RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 queens promise 'profane imagery' on runway, loads of drama, and twisty 'panic' ahead

The RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 new cast of queens is swimming in excellence. Anchored by one of the show's youngest-ever collective casts, the fresh crop of contenders promises that "wetter is better" when it comes to their joint slay, as they prepare to flood fans' basements with a tidal wave of prowess when the new season begins early next year.

In anticipation of January's premiere episode, Entertainment Weekly takes an exclusive deep dive into the cool, refreshing waters of each queen's past, present, and future in our annual round of one-on-one video interviews, as the cast teases a brand new, unprecedented twist that aims to plunge the series into new competitive depths.

“I feel as though, nowadays, the cast is getting younger and younger, and I feel as though we’re so meta at this point," says Boston's Kori King, who joins the show as the drag sister of season 16's Villainess-in-Chief, Plane Jane. "Now it’s like, I grew up watching Drag Race, and now I’m on Drag Race. We’re doing what we would’ve wanted to see on TV, and that’s what you’re going to get. We’ve watched it. We’ve seen it."

New York City model Lana Ja'Rae — who, at age 22, is the youngest of the season — adds that season 17 "ups the game because we’re all aware that we’re on a season together and we have to make TV," but notes the cast didn't lose any love in the process, even if there were some fireworks.

"We can call you a bitch, but we love you, you know?" Lana muses to EW. "There’s lots of drama, good performances, good challenges, good people — lots of beautiful people. What more could you ask for? The perfect package."

Speaking of packages, New Jersey's self-described Barbie and Ken Doll, Crystal Envy (sister to season 14's Jasmine Kennedie) says that the runways on season 17 surpass what fans have seen in the past: “The looks on this season are some of the most amazing looks I think you guys will ever see on the show. They are top-tier designs, looks, and fashions, and it gives a level to Drag Race that we haven’t seen yet," she explains. "That’s really going to set the bar. There’s some fun twists and turns coming up, some things you might not be expecting, some gags. The game is new, I will say that!"

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Details on that new twist are still under... water, but stay tuned as more droplets fall in the days ahead. For now, watch all of EW's exclusive video interviews with the new cast of queens below, before RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 premieres Friday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 17 cast interviews

Acacia Forgot

Key facts: Singer-songwriter in the bluegrass genre who was raised in a musical family; worked as a music therapist at New York City's Mt. Sinai Hospital; from California, moved to North Dakota, then to New York, then back to California.

EW quote: "When I moved to North Dakota, I was straight. So, there’s that. I was like, 'I’m going to meet a nice woman, a Christian girl, we’re going to get a farm.' Then, I realized I was gay, and I was like, scratch that. Every year of my school I was like, how can I get more gay and more gay? By senior year, I graduated into drag."

Arrietty

Key facts: Drag mother is season 15's Irene Dubois, which means season 14's Bosco is her drag aunt; her season 17 sisters voted her the villain of the season; signature look is elf ears and feline-inspired nose makeup; Bad Girls Club superfan; named after the 2010 Hayao Miyazaki movie The Secret World of Arrietty.

EW quote: “If you’re going to be a f---ing bitch, you’ve got to look good. You can’t be ugly. I’m sorry, that’s sad."

Crystal Envy

Key facts: Drag sister is season 14's Jasmine Kennedie; not related to season 11 and All Stars 6 alum Scarlet Envy; feels she is one of the "top-tier" makeup artists on the show; loves an expertly crafted reveal; considers herself to serve Barbie and Ken, and enjoys showing off as both.

EW quote: “I do identify as a gay man, so I live my life as that. When I come into this personality, I just feel it so much more. I do feel like I’m a Barbie doll and I’m a Ken doll, and I can dress them up exactly how I want.... Chris, as a person, has a day job. I’m a makeup artist, I have my own business, I’m brand as Chris, and I'm also a brand as Crystal. For me, they’re separate, but also still in [me]. It depends on which one I want to pull out!"

Hormona Lisa

Key facts: Cast on the season after she caught RuPaul's attention at a House of Hidden Meanings book tour stop in Atlanta earlier this year; appeared on an episode of Bring Back My Girls to ask the season 14 queens a question from the audience; president of the local pride board and trans activist in Chattanooga, Tenn.; her handmade garments have been displayed in galleries as art; her pageant drag is inspired by JonBenét Ramsey and Disney princesses.

EW quote: "I think people that have that [cutthroat pageant] attitude may not be a natural-born winner, and I believe that I am, so I don’t have to do that whole thing, you know?"

Jewels Sparkles

Key facts: Drag granddaughter of season 9, All Stars 4, and All Stars 7 alum Trinity The Tuck, which means she's also related to season 17's Sam Star; drag inspired by Priscilla Presley and Ariana Grande; has hilarious TikTok video with over 1 million views, in which she offers a cash tip to an Elsa animatronic on the Frozen Ever After ride at Disney World.

EW quote: "I will always tip my local drag queens.... This animatronic was just so sickening. I had to pull a dollar out. She didn’t take it, but I had to at least attempt it. She was just serving too much c--t up on that castle. Sometimes she glitches, but that day, not a glitch in sight!"

Joella

Key facts: Once had an "awkward" night following JoJo Siwa around West Hollywood to help promote one of her singles; used to be known as Joella Perry because she loves Katy Perry, whom she got to know at a listening party for the 2017 album Witness; loves making silly faces during performances; watching Gigi Goode on season 12 helped her realize she is gender-fluid.

