New ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10’ format change rules explained

You thought drag queens were good at math? Guess what, Mimi, they’re not — but RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 changed the rules for its new bracket-style tournament anyway, and threw in a numbers-based point system twist to top it all off.

Friday’s premiere episode saw RuPaul sprout a mustache as he sat at the panel in boy drag to deliver news of the format’s rules to returning queens Aja, Bosco, DeJa Skye, Irene the Alien, Olivia Lux, and Phoenix, all of whom comprised the first of All Stars 10 three separate six-queen groups.

“In the preliminary rounds, no one will be eliminated,” RuPaul told the contestants. “Instead, you’ll be competing for points. At the end of this three-episode bracket, the three all-stars with the most points form this bracket will advance to the semi-finals, where you will face off against the top-three all-stars from the other brackets.”

In essence, only three queens from each six-queen bracket will advance to the next round, where the queens will compete until they’re whittled down to a final two.

“In the final lip-sync smackdown for the crown, the top all-stars will battle it out for the grand prize of $200,000. Yes, honey, that’s a lot of full-coverage foundation,” RuPaul continued, while season 9 and All Stars 3 alum Aja reacted with excitement: “Baby, we’re going to have to fight to the death,” the New York City queen exclaimed.

Ru elaborated further on the scoring system, telling the queens that points will be distributed several times per episode. The top two queens of the week will get two points each, and that pair will then lip-sync for the overall victory that comes with an additional point and a $10,000 tip.

As usual, though, Ru wasn’t done there.

“There is more. An additional four points will be awarded each episode. But, more on that later,” Ru teased to the shocked queens at the top of the premiere.

Later, after a metal-themed music challenge, Aja and Irene were named the top queens of the week. Upon deeming Aja to be the top all-star, RuPaul expanded upon the point system’s extra layer.

“All-stars, with great power comes great responsibility. Each week, the bottom four queens will each receive one point, but here’s the twist: You can’t keep the point for yourself,” Ru told the girls. “You must give it away to the all-star you believe is the MVQ: the Most Valuable Queen of the week. I’ll leave it up to each of you to decide which all-star deserves your MVQ point.”

Ru then reiterated that at the end of the first three episodes, three queens among the group would be eliminated before the second bracket entered the Werk Room to compete on episodes 4-6.

In an exclusive group interview with Entertainment Weekly (above), the cast reacted to the format change with a range of emotions, with some using it as a chance to playfully jab their sisters, and others seeing the changes as an opportunity to develop new strategies that haven’t been seen on the show in the past.

“For a lot of girls, this was the first time they ever felt like they were [in the] top six, and it showed, and I loved it,” Aja joked, while season 14 finalist Bosco said she feels the AS10 competition is a “more fair experience going into All Stars” that equalizes the competitors, after some queens are on their third (Aja, Jorgeous, Cynthia Lee Fontaine) and even fourth (Ginger Minj) seasons.

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“I think being in a smaller group, there’s more chance to focus on everything…. you’re able to keep your eye on the girls a little bit more,” season 13’s Tina Burner added. “I can watch every one of them and all the shady s— they’re trying to do, and know who to not talk to and who to keep at a tender distance.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 continues Fridays on Paramount+.