
The winners of recent seasons – Symone, Willow Pill, and Sasha Colby – were all captivating performers, immediately charming RuPaul despite their different styles. Some queens, particularly those with formal theater training, came across as overly calculated. There was a feeling they hadn’t embraced drag organically, but rather saw it as a platform to leverage their performance skills for career advancement. This idea was famously captured in a tweet about Rosé and Denali, suggesting they’d turned to drag as a last resort to achieve fame. While controversial, the tweet highlighted a concern RuPaul shared: some queens seemed to view drag as a means to an end, rather than a genuine passion. RuPaul believes drag is for those who don’t quite fit in, and she’s always championed queens who are authentic, even if a little rough around the edges. So, when queens rely heavily on professional training, it feels like a rejection of that core spirit of inclusivity and self-expression that RuPaul cherishes.