EW quote: "When I grew up, I always told my mom I wanted to be an actor and she told me, 'You’re Asian, you’re a man, you're never going to get any role except the sidekick comedy role'.... I’ve never been cast as the role I wanted because they don’t write stories for people like me. But now, I’m doing drag and I’m doing all these things I want to do because drag gives me that. I step back and look around and there’s actually so many AAPI people being cast in main roles and stories being written for us to star in. It means a lot."

Kori King

Key facts: Rose to internet fame for early YouTube and TikTok videos, with a huge following on both platforms; castmates suggest she's the one to watch for chaos in Untucked; created an online competition of dolls called Barbie's Doll Race; sisters with season 16 star Plane Jane (and confirms Plane still has Jujubee's luggage); embraces her physique and likes to literally lift up burly men at her shows and make them pick up her dollars for her; unique skills as an animator specializing in hand-drawn characters.

EW quote: "Of the season, I’m the child of God."

Lana Ja'Rae

Key facts: Drag daughter of season 15 finalist Luxx Noir London; youngest queen of the season at 22; a signed, working model in New York City; played Miss Trunchbull with "huge titties" in a school production of Matilda; drag aesthetic inspired by '90s supermodels like Naomi Campbell.

EW quote: “I told myself I was the best in the room, but I also realized everybody else in the room was also the best in the room. I just did the best I could do and prayed that was enough. I was like, you know what, you look c--t today, and that’s amazing. You have to be at peace with that."

Lexi Love

Key facts: Drag Race UK winner Krystal Versace made Lexi the official United States Ambassador to the House of Versace; skilled roller derby queen; season 17 sisters nearly unanimously voted for her as mother of the season; works as full-time playmate at the iconic Play club in Louisville, Ky.; submitted five audition tapes before being cast; drag dad is Mr. Continental pageant winner Mykul Jay Valentine.

EW quote: "I’ve been through the ringer of life and I am here to succeed with everybody on 10. I don’t want to compete against people who are not at their best or feel at their best or feel intimidated by X, Y, an Z. So, creating a bond with each person was very important to me and being there for them in moments that maybe were low or they were struggling, because, bitch, I knew I would have low moments and I knew I’d struggle because I’ve done it time and time again, and I’d need to lean on those people, so I’d need to be there for them so they will be there for me."

Lucky Starzzz

Key facts: Born in Havana, Cuba and moved to Miami, Fla. at age 3; friends with Drag Race alums Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Morphine Love Dion, and Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige — Malaysia even helped Lucky pay for oversized baggage fees to ensure she'd make it to set; loves making elaborate headpieces that compliment a theatrical story told through costume on her body; inspired by "poop" to make a past look; enjoys "ruining childhoods" by creating complex, sometimes foreboding recreations of cartoon characters.

EW quote: “I like to kind of look like just this crazy character, sometimes with big boobs, that are not literal boobs, maybe cherries, coconuts cut open with straws coming out, planet Earths that are cracked because the world is ending.”

Lydia B Kollins

Key facts: Middle name is "Butthole"; film major inspired by stop-motion animation and horror; once created a look based on the film Cannibal Holocaust that saw her impaled from her mouth through to her butt; likes to filter "absolutely traumatic events" from her past through the lens of the grotesque; has large collection of horror memorabilia, and makes handmade dolls on the side.

EW quote: "I don’t know if it’s possible to completely blur out a look for profane imagery, but I think I might have done that [on the Main Stage]. I didn’t ask for permission; I asked for forgiveness, and by the time I was on the runway, it was too late, you know?"

Onya Nurve

Key facts: A 14-year theater veteran who's so good at acting that a director once created an extra role for her in a production of To Kill a Mockingbird; friends with Akashia from Drag Race season 1; uses her platform to help young people of color and drag artists with makeup and sewing skills, as well as employment access.

EW quote: "I don’t know how to describe my style of drag because it is not the traditional style of drag. I think I focus a lot on my facial expression and the lip-sync of it all. I try to really embody what the song gives. I’m not really a poppy girl. I like to do old stuff, like Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Nina Simone. I like to do stuff you wouldn’t expect an entertainer like me to do and turn it on its head. I love to do Eartha Kitt and Barbra Streisand, and do it in a different way that’s just Black and glamorous."

Sam Star

Key facts: Drag mother is season 9, All Stars 4, and All Stars 7 alum Trinity The Tuck, which means she's also related to season 17 sister Jewels Sparkles; from Alabama and prides herself on her Southern identity; competed on Love for the Arts digital reality competition; grew up as a competitive cheerleader; dropped out of the University of Alabama's musical theater program after she learned she'd have to spend $2,000 on text books.

EW quote: “I think the twists are definitely twisting. It’s like a Bop-it, everything is going on all at once; but, I’d say it will be an exciting season. As a cast, we were down to have fun and I don’t think any of us take drag or life too seriously, which I think is hard to come by because the girls are very serious. Well, some of the girls are. We had such a good time. I love all the girls. I hate to admit that I do. I wanted to come in here and hate them all so it would be easier to compete, but they were all so nice and talented in their own way. I think people are going to like it, and even if you don’t, please tune in to see me because I’m an attention whore!"

Suzie Toot

Key facts: Veteran tap dancer who's been performing on stage since she was eight years old; professional actress with an upcoming credit on her IMDb page; has a BFA in musical theater and may or may not be the BFA weaponizer of the season; once performed a live show on a moving train based on The Polar Express; season 17 sisters called her "Professor Toot" on set — they also nearly unanimously deemed her as the worst runway queen of the season.

EW quote: "I’m going to stake a claim right here and let you know, Joey Nolfi, that I’m the most fashionable queen on season 17."