RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: 10 Frontrunners Who Didn’t Win

Over the course of 12 seasons, the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise has introduced fans to several fantastic queens. However, there can usually only be one winner per season (with the exception of All Stars 4!), which means that many incredible contestants with great track records are forced to go home without a crown.

On RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, the contestants are typically even hungrier to get their redemption arc, given that they were usually somewhat underrated or underperforming during their original season. Thankfully, this has happened to many queens who have now entered the Drag Race Hall of Fame. With that said, there have been many All Stars “frontrunners” that stumbled before they could be crowned.

10 Katya (AS2)

Katya went straight from being crowned the Miss Congeniality of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 7 to competing on All Stars 2. During that season, Katya won three maxi challenges, which means that she had one of the strongest track records of the cast. Given the fan support for the queen, Katya was undoubtedly one of the best candidates that could’ve been crowned on All Stars 2.

However, at the end of the day, Alaska did have more maxi challenge wins (4) and only landed in the bottom once on All Stars 2, making her the clearest choice to enter the Drag Race Hall of Fame.

9 Shangela (AS3)

Before All Stars 3 started, it seemed like the season was destined to finally give Shangela the crown she has longed deserved, particularly when one considered how much the queen had evolved since she first competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2.

As the season went on, Shangela won three maxi challenges. When the finale came around, it seemed like a given that Trixie Mattel and Shangela would be the Top 2 who would compete for the crown. However, All Stars 3 introduced the twist of having a “jury” of eliminated queens choosing the two finalists, which left Shangie out of the Lip Sync For The Crown.

8 Manila Luzon (AS4)

Up until episode 8, All Stars 4 had a clear frontrunner in Manila Luzon. At that point, the queen had won three maxi challenges and won two of those Lip Syncs For Your Legacy. Moreover, every contestant on the season had openly admitted that Manila was the queen to beat.

Unfortunately, Manila Luzon fell in the Bottom 2 during the makeover challenge along with Latrice Royale, a queen who had further developed her relationships with the other contestants on All Stars 4. When Naomi Smalls won the Lip Sync For Your Legacy, she decided to eliminate Manila, which sent a shockwave throughout the entire Drag Race fandom.

7 Shannel (AS1)

It is unfortunate that Shannel doesn’t get more credit for her performance on All Stars 1. After all, the queens competed in pairs during that season, and Shannel was instrumental in getting Chad Michaels to the finale (and ultimately winning the crown).

As Team Shad, Chad Michaels and Shannel wont three maxi challenges and only landed in the bottom once during All Stars 1. This means that, at the finale, Shannel had the exact same track record as the winner of the season, and yet was not given the chance to lip sync for the crown.

6 Detox (AS2)

Just like Katya, Detox won three maxi challenges on All Stars 2, but she also only landed in the bottom one time. This means that, statistically, Detox was an even stronger frontrunner than Katya, and only one maxi challenge win behind Alaska.

In hindsight, it seems strange that much of the discourse surrounding the All Stars 2 crowning revolves around Alaska and Katya, when, in fact, Detox had a better track record and received extremely positive critiques from the judges all season long.

5 BenDeLaCreme (AS3)

Fans had loved BenDeLaCreme on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 6, but no one could have predicted the powerhouse of a performer that showed up for All Stars. In the six episodes that Ben competed on All Stars 3, the queen won five maxi challenges and never landed in the bottom.

This means that BenDeLaCreme only missed out on winning one maxi challenge she that competed on. Even five seasons later, there has yet to be another queen who was as clear of a frontrunner as Ben on All Stars. Unfortunately, the pressure of the competition and its queen-on-queen voting system got to BenDeLaCreme, who decided to eliminate herself.

4 Monique Heart (AS4)

The most impressive thing about Monique Heart’s time on All Stars 4 is that, like Katya, the queen went straight from her original season to competing on All Stars – which is not an easy thing.

At the All Stars 4 finale, Monique Heart and Monet X Change had three maxi challenge wins each and were only one maxi win behind Trinity The Tuck. Statistically, there is no denying that Monique Heart was as clear of a frontrunner for the All Stars 3 crown as her sisters. However, the queen was somehow not chosen to compete in the Lip Sync For The Crown.

3 Alyssa Edwards (AS2)

When it comes to All Stars 2, besides the usual erasure of Detox’s performance on the season, fans often forget that Alyssa Edwards was a formidable contestant who had absolutely earned her spot in the finale.

When All Stars 2 got to its penultimate episode, the Top 2 queens of the week had to choose between eliminating Alaska (four maxi wins), Alyssa Edwards (two maxi wins), or Roxxxy Andrews (one maxi win and five times in the bottom). Considering Roxxxy’s poor track record and Alyssa being part of the best lip sync in Drag Race history that season, it was certainly a shock when Detox chose to keep Alyssa out of the finale.

2 BeBe Zahara Benet (AS3)

Many fans had a weird reaction to seeing BeBe Zahara Benet competing on All Stars 3 given that the queen had already been crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 1. With that said, it is of note that BeBe had one of the strongest performances of the season, having won two maxi challenges and only landed in the bottom once.

In fact, BeBe Zahara Benet’s All Stars 3 track record was stronger than Trixie Mattel’s and Kennedy Davenport’s. Statistically, BeBe was only behind Shangela for a chance to win the crown. With that said, the “jury” of eliminated queens decided to keep BeBe out of the lip sync for the crown, so there wasn’t much that the judges could do to reward the queen’s performance on All Stars.

1 Naomi Smalls (AS4)

The judges may have dismissed Naomi Smalls’ performance on All Stars 4, but fans were very vocal about how unfairly the queen was judged throughout the season.

Despite the fact that Naomi Smalls only officially won one maxi challenge on All Stars, she placed ‘high’ during several episodes – many of which she could’ve easily won. In the end, Naomi earned her spot in the finale, but it is a shame that the queen was dismissed as not having a chance to take the crown.

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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