Culture

This week’s episode of All Stars 6 marked a first for RuPaul’s Drag Race

By Sam Damshenas

29th July 2021

We did not see the twist coming on this week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, like, at all.

For their seventh maxi-challenge, the seven remaining All Stars – Eureka O’Hara, Ginger Minj, Jan, Kylie Sonique Love, Ra’Jah O’Hara, Pandora Boxx and Trinity K. Bonet – were tasked with writing lyrics and recording vocals for an “inspirational” anthem called Show Up Queen.

Because Kylie won last week’s challenge, and Ra’Jah was saved from elimination, they were assigned team captains. Kylie recruited Eureka and Ginger for her team – “What have I done?” she hilariously stated in her confessional – while Trinity secured Jan, Ra’Jah and Pandora for hers.

Later, the queens laid down their vocals for Leland and Freddy Scott – the same team behind iconic bops Break Up Bye Bye, I’m That Bitch and UK Hun? – and prepared to gag the judges with a choreography session. It offered a little bit of drama, with Pandora failing to keep up with Trinity’s routine and Ginger subsequently calling out the latter for not noticing her lack of… rhythm.

That brings us onto the performance itself. Trinity, who has not faltered in the competition since her bottom two placement in the premiere (Bianca Del Rio would be so proud), undeniably stole the show with her sharp choreo and inspirational lyrics about knowing your HIV status. Honestly, Trinity owned the entire episode.

It came as no surprise then, when she snatched her second maxi-challenge win of the series – cementing her status as the All Stars 6 frontrunner in the process. Ra’Jah, as per, slayed – as did Eureka. Jan was harshly criticised by the panel with RuPaul saying her performance, while great, lacked “soul”. Eek.

She was also called out for centring her lyrics around self-love, although that’s pretty much what every queen did, so that was a ??? moment. (Not enough trauma, we suppose.) Out of everyone, however, Pandora received the harshest reviews from the judges as she was criticised for her lyrics and performance.

After hearing pleas from both Jan and Pandora, Trinity returned to the main stage and battled it out against this week’s lip-sync assassin, the legendary Alexis Mateo. While the showdown started off strong, with both entertainers engaging in some relentless choreo to match the energy of the track, J-Lo’s Dance Again, it lost steam after Trinity’s mane refused to cooperate and sashayed away.

Unsurprisingly, Alexis conquered over Trinity (we can’t believe we live in a world where Trinity K. Bonet, the greatest Drag Race lip-sync assassin, has lost 2/2 lip-syncs), and revealed who the group voted to send home: Pandora. Oh, but wait! Jan too. We have a tie – a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars first. The drama!

RuPaul then explained that, in the event of a tie, power of elimination returns to the top All Star of the week. So, although Trinity failed to land an extra £10,000 for a used car, she still had to shatter a queen’s dreams and give them the chop.

The person she chose? Jan. Mixed feelings about this one. Like we said above, it was clear that Pandora was the weakest link this week, but the judges are, for whatever reason, not vibing with Jan at all. So, maybe it was time for her to go?

Here’s how fans reacted to the gag-worthy twist and Jan’s elimination:

Next week, the top six All Stars will play – drum roll please! – the Snatch Game. RuPaul, Michelle Visage and Ross Matthews will be joined on the panel by Tina Knowles.

The latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 is now available to stream in the UK on WOW Presents Plus and Netflix.