RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 7)

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The seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 2, 2015. Returning judges included RuPaul and Michelle Visage, while the space previously occupied by Santino Rice was filled by new additions Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Matthews and Kressley were only both present for the season premiere and took turns sharing judging responsibilities thereafter. Shawn Morales, a member of the Pit Crew since the third season, and Simon Sherry-Wood, a member in the sixth season, do not appear this season and were replaced by Bryce Eilenberg. Like the previous two seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, the season featured 14 contestants competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, and a cash prize of $100,000. The season debuted with a live and same-day viewership of 350,000, a 20% increase from the previous season.

Violet Chachki is the winner of this season, with Ginger Minj and Pearl placing as co-runner ups while Katya was voted Miss Congeniality by fans.

In 2016 Ginger Minj and Katya competed on All Stars 2. Ginger placed 8th overall and Katya was runner-up with Season 5 contestant Detox.

In 2018 Kennedy Davenport and Trixie Mattel competed on All Stars 3. Kennedy was the runner-up, while Trixie won the competition.

In 2018 Kandy Ho competed on the Chilean version of RuPaul's Drag Race, The Switch 2, where she placed 8th overall.

In December 2018 Jasmine Masters competed on All Stars 4, where she placed 10th overall.

Contestants

Ginger Minj

Jaidynn Diore Fierce

Jasmine Masters

Kandy Ho

Katya

Kennedy Davenport

Max

Miss Fame

Mrs. Kasha Davis

Pearl

Sasha Belle

Tempest DuJour

Trixie Mattel

Violet Chachki

(Ages, real and drag names stated are during time of contest)

Rank	Contestant	Photo	Real Name	Age	Hometown	Ep. 1	Ep. 2	Ep. 3	Ep. 4	Ep. 5	Ep. 6	Ep. 7 (Snatch Game)	Ep. 8 (Make Over)	Ep. 9	Ep.10	Ep.11 (Ball)	Ep.12	Ep. 13 (Recap)	Ep. 14 (Reunion/ Finale)
1st (Winner)	Violet Chachki		Jason Dardo	22	Atlanta, GA	WIN	HIGH	SAFE	SAFE	LOW	SAFE	SAFE	HIGH	LOW	WIN Mini Chall. Winner	WIN	TOP 3	N/A	WINNER
2nd/3rd (Runners-up)	Ginger Minj		Joshua Eads-Brown	29	Orlando, FL	SAFE	WIN Team Captain	HIGH TEAM	HIGH	SAFE	HIGH TEAM Mini Chall. Winner	WIN	BTM2	WIN	BTM2	HIGH Mini Chall. Winner	TOP 3	N/A	RUN UP
	Pearl		Matt James	23	Brooklyn, NY	SAFE	SAFE	LOW	BTM2	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	BTM2	SAFE	HIGH	TOP 3	N/A	RUN UP
4th	Kennedy Davenport		Reuben Asberry Jr.	33	Dallas, TX	HIGH	SAFE	BTM2 Team Captain	WIN	HIGH	HIGH TEAM	WIN	SAFE Mini Chall. Winner	HIGH	SAFE	BTM2	ELIM		RTRN
5th (Miss Congeniality)	Katya		Brian McCook	32	Boston, MA	SAFE	BTM2	SAFE	HIGH	SAFE Mini Chall. Winner	WIN	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	WIN	ELIM			MISS CON
6th (orig. 11th)	Trixie Mattel		Brian Firkus	24	Milwaukee,WI	SAFE	SAFE Team Captain	HIGH TEAM	ELIM				WIN + RTRN	HIGH Mini Chall. Winner	ELIM				RTRN
7th	Miss Fame		Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen	29	New York, NY	HIGH	LOW	HIGH TEAM	HIGH	SAFE	LOW	LOW	LOW	ELIM					RTRN
8th	Jaidynn Diore Fierce		Christopher Williams	25	Nashville, TN	SAFE	SAFE	HIGH TEAM	HIGH	HIGH	BTM2	BTM2	ELIM						RTRN
9th	Max		Max Malanaphy	22	Hudson, WI	SAFE	SAFE	WIN Team Captain	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	OUT						RTRN
10th	Kandy Ho		Frank Diaz	28	Cayey, PR	BTM2	SAFE	SAFE	LOW	BTM2	ELIM		OUT						RTRN
11th	Mrs. Kasha Davis		Ed Popil	43	Rochester, NY	SAFE	HIGH	HIGH TEAM	SAFE	ELIM Mini Chall. Winner			OUT						RTRN
12th	Jasmine Masters		Martell Robinson	37	Los Angeles, CA	LOW	SAFE	ELIM					OUT						RTRN
13th	Sasha Belle		Jared Breakenridge	28	Iowa City, IA	LOW	ELIM						OUT						RTRN
14th	Tempest DuJour		Patrick Holt	47	Tucson, AZ	ELIM							OUT						RTRN

