15 Things We Learned From the 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 11 Ruveal Special
While RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 4 is still under way, VH1 was more than ready to give fans an extra dose of Drag. On Thursday at noon, the television network revealed the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 during a two-hour live stream "Ruveal" special on YouTube with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and the current reigning queen from season 10, Aquaria.
During the Ruveal, 15 queens came decked out in their best drag lewks, a full face of flawless makeup, and hair all the way up to the heavens. The queens that will participate this upcoming season are A'Keria Chanel Davenport, Ariel Versace, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Honey Davenport, Kahanna Montrese, Mercedes Iman Diamond, Nina West, Plastique Tiara, Ra'jah o'Hara, Scarlet Envy, Shuga Cain, Silky Nutmeg Ganche, Soju, Yvie Oddly and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
Each queen had a lovely one-on-one interview with Rippon, during which he grilled the queens about their aesthetic, their favorite lip sync songs and other interesting tidbits that the audience might not know about them. Out of the many fabulous answers the queens gave, here are a handful of facts that you need to know about each queen in season 11.
A’Keria Chanel Davenport
Coming from the long-line of Davenport’s, A’keria Chanel Davenport gave us a little herstory lesson on the legendary Texas drag family. This queen is part of the third generation of Davenports, and is the daughter of Armani Nicole Davenport, and the niece of Kennedy and Sahara Davenport.
Ariel Versace
Ariel Versace is quite the business queen. Ariel and her boyfriend, Chasity St. Cartier, who is also a drag queen, have their own wig company called Drag By Chariel. Wigs from this company have been on the heads of queens like Trixie Mattel and Milk.
Brooke Lynn Hytes
This gorgeous queen will in fact be the first queen to ever represent Canada. Brooke Lynn Hytes also has a solid background as a ballet dancer, and won Miss Continental in 2013.
Honey Davenport
Like most Davenports, this queen knows how to turn out a performance. For four year, Honey Davenport traveled around the world as a backup dancer for Peppermint and Sherry Vine. Monet X Change is also her drag daughter, and she used to live on the same block as Vivacious, Sahara Davenport, and Peppermint in Harlem.
Kahanna Montrese
Kahanna Montrese is drag daughter of season five and All Stars 2 queen Coco Montrese. Kahanna describes her dance style as a “little hood and a little creative,” and with a combo like that we’re definitely excited to see how this queen will handle the show’s dancing challenges.
Mercedes Iman Diamond
Mercedes Iman Diamond will be making Drag Race herstory as the show’s first ever Muslim queen. While she’s on the show, Mercedes hopes that she will inspire other Muslim children out there to embrace themselves and love who they are.
Nina West
After auditioning nine times for the show, this Ohio queen is more than ready for Drag Race. Funny enough, Nina West was the first queen Adam Rippon saw perform at a gay bar.
Plastique Tiara
Plastique Tiara is the drag daughter of Alyssa Edwards. This stunning queen gave Rippon excellent selfie advice on how to look like a newborn, and is also a massive Ariana Grande fan.
Ra’jah o’Hara
Ra’jah o’Hara is a pageant queen from Dallas Texas who got into Drag Race on her first audition. Her all time favorite song to listen and lip sync is “Do It Well” by Jennifer Lopez because she shares a personal connection to the track, and it’s also a high energy bop to perform to.
Scarlet Envy
Originally from Kentucky, Scarlet Envy studied at FIT and is also a massive Lana Del Rey fan. If she had to choose one song to lip sync to forever, it would be “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline since it was her late-grandfather’s favorite song.
Shuga Cain
Shuga Cain may be the oldest queen in the cast, but she refuses to be slept on. In addition to being a stellar queen, Shuga Cain is also an excellent baker, with her specialty being her signature chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
Silky Nutmeg Ganache
Silky Nutmeg Ganache is a bundle of energy that is constantly exuding a tremendous amount of charisma. This queen is currently on track to finish her PhD, and hopes that her newfound fame will help bring in enough money to take her grandmother all over the world.
Soju
This Korean queen has an affinity for everything K-pop, and loves to channel musicians like Black Pynk and CL into her lewks. Soju also hosted a K-pop dance party called Seoul Train that toured in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.
Yvie Oddly
Yvie Oddly is truly one wacky, yet aesthetically interesting drag queen. Yvie has a signature laugh that she describes as “dopey meets goofy meets Santa Claus meets Satan,” which has gotten her kicked out of a movie theatres several times in the past.
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Need we say more about the biggest meme queen in Drag Race herstory? Miss Vanessa Vanjie Mateo is back again to show all the children what she didn’t get to do on season ten. While she loves all of the “Miss Vanjie” memes, she’s hopes that America will get to her drag aesthetic and persona a bit better.
Watch the Drag Race season 11 Ruveal interviews with Adam Rippon and Aquaria below: