RuPaul's Drag Race | |
---|---|
Season 14 | |
Hosted by | RuPaul |
Judges | |
No. of contestants | 14 |
Winner | Willow Pill |
Runner-up | Lady Camden |
Miss Congeniality | Kornbread Jeté |
Companion show | RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked! |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Release | |
Original network | VH1 |
Original release | January 7 April 22, 2022 | –
Season chronology | |
The fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 7, 2022.[1] The reality competition series, broadcast on VH1 in the United States, showcases 14 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". Casting calls for season 14 were opened in November 2020,[2] and the cast was officially revealed by season 13 winner Symone on VH1 on December 2, 2021.[3][4] The season premiere received 738,000 viewers, making it the most-watched premiere since Season 10.[5]
The season was won by Willow Pill, who became the first transgender contestant to win the main franchise of RuPaul's Drag Race, and the fourth transgender contestant to win overall, with Lady Camden as the runner-up. Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté was named Miss Congeniality, who became the first transgender contestant to win the title.[6]
The season welcomed Maddy Morphosis, the show's first heterosexual, cisgender male contestant.[7] The season notably also featured five transgender contestants: Kerri Colby and Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté (both of whom entered the competition openly trans), Jasmine Kennedie (who came out as a trans woman during filming of the show),[8] Bosco (who came out as a trans woman as the season aired),[9] and Willow Pill (who came out as trans femme as the season aired).[10]
The season featured a "Chocolate Bar Twist" which was introduced in the third episode, which featured each of the contestants being given a chocolate bar, one of which contained a golden bar. After losing a lip sync, each contestant must unwrap their chocolate bar, and the contestant whose bar contains the golden bar is saved from elimination. The twist lasted until episode 12, when Bosco was revealed to have the golden chocolate bar.[11][12]
This season had a final five going to the grand finale, a first in the show’s history. Additionally, the winning queen received a cash prize of $150,000, the highest in the show's history up to that point. The runner up won a $50,000 cash prize, also a series first.[13] It is also the first series in which a single queen had to lip sync for their life five times; Jorgeous survived four lip syncs and was sent home on the fifth.