█ The contestant won RuPaul's Drag Race.

█ The contestant was a runner-up.

█ The contestant competed in a four person final lip-sync against all remaining contestants and placed as a top three finalist.

█ The contestant competed in a four-person final lip-sync against all remaining contestants and was eliminated.

█ The contestant won the maxi challenge.

█ The contestant was one of two maxi challenge winners.

█ The contestant was previously eliminated, was one of two maxi challenge winners& returned in Episode 8.

█ The contestant was one of the best but did not win the maxi challenge.

█ The contestant was a member of a winning team but did not win the maxi challenge.

█ The contestant was one of the worst but did not place in the bottom two.

█ The contestant placed in the bottom two but neither was eliminated.

█ The contestant placed in the bottom two but was not eliminated.

█ The contestant placed in the bottom two & was eliminated.

█ The contestant placed in the bottom two & both were eliminated.

█ The contestant was eliminated for the second time.

█ The contestant returned to the competition for one episode after being previously eliminated and was eliminated again without lip syncing.

█ The contestant returned to the competition after being previously eliminated, and was eliminated again after lip syncing.

█ After being eliminated, the contestant was voted Miss Congeniality by viewers.

█ After being eliminated, the contestant returned and appeared on the "Reunion" episode, but was out of the running.

█ The contestant did not participate in this episode.

Episodes

Episode 1: "Born Naked"

Airdate: March 2, 2015

• Guest Judge(s): Kathy Griffin
• Mini-Challenge: Model 2 looks; one for Spring and one for Fall.
• Main Challenge: Create a resort-wear tearaway to reveal a nude illusion. (Mini Challenge was part of the Main Challenge)
• Challenge Winner: Violet Chachki
• Main Challenge Prize: Dekoy Hair Care Products
• Bottom Two: Kandy Ho' and Tempest DuJour
• Lip Synch Song: 'Geronimo' by RuPaul Charles
• Eliminated: Tempest DuJour
• Farewell Message: "Love yourself. Live your truth. You're never too old to dream."

Entrance Order

Episode 2: "Glamazonian Airways"

Airdate: March 9, 2015

• Guest Judges: Jordin Sparks and Olivia Newton-John
• Mini-Challenge: Keep fish face as the Pit Crew blow jets of air into the queens faces
• Mini-Challenge Winner: Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel
• Main Challenge: Produce a pre-flight safety video for the first airline run by drag queens
• Runway Theme: Jetset Eleganza
• Challenge Winner: Ginger Minj
• Main Challenge Prize: Five night luxury hotel accommodations courtesy of 'My Gay Getaway'
• Bottom Two: Katya and Sasha Belle
• Lip Sync Song: 'Twist of Fate' by Olivia Newton-John
• Eliminated: Sasha Belle
• Farewell Message: "Love you, Mean it! Ginj for the win!".

*Ross Mathews did not appear on this episode

Glamazonian Airways

Episode 3: "Shakesqueer"

Airdate: March 16th, 2015

• Guest Judges: Kat Dennings and Mel B
• Mini-Challenge: Soul Train dance-off in granny drag
• Mini-Challenge Winners: Max and Kennedy Davenport
• Main Challenge: "Hamlet it up" in two twisted Shakespeare classics – Romy and Juliet and MacBitch
• Runway Theme: Bearded and Beautiful(inspired by Milk)
• Challenge Winner: Max
• Main Challenge Prize: Two couture latex creations, courtesy of Syren Latex
• Bottom Two: Jasmine Masters and Kennedy Davenport
• Lip Synch Song: 'I Was Gonna Cancel' by Kylie Minogue
• Eliminated: Jasmine Masters
• Farewell Message: "Best of luck ladies. Luv J. Masters."

