‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10’: Orange Bracket Queens Reveal What Brought Them Back

Orange you glad? “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” returns for Season 10 this week.

To celebrate the first-ever Tournament of All Stars on Friday, the first six queens to re-enter the werkroom — Aja, Bosco, DeJa Skye, Irene the Alien, Olivia Lux and Phoenix (aka the Orange Bracket) — broke down what to expect this time around and revealed what motivated them to return to the competition.

“It’s such a shake-up. This is unpredictable for both us and the fans. It brings a new freshness and unexpected developments. Sometimes, girls can come in overly prepared because they know what they’re getting into, and we didn’t know,” Season 14 star Bosco told TheWrap. “You have to come in guns blazing. You really have to capture attention immediately, because there’s no time to wait and build up to it. You have to fully blow the roof off every second that you get, which is a different level of pressure.”

“We’re all All Stars and there’s only six of us, so you might think it’s easier to stand out, but it’s actually harder because the microscope is so zoomed in and you only have so much time,” her Season 14 sister DeJa Skye agreed. “For a regular season of ‘Drag Race,’ you really only get to know the top half of the cast because they’re there the longest. With it only being six of us, our stories are all told.”

“On ‘All Stars 10,’ you are going to see some amazing looks,” Season 13 star Olivia Lux teased. “The show has been happening for so long so, you never know what to expect. There was unexpected s—t. The way that we were able to interpret these themes is a testament to our skill.”

Meanwhile, Phoenix and Irene the Alien shared their unique perspectives upon being asked back to All Stars after being early outs on their respective seasons.

“In many ways, this is my first opportunity. I was on one single episode and we didn’t really do a proper maxi challenge. So the whole season, I was experiencing everything for the very first time. I’m glad I got the chance to do that,” Season 15 porkchop Irene shared. “It felt like an acknowledgment that there was more to show, I am so appreciative. Before this season, I was on the biggest season ever with 16 girls. It’s a weird feeling to be the lowest ranked queen in the entire franchise — local and international. It was such a weight off of my shoulders knowing I get the chance to try again.”

“Coming from a season so many years back and getting kicked off early, it’s a good feeling because you can sometimes feel you have been forgotten about. It’s a nice feeling,” Season 3’s Phoenix added. “The more you do something, the better you get at it, no matter what it is. Coming into it, it felt like I was competing for the first time since I had not done it in so long. At the end of the day, ‘Drag Race’ is a game. The more you play a game, the better you get at it.”

And for a majority of the Orange Bracket, “All Stars” Season 10 presents an opportunity for longtime fans to see these queens after some major transformations, both physically and mentally.

“I said yes instantaneously. I felt like I lost myself a little seeing the audience reception of me on TV. I felt like I could not give my whole self and I didn’t know why, so it was a lot of soul-searching after Season 13,” Olivia revealed. “Then I found ballroom … I quickly found myself up there finding a newfound fire and confidence for my artistry and for myself. I’m ready for this.”

“I was going through a recovery; I had surgery and I had a lot of complications, so the aspect of not having to commit so much of my life to a full season — you are [otherwise] there for months,” DeJa explained. “So why not? I can showcase my art, showcase my growth. It did alleviate stress, but you also don’t have as long to grow — so you either have it or you don’t.”

“I’m excited to get to update the mental profile picture people have of me to something more current and relevant to who I am. And I really wanted a new promo picture, so that was worth the price of admission,” Bosco added. “Being able to broadcast the best of what I can do is very important to me. ‘Drag Race’ catches a little pocket of your life that you get to look back on and shows it with the world. It’s really valuable to have that chance twice, because you saw what happened the first time — now you come back and you know what you’re going to change, because you’re armed with the information. It’s such a lovely blessing to get to do it twice.”

“The world has not seen this version of me yet — and I felt like it was time,” Season 9 and “All Stars 3” alum Aja told TheWrap. “When I was first invited back, I was honestly hesitant. As a trans woman, I had internalized this idea that doing drag might somehow invalidate my womanhood. That’s the kind of dysphoria that creeps in and tells lies. But then I remembered the truth: trans women have been the backbone of drag history since the beginning. There is power in our presence and power in reclaiming that space.”

“So I said yes — not just for the world to see me, but for me to see myself. Returning to ‘All Stars’ was a homecoming. I’m still that girl from Brooklyn who talks her stuff and walks her walk — but now I’m doing it from a place of full truth. No filters, no disguises. Just me,” she continued. “This season, people are going to meet Venus — not just Aja. And I really think they’re going to fall in love with her.”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 10 premieres with two new episodes Friday, May 9, on Paramount+, paired with new episodes of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: Untucked” each week.

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