RuPaul’s Drag Race: 10 Guest Judges You Forgot About
RuPaul’s Drag Race may be the biggest reality competition phenomenon currently on TV, but this wasn’t always the case. With that said, even during its early days, the show always managed to attract huge celebrities to appear as guest judges, many of whom have been seemingly forgotten by the fans over time.
Largely due to RuPaul’s great relationships in Hollywood, Drag Race has been pulling hugely famous guest judges since its very first season. However, it is safe to say that certain celebrities were not entirely in tune with what this show actually was, fading into the background over time and prompting fans to forget they were ever there.
10 MICHELLE WILLIAMS
There are many diehard RuPaul’s Drag Race fans that have yet to watch the first season of the show, which largely contributes to the fact that everyone seems to have forgotten that none other than Michelle Williams was sitting on the judging panel during the second-ever episode of the series.
Fans that do remember Michelle Williams on Drag Race often quote her “I just saw a messy man” quote to Akashia. However, it is clear that the majority of the fanbase is familiar with that quote without truly realizing that it was delivered by one of the members of Destiny’s Child.
9 SHANIA TWAIN
It was a long time coming for the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise to use Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” for a lip-sync. Shania is famously careful about licensing her music for TV shows to use, so it was a huge deal for the singer to not only allow Drag Race season 10 to use one of her most iconic tracks but to have her on as a guest judge as well.
With that said, Shania Twain’s long-awaited appearance on the show was a somewhat forgetful one. During that episode, RuPaul highlighted that Kameron Michaels was a massive fan of the singer, who seemed less than enthused about the whole interaction.
8 LISA RINNA
Lisa Rinna is known for her acting roles on Days of Our Lives and Melrose Place, as well as her status as one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. However, it seems like many fans have forgotten that this television star was a guest judge on season 2.
Given the massive following of The Real Housewives franchise within the LGBTQ community, it seemed like a given that many Drag Race fans would remember Lisa Rinna being on the show. However, there’s certainly a universal sense that her guest judge appearance surprises viewers who decide to watch season 2 all over again.
7 CANDIS CAYNE
Over time, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding RuPaul’s Drag Race and its embracing of openly trans women on the show.
With that said, fans seem to often forget that actress, choreographer, and trans icon Candis Cayne appeared on the show various times, choreographing the finalists on seasons 4, 5, and 7. Then, on season 9, Candis sat in the judging panel for the Snatch Game episode.
It is not uncommon to hear from fans that they think that Ru wouldn’t want an openly trans woman to sit on the judging panel, seemingly forgetting that this has already happened.
6 BOB MACKIE
Legendary fashion designer Bob Mackie was a judge on the very first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 1. Because it feels like such a huge vote of confidence for a world-class designer to be featured on the pilot episode of a show featuring drag queens, it is certainly a bit weird for fans to forget that this happened.
Bob Mackie made two other appearances on Drag Race, which took place on seasons 5 and 6. Still, it is certainly odd that his first appearance is so often forgotten about. Thankfully, season 1 is now available on various streaming services, no longer being ‘The Lost Season’ that fans don’t have access to.
5 GIGI HADID
As the ultimate ‘supermodel of the world,’ RuPaul has always shared a close connection to the fashion industry, ranging all the way from designers to models. On season 8, Drag Race featured one of the most high-in-demand models of the moment, Gigi Hadid, who looked beautiful as ever.
All in all, Gigi Hadid’s appearance as a guest judge was very forgetful. What’s more, it is probably for the best that many fans seem to forget her time on the show, given that the model was not even aware that drag queens used pads to shape their bodies. Besides Gigi’s low energy during that episode, her complete lack of drag knowledge felt off-putting to certain Drag Race fans.
4 LILY TOMLIN
It is hard to forget anything Lily Tomlin does, so how in the world would a RuPaul’s Drag Race fan forget that this legendary actress was on the show?
With that said, many diehard Drag Race fans seem to completely forget that Lily Tomlin was a guest judge on the show’s third season, even after RuPaul landed a guest role on Grace & Frankie season 5. During that particular episode, actress Alessandra Torresani sat alongside Lily Tomlin on the judging panel. In 2019, Torresani became a running gag in the Race Chaser podcast hosted by Alaska and Willam, even coming on the show for an interview.
While we love Alessandra Torresani for her incredible attitude toward Drag Race queens, it is certainly odd that she is now better remembered as a guest judge than the iconic Lily Tomlin.
3 THE B-52S
RuPaul was featured on the music video for “Love Shack” by The B-52’s, which is undoubtedly the band’s most popular song of all time. Due to the longstanding relationship between Ru and this band, the members of The B-52’s came on as guest judges on the second episode of Drag Race season 9.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what was so forgettable about The B-52’s on Drag Race. However, given their deep connection to RuPaul, fans expected them to be much more memorable than they actually were on the show. With that said, it probably didn’t help that their appearance took place on the episode that followed Lady Gaga as a guest judge.
2 HALSEY
Over the course of 11 seasons, several huge popstars have been featured as guest judges on RuPaul’s Drag Race. To name a few, we’ve seen Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Olivia Newton-John.
Halsey is one of the biggest names in the newer generation of divas in pop music, so it felt like a perfect fit for the singer to appear as a guest judge on season 10 of Drag Race. However, despite the fact that this a very recent season, it seems like many fans struggle to remember that she was ever there. All in all, Halsey and Drag Race are no “Strangers,” but fans don’t really remember that.
1 MEGHAN TRAINOR
One of the most well-known guest judges to appear on season 9 of Drag Race was singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, who sat on the judging panel literally wearing a unicorn onesie. With such a wide recognition (and quite the colorful outfit), it is a little strange that Meghan’s appearance on the show fell so flat, prompting fans to forget that she was even there.
To be fair, Meghan Trainor appeared in the “Reality Stars: The Musical” episode, which is now mostly remembered as the episode where Eureka O’Hara was sent home due to an injury. All in all, this is a testament to the fact that fans often pay more attention to the contestants than to the guest judges on the show.