fraught with xenophobia. RuPaul was less interested in learning about the international contestants and more concerned with stereotypes. For example, she wanted the Italian representative, Nehellenia, to make ‘Margherita Pizza’ her brand. If an international queen wore a cultural costume Ru didn’t understand, she would land in the bottom (e.g. Miranda LeBrao from Brazil). Not to mention, a taco joke was made to the Mexican representative, that was wildly distasteful. Furthermore, Ru didn’t take the time to understand the queens she had never judged before, nor understand their different drag styles. I knew something was seriously wrong when she told Athena Likis (the Belgian representative), that she needed to feminise her shape. She is an androgynous drag queen! It upset her and the entire fandom. This was the first stone thrown and just the beginning of what was to come. 

3.) The Bullying/Mistreatment of Nehellenia.

The most difficult part to witnesse was the bullying and complete mistreatment of Nehellenia. Our sweet, kind and quiet representative from Italy, soon became a target of the envious English speaking queens, particularly Kitty Scott Claus (UK) and Kween Kong (Down Under). Week after week they would belittle her, call her names in confessionals and say she didn’t deserve any of her top placements, despite absolutely exceeding everyone’s expectations. What made it worse was how gracious she was in her response to their attacks. She never fought back, nor said nasty things in return. She made it all the way to the finale, with the majority of the fandom rallying behind her, hoping she would win. It would have been the most epic underdog story, but sadly, it was yet another missed opportunity by Global All Stars. Some may say it’s just a reality show and not that deep. However, Nehellenia shared online that whilst the season was airing, she felt very isolated in the competition. It was absolutely awful to watch. I love drama, but not like this. This felt ugly. Still, Nelly won the season, without winning the season. She won the hearts of the entire world. 

4.) Production vs. the Editors.

This season had one of the biggest disconnects I have ever seen. It felt like there was a war between the production team and the editors. Production pushed the ‘Ru Girl’s to win the weekly challenges, but the edit we saw was mainly negative. We witnessed their nasty confessionals, horrible comments towards Nelly and them flopping in challenges where they were either placed safe or high. What resulted was a messy storyline that didn’t resonate with viewers. We were meant to root for the English speaking queens, despite only seeing their worst angles? It didn’t make sense and it definitely did not translate. In the finale, Ru and Michelle told Kween how lovely and motherly she had been to contestants but all of the editing suggested otherwise. We saw pure bad behaviour. Make it make sense! 

5.) The Lack of Storylines/Missed Opportunities.

To further my point above, this entire season was one big missed opportunity. There were many moments for wonderful storylines that production decided to skip on. When Nelly first started getting bullied, it looked like she was going to win that week’s challenge. It would have been the perfect underdog storyline, but instead, they gave it to her bully, Kitty Scott Claus. Where the international queens were concerned, there could have been huge redemption arcs. For example, Pythia bombed her Snatch Game in her original season but absolutely killed it on Global All Stars. That was the moment for her to win, yet once again, it went to a ‘Ru Girl.’ I wish I was making this up! Woeful!

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Final Thoughts/Reflections.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This was the worst season of Drag Race to ever exist. It received the lowest ratings on IMDB, lost the support of countless fans and even extended into the alumn, saying they would not compete if cast for a second season. Something we had been waiting years for, ended up becoming the biggest disappointment to grace our screens. I am glad the international queens received some mainstream exposure, but they were only cast to give the English speaking queens even more of a platform than before. It was the most difficult season to get through. I couldn’t wait for it to be over and now that it is, I want to put it behind me. If they do decide to do a second season, I truly hope it’s completely different. 

Thank you so much for reading. What did you think of Global All Stars? 

Peace & Love xoxo