Myki Meeks On Life-Changing Experience Winning ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ & How The Team Raises The Bar Every Year – Contenders TV Nominees Studio
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- RuPaul's Drag Race has accumulated 88 Emmy nominations and 29 wins across 18 seasons, according to the panel celebrating the show's latest nominations at Deadline's Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio.
- Myki Meeks won Season 18 representing Orlando, Florida, and wore a long white gown featuring oranges — the state's fruit — to the studio panel, describing the experience as a "roller coaster start to finish" from "ingenue" to "leading lady."
- Meeks performed her original song "Versed" with a showgirl theme as her Season 18 finale number, which choreographer Jamal Sims said was unusually well-prepared because she arrived with a clear vision of what she wanted.
- Meeks named Snatch Game of Love: Island, which aired in February with guest judge Brooke Shields, as her favorite challenge of the season; she impersonated Drew Barrymore and praised the show for staying current with pop culture.
- Production designer Jen Chu revealed that her team watches the queens on monitors while working 12-hour days in the Valley, noting "we cannot complain because look at these girls" given the queens' endurance on set.
- Executive producer Natalia James attributed the show's consistent Emmy success to the queens' personality and talent, while co-executive producer John Polly credited "raw talent" that just needs a showcase.
Why it matters: RuPaul's Drag Race now sits at 88 Emmy nominations and 29 wins over 18 seasons, a sustained awards run that anchors the show's ongoing cultural and industry footprint. Production designer Chu's note that her 12-hour-shift team refuses to complain after watching the queens' endurance reframes the Emmy success as a labor story on both sides of the camera.
Ask SkimNews
