how much do drag race contestants get paid uk how much do drag race contestants get paid uk

The second season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on February 1, 2010, and aired its final episode on April 26, 2010. But at what cost? Destaques; Timeline; Bio; Pataco Maps; Acompanhe; PT; EN; ; Crditos; Privacidade As drag has gotten more mainstream, its gotten further from its DIY rootsand performing on the biggest stage is becoming prohibitively expensive. 59 votes, 46 comments. Yeah, my garments just arent gonna stand up to their outfits. Contestants on the main show, RuPaul's Drag Race, usually make around $400 per episode, while All Stars contestants can make up to $20,000 per episode. Receiving an invitation to compete on Drag Race is many queens dream come true, but its quickly followed by the reality of the huge logistical challenge ahead. And what happens if you win? That was a lot more expensive, she said. Contestants can also compete in other challenges that allow them to earn prizes like immunity, a lifetime supply of high-end makeup or even a vacation. When I went to Drag Race, I actually had only 33 cents in my bank account the day I showed up, she said in an episode of Gap Chat, her Wow Presents streaming show. Photo via VH1. 2. Last years event generated $9 million in sales, not to mention the $40 entry fee paid by 40,000 people. The first season of Drag Race had a grand prize of $25,000. Back in 2016, when the show was really coming into the nation's attention, Drag Race royalty Alyssa Edwards told Mic that she spends around "$450 for a wig a custom wig that's fitted to your head, and for your face." But its also the case that some of the more affluent girls can also sew (and some broke queens cant), meaning theres no guarantee that a design challenge will favor the people with less money. Her words: "That outfit off the rack was a huge disappointment to me. (Many finale gowns are also huge, so having them shipped can add hundreds and hundreds of dollars to the total. Additionally, for the first time in the history of drag race, the runner-up will also receive $50,000 cash prize, powered by Cash App. reality blurredis your guide to the world ofreality TVand unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. However, participating in "Drag Race" is often so demanding and expensive that it's easy to wonder if the salary is worth it. RuPaul may very well be many queens fairy dragmotheras she truly is a star-maker. Now drag artists are cutting albums, selling serious merch, being signed to ad campaigns and movie deals. The other mermaid looks like your friends ex-stepmom celebrating her third divorce with a trip to Vegas: Her luscious margarita-green hair is accented by a headband topped with starfish, seashells, jewels, and fake flowers. Ru also seems to genuinely valueand rewardthe charismatic queens who can make something out of nothing. Were looking for Great Britains next superstar. Jinkx Monsoon made $100,000 for winning season five of RuPaul's Drag Race. However, if you buy something after clicking an affiliate link, I may earn a commission, which helps support reality blurred. Sasha, who won Season 9, said the most expensive item she wore on RuPaul's Drag Race was the medieval tapestryinspired look topped with a bloody horn she put together for a Sexy Unicorn runway challenge. I rented from a costume shop in Queens, and it cost $500, she said. Its cultural. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking a record number of 349 bills targeting LGBTQ rights introduced during the legislative session, causing the reality competition series queens to speak out at a recent viewing event . Craig Revel Horwood has been with the show since its inception in 2004 and started on a salary of 110,000. I did not spend a lot of money, Bob the Drag Queen, who was crowned the winner of Season 8 in 2016, told VICE. "If you're a Black girl, that's generally not what's happening.. I was like, If I go and get eliminated first, at least I can say I was on it, get a couple gigs, get an increased booking fee, and keep working. While lounging in the sun all day and flirting up a storm might be payment enough, it turns out you can make some mega bucks being an Islander! ), A lot of the looks that have feathers can be expensive, Aquaria said. This is no shade to World of Wonder, the amazing team behind Drag Race, but for the past few seasons the prize for winning the show has been a "grand prize of $100,000" -- the most recent winner . What does the winner of 'RuPaul's Drag Race UK' receive? Mondo Guerra, a Brooklyn-based designer and Project Runway alum who has outfitted queens like Blair St. Clair, Jackie Cox, and Olivia Lux for RuPauls Drag Race, told VICE that a simple custom dress of hisi.e., a straightforward silhouette without any rhinestonescosts $700$800. While she made the vast majority of her costumes herself (with the help of her longtime partner, Johnny Velour), it was a huge effort. " RuPaul's Drag Race " Season 14 will crown America's next drag superstar on April 22 when the finale airs on VH1. Unfortunately, the stars of Married at First Sight don't exactly make bank for their time in the marriage experiment no matter how much drama, backlash or wine-throwing comes their way.. MAFS Australia contestants are only paid $150 per day for the show.Source: Nine. (Alaska and Trixie Mattel were both wearing BobbiePinz wigs when they were crowned on their respective seasons of All Stars.) A queen might not be able to splurge on her wardrobe or even be the best at Drag Racewhich, its often said, is different from being good at dragbut those who are exceptionally magnetic, funny, and unique tend to do fairly well for themselves post-show. If youre just a drag queen that just wants to do drag brunch and, you know, it would be cool to get on Drag Race, Monique Heart said, Im gonna tell you not to go, cause youre gonna embarrass yourself. The UK's fiercest queens are back and coming for us on Ru Paul's Drag Race UK series 3.That's right, the show that got us through week 694682457 of lockdown and delivered a serious dose of much-needed serotonin is back and bigger than ever.. Not only did Season 14 provide an increased grand prize for the winning drag queen, but it also added a runner-up prize of $50,000, according to Entertainment Weekly. A lot of contestants are simply taller, broader, and heavier than the people that off-the-rack clothes in the womens department are typically designed for, and thats before they put on thick hip pads and big fake breasts. Monet X Change was in a Pepsi Superbowl commercial alongside Cardi B. I don't need a small, delicate hidden zipper, she said. This statement rings true as viewership of the show continues to rapidly expand along with the program's prize money for lucky contestants. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. At the end of the day, the judgesand, I believe, the audiencemostly want to see authenticity. Today, I review and recommend reality shows, documentaries, and nonfiction entertainment; analyze news and report from behind the scenes; and interview people who create and star in reality TV shows. I dont think people realize how much money literally she continues, using her baby-blue talons to adjust the waistband of her tail, which is covered in iridescent pink and turquoise paillettes, and which she said moments earlier was too expensive to want to take off. Cast members are paid $400 per episode for their first season, and their pay increases 5 percent for future seasons: $420 per episode for their second season, $441 for their . RuPaul chooses one to continue (shantay you stay), and one to eliminate (sashay away). So what do people who applied to the show agree to? But money was constantly on her mind as she prepared for the show. The Pit Crew, also known as the Scruff Pit Crew, are a group of muscular men who appear on each season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Monique, who told Paper magazine that her car broke down as she was preparing to go on Drag Race, was open about how a lack of funds hurt her prospects on the show during a heartbreaking episode of Untucked following her elimination. So it was definitely a good up-front investment., Aquaria believes that a run on RuPauls Drag Race is what you make of it. And because of that lack of expression, and that lack of exposure to different forms of expression, I think that sometimes we are just confined to that which we know., Contestants of color might also not have the kinds of connections to designers and other queens that make all of this easier. Kameron Michaels on RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked. I could sew, and I knew my silhouette, so I could make stuff work. After a rough calculation, Mic estimated that she spends somewhere around '$45,000 alone on wigs'. While this has been quietly discussed among viewers and contestants for years, the now-infamous H&M incident from the just-aired season of RuPauls Drag Race: UK put it on the forefront of a lot of viewers minds. The contract also notes that any appearances after the first season come with a 5% raise. Or you canyou can go, but you wont win.. Is the competition classist? And, for the queens who drain their bank accounts to appear on the show and dont take home the $100,000 prize, is it all worth it? 22 things you didn't know about 'RuPaul's Drag Race'. Producers own the rights and proceeds for anything the queens do on the show, which includes characters, songs, and anything they say about themselves (elements of my life story). A post shared by RuPaul's Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace). For