Unless you count the episodes where Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus transformed into drag kings Ronnie and Barry Johnson before sitting in on the panel in full glam, RuPaul’s Drag Race has yet to welcome a drag performer who’s sashayed into the Werk Room to sit next to RuPaul at the judges’ table. But, as longtime panelist and co-producer Ross Mathews tells Entertainment Weekly, there are plenty of alums he’d like to welcome to the table as guest judges.
“There are a lot of queens from our show who have gone on to extraordinary careers — not just within the Drag Race world, but outside of that as well. But, if I could pick one who I’d want to come and sit and judge for an episode you know, it’d probably have to be Jinkx Monsoon because she knows what it is,” Mathews tells EW in an interview on the set of The Drew Barrymore Show, on which he also makes frequent appearances alongside the titular host.
Jinkx famously became the first Drag Race alum to win the show twice, having taken the crown on both season 5 in 2013 and again on 2022’s All Stars 7, the show’s first all-winner edition. She translated her Drag Race success to stage and screen, scoring a role in Clea DuVall’s holiday rom-com Happiest Season, landing a starring role as Mama Morton in the Broadway production of Chicago, and appearing as a villain in the current season of Doctor Who.
Mathews feels that since Jinkx “knows what it means to take an opportunity and turn it into something extraordinary,” she’d dish important insight to the prospective winners from her seat at the panel, but she’d do it with her signature brand of comedy, too.
“Bianca Del Rio would be another one that would be fabulous at it,” Mathews said of the season 6 champion, who st arred in two Hurricane Bianca movies, released a comedy book, and became the first drag queen to headline both London’s Wembley Arena and New York City’s Carnegie Hall on her comedy tours.
Mathews then turned his thoughts to the current All Stars 9 pool of contestants currently competing for the show’s inaugural charity prize, which will see one returning queen receive a $200,000 check for a philanthropic effort of her choice by the end of the season.
“Nina West would be another one,” Mathews says of the current AS9 roster, before adding a few prior season champions to the list: “Monét X Change, Bob the Drag Queen. I mean, there’s so many that I’m so proud of — Shea Couleé would be another one — who really created these extraordinary brands for themselves.”
Mathews finished: “I think those are the ones who I would want to come back. Judging on that show is all about nudging people to their potential to greatness, and they know how to do that because they’ve done it.”
Mathews — whose introduction at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards was recently interrupted by pro-ceasefire drag queen Chiquitita — has long been a panelist on RuPaul’s Drag Race, having first appeared as a guest judge on season 4 before securing a full-time seat beginning on season 7.
Outside of the American edition of Drag Race, many global alums have appeared on various panels around the world. Season 11 finalist Brooke Lynn Hytes is a main judge on Canada’s Drag Race, where her season 11 sister and former flame Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (now competing on All Stars 9) helped judge an episode in 2022. The Canadian edition of the show also invited former contestants like All Stars 8 winner Jimbo, season 12 champ Jaida Essence Hall, and Canada vs. the World winner Ra’Jah O’Hara to guest-judge individual episodes.
Other Drag Race queens who have also traveled the contestant-to-head-judge path include Canada’s Drag Race season 1 star and eventual Drag Race Belgique host Rita Baga, Drag Race season 12 competitor Nicky Doll (who later took the reins of Drag Race France), and Valentina and Lolita Banana, who competed on Drag Race season 9 and Drag Race France season 1, respectively, before co-judging the entirety of Drag Race Mexico’s debut season.
Additionally, Drag Race season 3 breakout Alexis Mateo and Drag Race UK queen Choriza May also appeared as judges on episodes of Drag Race España season 2, while season 4 and All Stars 6 queen Jiggly Caliente has also served as a permanent judge across two seasons of Drag Race Philippines.
New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 stream Fridays on Paramount+.