RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 3

The third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' premiered on January 25, 2018. The season was announced in August 2017, with 9/10 of the cast revealed during a VH1 "Exclusive Queen Ruveal" special, airing on October 20, 2017. This season of ''All Stars'' featured ten "all-star" (or “champion”) contestants, selected from the show's first season through to its then-current ninth season, competing again to be inducted into the "''Drag Race'' Hall of Fame".

As was the case in the previous ''All Stars'' season, rather than the two lowest-scoring queens for each episode engaging in the usual “Lip-Sync for Your Life” battle for their right to remain in the competition, the two highest-scoring queens on each episode competed in a “Lip-Sync for Your Legacy” performance, the winner of which earned the right to choose which bottom queen gets eliminated (in addition to receiving a $10,000 “tip”). A new twist on how the top queens of the season were chosen was revealed in the previous season's last episode, in which the previously eliminated queens would return during the finale and vote for the top two contestants of the remaining top four; from there-on, the two queens with the most votes advanced while the other two were subsequently eliminated. The prizes for the winner of the competition were a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of $100,000, and a bejeweled scepter and crown.

The winner of the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' was ultimately Trixie Mattel, with Kennedy Davenport being the runner-up.

Contestants

''Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.''

Notes:

Future ''Drag Race'' appearances

* In 2024 Kennedy Davenport competed on ''Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World'' season 2.
* In 2025 Aja competed on ''All Stars'' season 10.

Contestant progress

Jury vote

In the finale, the eliminated queens were invited back as jurors. They were given two votes each to decide which of the remaining contestants would make the final two, with their first vote worth two points and the second one point. The finalists were given the chance to plead their case prior to the vote.

Legend:

Lip syncs

Legend:

;Notes

Guest judges

Listed in chronological order:

*Vanessa Hudgens, actress and singer
*Todrick Hall, actor and singer
*Vanessa Williams, actress and singer
*Constance Zimmer, actress
*Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, actor and model
*Nicole Byer, comedian and actress
*Kristin Chenoweth, actress and singer
*Tituss Burgess, actor and singer
*Shay Mitchell, actress and model
*Adam Lambert, singer and actor
*Emma Bunton, singer and actress
*Chris Colfer, actor and singer
*Garcelle Beauvais, actress and model

Special guests

Guests who appeared in episodes but did not judge on the main stage (in order of appearance):

*Chad Michaels, runner-up from season four and winner of season one of ''All Stars''
*Alaska, runner-up from season five and winner of season two of ''All Stars''
*Marc Jacobs, fashion designer
*Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Representative for California's 12th congressional district

Episodes

Leak

On February 15, 2018, the series production company World of Wonder filed a lawsuit against an anonymous leaker using the alias RealityTVLeaks. According to the lawsuit, RealityTVLeaks posted several visuals from the season on various social media websites such as Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram before each episode's airing—including runway themes, challenges, episode titles, and eliminated queens. Additionally, a producer from the show stated that the leaker removed "information identifying orld of Wonderas the copyright owner and author" before adding "misleading copyright management information falsely identifying he defendantsas the copyright owners and authors." World of Wonder launched the suit because of the defendant's "unlawful theft and public dissemination of episodes of the popular and critically-acclaimed reality television show," and the production company confirmed it is seeking damages of $300,000, including $150,000 for each infringed episode and $25,000 per violation of "actual damages" and defendants' profits.

Ratings

Critical reception

Although a ratings success, the season was panned by the critics. ''Vulture'', in writing a summation review, described the season as "truly one of the roughest seasons of the show ever. After a stellar, jaw-unhingingly good ''All Stars 2'', this season felt more like an embarrassing cousin you brought to gay happy hour who wears double polos", while specifying that "even at its worst, it's still one of the best, if not the best goddamn reality competition show on television".

''The A.V. Club'' similarly described the season as disappointing, writing in the final review of the season: "I should be celebrating the crowning of a new queen in the ''Drag Race'' hall of fame, but ''Drag Race All Stars'' season three has left me feeling totally underwhelmed and wondering, ''What's the point''?"

References

{{RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars

2018 American television seasons
2018 LGBTQ-related television
Internet leaks
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