If you were anything like me, you were counting down the days until last Friday's RuPaul's Drag Race season 9 premiere. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. There was a big sausage on Shea Couleé's head, Eureka O’Hara epitomized campy comedy queen when she came out looking like backwood's trash, and let’s not forget Nina Bo'nina Brown's iconic Georgia-inspired look. (For God's sake, the girl looked like she ate a peach gusher!)
But if I'm being honest, the twist at the end (where it was revealed that a queen from the past would be returning as this season's 14th contestant) felt a little bit lackluster. RuPaul has brought back queens from previous seasons before (think: Shangela). And frankly, I thought it was more of a twist that RuPaul didn't do drag himself on the season premiere.
However lackluster is it, there are still a lot of rumors going around about just exactly who this queen is, and why she is coming back. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight shortly following the season premiere, RuPaul mentioned that it’s “important” that this queen come back. So it’s unlikely just to be a popular queen who didn’t have a chance to shine. While that would be fabulous, fun, and please most of the RuPaul viewers, I don’t think Ru would have considered that an “important choice.”
Luckily, the internet has our backs, and there have been some solid theories as to which queen is likely to return. Here are the top three names we've heard around the web...
Laila McQueen
As a Bostonian, I would personally love to see Laila return. After having seen her perform in Boston a number of times, I can tell you she’s so much better than how she performed on season 8. However, it’s not just my personal preference and wishful optimism as to why I think she’s likely to return. On Reddit, user PoppyFields666 noted that Laila disappeared online from about “August 14th to September 5th.” That could very likely have been due to the fact that she was shooting the show.
Shangela
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Except this time, she’s not popping out of a box! Just kidding. I actually don’t think she’s a viable option. RuPaul is generous, but a third chance? Nobody’s that generous. And if he were, something would definitely be up. I doubt bringing her back on the show would be the only twist RuPaul had up his sleeve.
Cynthia Lee Fontaine
At the end of the Friday's episode, the camera panned to the behind of the returning queen, and I can tell you that that butt REALLY did look like Cynthia Lee Fontaine’s. (I'd recognize it anywhere!) But on a more serious note, Cynthia had stage 1 liver cancer during the filming of season 8. This surely affected her performance and altered her experience for the worse. I can’t imagine what it would be like attempting to focus on drag and the competition, while at the same time, struggling to keep up your own health, both physically and mentally.
Knowing Ru and his altruistic ways, I could see him being generous, saying something along the lines of, “We wanted to give you an opportunity to shine, knowing that last time you weren’t able to give us your all.”
So there you have it. If I were a betting man, I’d have to go with Cynthia Lee Fontaine. But we’ll just have to wait until this Friday to find out and see...
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