Get ready, henny. RuPaul is hosting SNL for the very first time
RuPaul Charles at RuPaul’s DragCon UK at Olympia London on January 18, 2020 in London, England. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for World Of Wonder Productions)
RuPaul is to host Saturday Night Live for the first time.
The drag icon was announced as a guest host for the February 8 episode of the long-running NBC comedy show.
Incredibly, it is RuPaul’s first time hosting SNL across his many, many years in the entertainment industry – despite Drag Race-themed skits in the past, and a cameo appearance in one 1993 segment.
RuPaul’s Drag Race confirmed on Twitter: “Start your engines…and live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!!! ? Can’t wait Mama @RuPaul!!! ? @nbcsnl”
Fans are less than thrilled about the RuPaul/Justin Bieber pairing.
Justin Bieber will serve as the musical guest for the episode, because apparently you can’t have queer culture without a big steaming dollop of straight culture on top.
Drag Race fans on Twitter were less than enthusiastic about the weird match-up, with one asking: “You gave Ru /that/ musical guest?”
You gave Ru /that/ musical guest? pic.twitter.com/tfxYSmlJsu
— lanadelcourtney (@lanadelcourtney) January 21, 2020
Another responded: “It’s the most chaotic thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
RuPaul is gearing up for a whole lot of Drag Race
The SNL gig follows RuPaul’s critically-panned Netflix series AJ and the Queen.
While you might be forgiven for thikning there’s an overdose of RuPaul on TV at the moment, there’s some confusion over what is coming next from the Drag Race extended universe.
2020 will see the release of Drag Race season 12, All Stars 5 and Drag Race UK season two, plus the launch of Celebrity Drag Race, Drag Race Canada and Drag Race Australia.
The next show in the line-up to air was expected to be All Stars 5 – however, there has been radio silence over the series, despite a traditional mid-January launch date.
Fans have speculated that the show’s launch is being held back to allow Celebrity Drag Race to be first to air in 2020, to be followed by season 12, with All Stars 5 shunted to a later release date.
The celebrity spin-off will see 12 celebrities made over by a bevy of drag royalty, including Alyssa Edwards, Asia O’Hara, Bob the Drag Queen, Kim Chi, Monét X Change, Monique Heart, Nina West, Trinity the Tuck, Trixie Mattel, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