*Carson Kressley did not appear on this episode

Episode 4: "Spoof! (There It Is)"

Airdate: March 23rd, 2015

• Guest Judges: Jessica Alba and Lucian Piane
• Main Challenge: Create a music video parody by writing lyrics, and doing vocals to a RuPaul song.
• Runway Theme: Green
• Challenge Winner: Kennedy Davenport
• Main Challenge Prize: 3 year supply of essential family products from The Honest Company
• Bottom Two: Pearl and Trixie Mattel
• Lip Synch Song: 'Dreaming' by Blondie
• Eliminated: Trixie Mattel
• Farewell Message: "Wear clown noses! Make fun of each other! Stay Plastic <3 Trixie Mattel. P.S. Fame – I used your lipstick, sorry :)"

*Carson Kressley did not appear on this episode

Episode 5: "The DESPY Awards"

Airdate: March 30th, 2015

• Guest Judge: Isaac Mizrahi
• Mini-Challenge: Make their own paper versions of classic celebrity red carpet outfits, working in pairs assigned by Ru.
• Mini-Challenge Winner(s): Katya and Mrs. Kasha Davis
• Main Challenge: Come up with funny banter and take jabs at the other queens while presenting awards for different categories at the first ever DESPY Awards.
• Main Challenge WInner(s): Max and Pearl
• Main Challenge Prize: custom jewel packages from Fierce Drag Jewels
• Bottom Two: Kandy Ho' and Mrs. Kasha Davis
• Lip Synch Song: 'Lovergirl' by Teena Marie
• Eliminated: Mrs. Kasha Davis
• Farewell Message: "Be good to yourself. Be good to one another. Love to the moon & back! xo MKD."

*Carson Kressley did not appear on this episode

Episode 6:" Ru-Hollywood Stories"

Airdate: April 6th, 2015

• Guest Judges: Ariana Grande and Merle Ginsberg
• Mini-Challenge: Ask members of the Pit Crew to pull cards out of their underwear to earn points
• Mini-Challenge Winner: Ginger Minj
• Main Challenge: Reenact "Whatever Happened to Merle Ginsberg" from the point of view of Merle, RuPaul and Michelle Visage in groups of three asigned by Ginger Minj.
• Runway Theme: Death Becomes Her
• Main Challenge Winner: Katya
• Main Challenge Prize:  $2,000 giftcard to FABRICplanet
• Bottom Two: Jaidynn Diore Fierce & Kandy Ho
• Lip-sync Song: "Break Free" By: Ariana Grande
• Eliminated: Kandy Ho
• Farewell Message: "Everything happens 4 a reason, pero la vida continua! Big things will come! Kandy Ho xoxo"

Episode 7: Snatch Game

Airdate: April 13th, 2015

• Guest Judge: Tamar Braxton and Michael Urie^[4]
• Alternating Judge: Ross Matthews
• Main Challenge: Snatch Game
• Runway Theme: Leather & Lace
• Challenge Winner: Kennedy Davenport & Ginger Minj (tie)
• Main Challenge Prize: Feather accessories from Mother Plucker
• Bottom Two: Jaidynn Diore Fierce and Max
• Lip-sync Song: "No More Lies" by Michel'le
• Eliminated: Max
• Farewell message: "Stay kind. Stay gracious. Stay humble. I love you, darlings. Xx Max"

Episode 8: "Conjoined Queens"

