RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 cast revealed—and Miss Vanjie is back

RuPaul's Drag Race season 11

The 15 queens set to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11 have been revealed, with Season 10 contestant Vanessa Vanjie Mateo—or “Miss Vanjie”—making a surprise return.

Other queens vying for the crown on the Emmy Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race include current Miss Black Universe A’keria C. Davenport, of the House of Davenport, and “life-sized Bratz doll” Ariel Versace from New Jersey, according to a press release from VH1 on Thursday (January 24). 

The line-up features two more House of Davenport queens, Honey Davenport and Ra’jah D. O’Hara, professional dancer Brook Lynn Hytes, and Las Vegas showgirl Kahanna Montrese.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 features current Miss Black Universe

“Just when I think to myself—‘shedonealreadydonehadherses’—a new crop of killer queens sashay their way into my heart and leave me gagging for more,” said host RuPaul.

“Dare I say, this might be the most sickening season of all time.”

The eleventh season will also feature Mercedes Iman Diamond, who moved to the USA from Kenya aged 11, Nina West, who has previously won the national Entertainer of the Year pageant, and Plastique Tiara, whose drag is inspired by Vietnamese pop stars.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11: Miss Vanjie is “back with a vengeance”

In a promotional video, RuPaul said that the 15 contestants would “go wig or go home” as they battle it out to be “America’s next drag superstar.”

Mateo, meanwhile, simply said: “I’m back with a vengeance.”


The drag queen’s exit from Season 10, during which she repeated her nickname “Miss Vanjie” three times, was immortalised by fans in a series of memes.

The line-up is completed by New York-based Scarlet Envy, Shuga Cain, also from New York, who quit her corporate job to become a full-time drag queen, Silky Nutmeg Ganache from Chicago, Korea-born Soju and “commodity of drag oddity” Yvie Oddly from Denver.

A release date for Season 11 of RuPaul’s Drag Race has yet to be confirmed.

VH1 is currently airing the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.