Season 6, the fan site TARFlies found that the team placing 11th and eliminated first was given $1,500. Earlier in the episode, Joe had sung and danced his way through the Eurovision girl-group challenge wearing a pink knee-length dress with a high neck and puffy sleeves. When Drag Race first started, they were literally coming in off the street to do this TV show, Fitzgerald said. Queens who return for additional seasons earn a 5% bump on their weekly episode payout. Youll collect some fans along the way if theres something there to fan over, she said. A confident, charismatic queen truly can make an Amazon jumpsuit or a thrift store dress look incredible, particularly if the garment feels authentic to the queens overall personality and vision. The contestants agree to fully participate in sponsor integrations and sponsor activity., The queens give up rights to everything they do during the show, including theelements of my life story contained within the Project.. Most drag performers never left their community, and while their local gigs may have been emotionally rewarding, they werent particularly lucrative. With its nineteen Primetime Emmy awards - including four consecutive wins for Outstanding Competition Program - and it's seven international spin off shows, RuPaul Charles has cultivated a new mold of entertainment with this cultural phenomenon. 8. Like all reality competitions,RuPauls Drag Racerequires its participants to agree to rules and sign legal documents governing their participation in the series. After being on Drag Race, When touring, recording, merchandise and endorsements are factored in, top queens are earning in the low to mid-six figures annually,Jacob Slane, Partner and Associate Manager atProducer Entertainment Group(PEG) told Billboard. (The pandemic decimated live entertainment, including drag performances.) Fabric is expensiveparticularly good-looking, easy-to-use fabric, Sasha Velour said, adding that the fabric for her Faux Fur Fabulous Russian-inspired runway look cost $250 (and kept her safe during that weeks critique). Queens are competing for a pretty significant prize. Bobbie Zlotnik, aka BobbiePinz, has made wigs for many RuPauls Drag Race queens, including Alyssa Edwards, Alexis Michelle, Aquaria, Cameron Michaels, Willam, Jackie Cox, and Ros. I created reality blurred 22 years ago as a place to collect interesting links I found. When someone who reads as wealthy thanks to these physical privileges wears H&M or Converse sneakers, its viewed as an intentionally subversive and cool choice. She came into the "werkroom" with a dress made of trash bags and a comforting, Southern charm. It was easier and safer to go look for a size 13 pump in a used store than it was to go into the ladies section. And I remember being like, Is this worth it? The incident brought long-simmering questions up to the surface: What does it actually cost to compete on RuPauls Drag Race? As RuPaul's Drag Race passes its 200th episode mark, many of its alums are working to ensure it remains a voice for the LGBTQ community.. At the end of each episode, theres a runway competition, where they wear a look tailored to the week's themesay, leather and lace or jetset eleganza., BenDeLaCreme, of Season 6 and All Stars 3, attends an All Stars event. It took him 14 years to get a pay rise. But, like any business venture that involves startup costs, investing in a Drag Race appearance is a risk, and contestants have no way of knowing if theyll be eliminated first, or forgotten after the season ends. The No. Ru has always had a soft spot for those girls., Still, it isnt necessarily fun to be the broke but charming queen who is regularly in the bottom because of her runways. Not every reality show contestant earns asalary. 3. There's nothing I can do about it. DragCon is the cherry on top of the drag sundae. With wigs, extravagant costumes, and mountain piles of makeup, the price to go on the show could be as costly as four to five figures! I did a look for Bob a few years ago that took 55 hours and was like 300 separate pattern pieces., Sam Branman models Tina Burner's "little black dress," which he worked on for Season 13 of Drag Race. Bob and Sasha certainly didnt; Aquaria and Yvie spent morein line with the shows higher profile and increased focus on the runways in later seasonsbut per their accounts, not as much as one might expect. And regardless of what a Black queen wears or how she presents herself, she might not be viewed as elevated or expensive., I was called ratchet on the show, famously by Michelle and Derrick, Bobwho, to be clear, does not do ratchet (or banjee) dragsaid. I remember when we were talking about it in the Werk Room, we were like, Damn, if they don't do this look on the runway soon, before girls start going home, we're