Airdate: April 20th, 2015

• Guest Judge: LeAnn Rimes and Nelsan Ellis
• Special Guest: Latrice Royale
• Alternating Judge: Ross Matthews
• Mini-Challenge: Creating a look using prison uniforms
• Mini-Challenge Winner: Kennedy Davenport
• Main Challenge: Create a conjoined twin makeover with a previously eliminated queen
• Challenge Winner: Pearl and Trixie Mattel
• Main Challenge Prize: A custom website by Square Space
• Returned: Trixie Mattel
• Bottom Two: Jaidynn Diore Fierce/Tempest DuJour and Ginger Minj/Sasha Belle
• Lip-sync Song: "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany
• Eliminated: Jaidynn Diore Fierce
• Farewell message: "Stay Fierce! Werq that puss! I love you all xoxo Jaidynn Diore Fierce <3"

Re-Entrance Order

Episode 9: "Divine Inspiration"

Airdate: April 27th, 2015

• Guest Judge: John Waters and Demi Lovato
• Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
• Mini-Challenge: "Reading is Fundamental"
• Mini-Challenge Winner: Trixie Mattel
• Main Challenge: Musical versions of John Waters' most iconic films
• Runway Theme: Ugliest dress ever
• Challenge Winner: Ginger Minj
• Main Challenge Prize: A hair collection by Weavin' Steven
• Bottom Two: Pearl and Miss Fame
• Lip-sync Song:  "Really Don't Care" by Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd
• Eliminated: Miss Fame
• Farewell message: "Continue to inspire. You are incredible! I love you. FAME"

Who Should Go Home Tonight?

Episode 10: "Prancing Queens"

Airdate: May 4th, 2015

• Guest Judge: Alyssa Milano and Rachel Harris
• Alternating Judge: Carson Kressley
• Mini-Challenge: Create a "Fake Housewives of Drag Race" look using tape.
• Mini-Challenge Winner: Violet Chachki
• Main Challenge: Dancing in a live drag dance spectacular
• Runway Theme: Half man, half woman
• Challenge Winner: Katya and Violet Chachki
• Main Challenge Prize: An original gown from Mountbatten Concepts and a gift card from Klein Epstein & Parker
• Bottom Two: Trixie Mattel and Ginger Minj
• Lip-sync Song:  "Show Me Love" by Robin S.
• Eliminated: Trixie Mattel
• Farewell message: "WTF Just Happened?!? #GirlBye, Thx Pearl. Stay Plastic <3 Spoiler Alert Trixie Mattel Doesn't Win LOL'"

Episode 11: "Hello, Kitty Girls!"

Airdate: May 11, 2015

• Guest Judge: Santino Rice and Rebecca Romijn
• Alternating Judge(s): Carson Kressley
• Mini Challenge: Everybody Loves Puppets
• Mini Challenge Winner: Ginger Minj
• Main Challenge: Create outfits only using products provided by Hello Kitty
• Challenge Winner: Violet Chachki
• Main Challenge Prize: Hello Kitty Extravaganza Package
• Bottom Two: Kennedy Davenport and Katya
• Lip-sync Song: "Roar" by Katy Perry
• Eliminated: Katya
• Farewell message: "Devochki! Ya vas lyubit! If you need me, you know where to find me. (The dumpster out back) XOXO Katya AKA The Brooke Hogan of drag AKA Diarrhea Perlman ♥♥♥"

Episode 12: "And the Rest Is Drag"

Airdate: May 18, 2015

• Alternating Judge(s): Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley
• Main Challenge: Star in the music video for RuPaul's single "Born Naked"
• Lip-sync Song: "Born Naked" by RuPaul
• Eliminated: Kennedy Davenport

Top Three of Season 7

Queens	Challenge Wins	Up for Elimination
	3 (Eps. 2, 7, 9)	2 (Eps. 8, 10)
	2 (Eps. 5, 8)	2 (Eps. 4, 9)
	3 (Eps. 1, 10, 11)	0

