How much race could a drag queen drag if a drag queen could drag race? That deep and philosophical question might be getting an answer as the world of RuPaul’s Drag Race is in for a major expansion. On the eve of Friday night’s Season 12 finale, Drag Race executive producer Fenton Bailey told Variety that his production company World of Wonder is developing “seven new international editions” of the drag competition series. That is a fuck-ton of makeup.
“Every country has a rich tradition of drag, and it’s different in every country,” Bailey told Variety. While there are no details currently available on where and when the seven shows will air, Thailand and Australia are mentioned as potential audiences. The UK version of Drag Race is expected to continue production once it is safe to do so post-pandemic, and the shows’ producers tease that fans should “expect something very soon.” It could be literally anything, but given the prolific nature of Drag Race it will probably be everything.
Despite production being closed down across the industry, the producers of Drag Race are confident that there will be 13th season come next year, even if the international shows take longer to produce. “Drag Race is like Cher and cockroaches,” producer Randy Barbato told Variety. “You can never get rid of them.”