about to be so pissed and so broke.. By commenting below, you confirm that youve read and agree to those rules. Queens like Ivy Winters, Yuhua Hamasaki and Lashawn Beyond mentioned on their seasons how. For All-Stars, lip-sync winners earn a cash prize of $10,000. Put a parka zipper in my dress. She also said that big plastic jewels are likely a better choice than more expensive glass ones, which often dont actually read well on camera. British comic Mary O'Connell emerged as the Creative Fund: Comedy Edition season's big winner and she talks to us about how she got bitten by the comedy bug, recounts her experience on the . RuPaul's Drag Race has become one of the most successful shows on television, but it's not been without its fair share of unresolved scandals. Contestants may go on Drag Race hoping to strike gold, but before the lucky few get to that point, they'll be paid a per-episode rate of just a few hundred dollars for two to three long days of . According to Cheat Sheet, after they sign a contract with Reality Blurred, the contestants will receive $400 per episode. Trixie Mattel, the 6th place finisher on during Season 7, currently sits pretty with 2.9 million followers onInstagram. According to Vice writer Rachel Miller, who has spoken to many of the show's past queens, contestants spend anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 on each season. Thats what everyday people do, and you are a star. Much of the language is standard and makes sense, allowing the production to use whats filmed on television and in advertising, and making perhaps obvious things explicitly clear, including that there is no expectation of privacy.. Follow her onTwitter. My hand-crafted newsletter is sent most Fridays, and is free! Filming Drag Race. The biggest pitfall of Drag Race to its queens- among the long hours of filming and impending hateful tweets from the . Up until the 80s and the 90s, drag queens essentially dressed in vintage clothing, Fitzgerald told VICE. Latrice Royale was ranked in the tenth position on the list. It's not necessarily unusual for participants in a competition show to be paid meager wagers. Sam Branman, of the Brooklyn-based queer fashion label 10 Yards, worked on several of Tina Burners looks for Drag Race Season 13. (Meanwhile, because of British TV standards, Drag Race UK contestants dont win cash prizes at all.). We had a whole feather runway on our season, which I know was financially crazy for the girls. And I really didn't have the money, Monique Heart said of her Season 10 appearance. 'The auditions are the worst'. Latrice Royale - $1 million. After stunning us with that international all stars season, 2022 gives us another long-awaited first . The weight of her financial setbacks became a key detour of her confidence as she looked around at all the thousand dollar gowns of her competitors. Cast members are paid $400 per episode for their first season, and their pay increases 5 percent for future seasons: $420 per episode for their second season, $441 for their third, and so on. I believe pop culture can both entertain and affect us, and so reality blurred's goal is to amplify the best and hold the worst accountable. With . She also took part in the first and fourth seasons of 'RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars.' In 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine compiled a list of the 100 most powerful drag queens in America by ranking former 'Ru Paul's Drag Race' contestants. But what you don't get to see on "Drag Race" is that all the queens bring their catwalk wardrobe choices with them from day one, meaning that even if a queen goes home during the first week, chances are she brought all the clothes necessary to take her to the final. Welcome! Upon her much anticipated entrance into All Stars 5, fan favorite Mayhem Miller got smacked with backlash on social media for wearing a $23 bodysuit from Amazon. Photo via VH1, Exactly! Cracker says, laughing. While its impossible to know exactly how much every queen spends to go on the show, Id estimatebased on conversations with several former contestants and the designers who often dress themcontestants are spending anywhere from $4,000 on the low end to upwards of $20,000 on the higher end. Behind the scenes, queens have only 90 minutes to get ready and are cut off from the outside world. Despite spending $14,000, Yvie said she knew from her first day on set that she had been outspent by everyone else on Season 11. The glamour of the contestants' outfits and make-up suggests opulence and wealth, so it's easy to assume that those competing are among the rich and powerful. If bespoke pieces arent in a queens budget, buying something inexpensive off the rack and customizing it (or glittering the fuck out of it, as Ru told Joe Black to do with the H&M frock) might not be a feasible alternative. As we all know, the winners split 50k between them, and the majority of the cast will go on to secure a wealth of sponsorship . To grab the brass ring you have to be a seriously fierce b*tch. I had never spent $500 on a costume. She was runner-up that week. Show: RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. How much do 'The Circle' contestants get paid? 