Trivia

• The lip-sync assassins of Season 7 were Ginger Minj, Pearl, Kennedy Davenport, Jaidynn Diore Fierce and Kandy Ho. Ginger sent home Jaidynn Diore Fierce and Trixie Mattel, Pearl sent home Miss Fame and Trixie Mattel, Kennedy sent home Jasmine Masters and Katya, Jaidynn sent home Max and Kandy Ho and Kandy sent home Tempest DuJour and Mrs. Kasha Davis.
• Season 7 is the first season with two big girls lip-syncing against each other.
• Season 7 is the only season where every queen in the Top 6 has a joint win.
  • It featured the most joint wins in a regular season, with 4 such instances (Max and Pearl, Ginger Minj and Kennedy Davenport, Pearl and Trixie Mattel, and Violet Chachki and Katya).
  • In addition, the Top 5 all had at least 2 wins each, the only one of its kind in drag race herstory.
• Besides Trixie's joint win to reenter the race, every queen to win a challenge during the season won at least 2 total challenges, this is the only occurrence of this in Drag Race herstory.
• Season 7 featured the first queen to make it to the finale without a solo win (Pearl), who shared both of her wins with Max and Trixie Mattel respectively.
  • Sasha Velour would go on to do the same in Season 9, sharing both of her wins with Shea Couleé.
• Season 7 is the first season featuring a previously eliminated queen (Trixie Mattel) who stayed past the following episode without being eliminated.
  • Later on, both Naysha Lopez and Latrice Royale would go on and stay past their returning episodes in their respective seasons (Season 8 and All Stars 4).
• Not counting All Stars, Season 7 has the most queens with multiple wins, featuring 6 (Max, Katya, Kennedy Davenport, Pearl, Ginger Minj and Violet Chachki).
  • Coincidentally, Max is also the lowest placing queen in the show's history with multiple wins, placing at 9th (originally 8th prior to Trixie Mattel's return).
• The second season to have a plus-sized queen make it to the Top 3; the first being Season 5.
• A hint of who the winner and who the first one out were going to be was given in the trailer. It contained a brief shot where winner Violet Chachki and first out Tempest DuJour walked towards each other. This strategy was used in other seasons' trailers as well.
  • Notably during the All Stars 2 trailer and promo art where Alaska and Coco Montrese fought over a crown.
• Season 7 is the best performing regular season overall on the Dusted or Busted scoring system, with 6 queens (less than half of the cast) out of 14 having a score of less than 0
• As of June 15th 2019, close to a third of the cast has over 1 million followers on Instagram (Katya, Miss Fame, Trixie Mattel and Violet Chachki), and therefore makes this the regular season with the most queens in its cast to have over 1 million followers (the largest is All Stars 2 with 5 queens).
• This is the first season since season 2 to not have a double shantay.

Gallery

Check out the lookbook gallery to see the queens' looks from each episode.

Guest Judges

(In alphabetical order by stage name and/or last name)

• Jessica Alba (actress)
• Mel B (singer)
• Tamar Braxton (singer and television personality)
• Kat Dennings (actress)
• Ariana Grande (singer and actress)
• Merle Ginsberg (journalist)
• Kathy Griffin (comedienne)
• Rachael Harris (actress and comedienne)
• Demi Lovato (singer and actress)
• Alyssa Milano (actress)
• Isaac Mizrahi (fashion designer)
• Olivia Newton-John (actress and singer)
• Lucian Piane (music producer)
• Santino Rice (fashion designer)
• Rebecca Romijn (actress)
• Jordin Sparks (singer and actress)
• Michael Urie (actor)
• John Waters (director)

Changes

After six Seasons, Santino Rice did not return to Season 7 as a main judge. In his place, two new alternating main judges were introduced: Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews.

Season 7 is the first season in series history to not included an ethnic Asian contestant. Also, a new tradition was started where eliminated contestants take a souvenir with themselves upon elimination: a RuPaul 'Drag Race' maquette.

Pit Crew members Shawn Morales (who appeared from Season 3 up to Season 6), and Simon Sherry-Wood (who only appeared in Season 6) did not return to the show. In their place, one new Pit Crew member was introduced, a ginger haired man named Bryce Eilenburg, creating the first three membered Pit Crew on the show since Season 1.

Controversially, the follow up companion series "Untucked" was canceled in it's TV show format and was moved exclusively online to YouTube, with a sponsorship from the internet site "Squarespace", including a brand new format, new cinematography, and new staging. The show was given more of a "behind the scenes" feel, and the former "Untucked" lounge set was completely eliminated, opting instead to have the contestants sitting on furniture "backstage" behind the "Main Stage" set.

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