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In the years since it began airing, RuPauls Drag Race has become a cultural juggernaut, with numerous spin-offs and international editions. Following a Drag Race run, many queens use their boosted incomeas well as any prize money they took hometo re-invest in their drag career. Throughout the time of filming, the competitors are also kept very closed off from the outside world. She then also won All Stars 7 and was crowned the Queen of All Queens, taking home the . The larger industry is just starting to catch up and see the entertainment value and commercial value of these artists, Slane added. Believe it or not, the Islanders actually DO get paid to be on the show - but it's not as much as you would think. But there are also many clauses that are very specific to Drag Race and life as a drag queen. White homos tend to know other rich white homos with money or if they dont have money, they know someone who does," Monique said. I spent more on this competition than I did on college, Cracker replies solemnly, and a moment of silence falls over both queens. And so the price reflects that. 10. The contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race receive $400 each per episode, and the winner walks away with the grand prize of $100,000. The RuPaul's Drag Race winner opens up about her spending, saving, and very glamourous splurging. The queens agree that the producers have the exclusive option to serve as my exclusive manager, and they cannot get a third-party manager without permission. You still have the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, no matter where you go home. After interviewing several former contestants on the show, a reporter for Vice concluded that most participants are spending anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 on their get-ups for the show. Human hair generally will start around $1,000 or $1,500, and go up from there, depending upon what they want., You can spend an entire week, week-and-a-half working on one thing, Guerra said. Learn more. Answer (1 of 6): Only some do. So, I believe its a myth that you can do Drag Race without money. This you dont need money ethos shows up a lot on Drag Race, despite the fact that you very obviously do need money to go on the show. Cast members have just two to four weeks after getting the call to prepare 2025 unique looks for all of the episodes events above (including an outfit, wig, and shoes, along with any unique makeup or accessories they want to use) before filming starts. Back in the olden days of Drag Race -when very first, nine fresh faced queens walked into the scarcely decorated World of Wonder set in February 2009 - the scale of the show was completely different. To wit: Alyssa Edwards starred in a reality show about her Dallas dance studio. Like most niche-based conventions, DragConprovides an environment where fans can meet their favorite queens and load up on merch. DragCon is big business, BBC reports. Jan 21 2023. If you haven't watched much Drag Race, here are the basics of how it works: Around 14 performers compete each season to become Americas next drag superstar. Every episode has a maxi challenge, in which contestants will be asked to demonstrate a skill like acting, improv, choreographed dancing, lip syncing, celebrity impersonation, stand-up comedy, or all of the above, while wearing an outfit theyve brought with them. Be there. Trixie Mattel, one of Drag Races most blessed and booked bitches (to use the term of art), has put out three albums, gone on tour, and been the subject of a Netflix documentary. A total of 113 queens have competed on the show. Sasha Velour on the Drag Race runway in a $60 look. Put another way: the value of her wardrobe was far more than the $5,000 she spent. Applying to the show means that the production company has the option to require me to appear in one season, but it also includes options for five more seasons, which producers can decide upon six months after the final episode airs. Sasha Velour said she spent $4,000 for her looks, half of which she had in savings, and half of which her father loaned her. Get reality TV news, reviews, and recommendations in your inbox every week. Here is a look at the wealthiest drag queens in 2022 and their estimated net worth. They get $900 per episode this season, not including the finale. Photos by Santiago Felipe / Getty Images.