RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars has returned. And for Season 10, the franchise brought back 18 former contestants to compete for the crown. However, this week only six queens were competing on our screen. That’s because while the drag queens in the Werk Room may be familiar faces, the format for All Stars Season 10 is brand new (and more than a little confusing TBH). Here’s a quick overview in case you need a refresher:
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Qualifying Rounds:
- The 18 queens are divided into three brackets, with six queens in each. The top three queens in each bracket will move onto the semi-finals.
- Each bracket will compete in three maxi-challenges over the course of three episodes. The top two queens each episode will each earn 2pts.
- The top two queens each episode will lip sync against one another for an additional 1pt.
- Each episode, the four losing queens will each be given 1pt that they will have to bestow upon the “Most Valuable Queen” of the week, which can include the other winners or the top two.
- At the end of each bracket, the three queens with the most points will move on, while the bottom three will be eliminated. The end of Episode 9 concluded Bracket 3, so nine queens have now been eliminated. The remaining nine will begin competing next week in the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals:
- It’s a bit unclear what the exact format of the semi-finals will be, but the nine remaining queens will return to compete in two additional episodes, one of which will be next week’s Snatch Game.
- Over the course of two episodes, the remaining nine queens will somehow be whittled down to a smaller group who will progress to the finals.
Finals:
- Again, the details are a bit murky here, but whichever queens (most likely 3-5 of them) will return for the finale to face off in the Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown.
- However, an additional wrinkle was added to the mix. Of the 9 queens who lose their brackets, each of the regular judges (Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews and Ts Madison) will each select one eliminated queen to return. From that list, one name will be drawn at random, and that queen will also be added to the final Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown.
- The winner will receive a cash prize of $200,000 and a place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame.
Did you follow all of that? No? Well, we’ll figure it out as we go along. Episode 9 wrapped up Bracket 3, so Acid Betty, Alyssa Hunter, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Daya Betty, Denali and Ginger Minj are now bringing the preliminary rounds to an end, with three heading home and three returning just next week for the semi-finals. The six of them competed for three spots in the semi-finals. This week, they competed in their third of three maxi-challenges with a whopping 13 points awarded.
Here’s our spoiler-filled recap of everything you need to know about what happened in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 Episode 9.
Related: Meet the 18 Queens Competing on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Season 10
Who was eliminated on Episode 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
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Alyssa Hunter
It’s sort of unsurprising that Alyssa Hunter won’t be moving on to the semi-finals. She finished in 13th place on Season 14 and was mostly known for being the season’s “trade.” While she did bring a healthy dose of drama to Bracket 3, fighting with both Daya Betty and Ginger Minj, she never really wowed the judges in the challenges, and would up finishing with only two points, one of which Cynthia gave her this week.
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Acid Betty
After watching three brackets on Tournament of All Stars, it has become a bit clear that RuPaul stacked each bracket with a few queens she loves and some that feel a bit expendable. While I’d argue that Acid Betty could have been in the top two all three weeks of this bracket, she never won despite earning strong critiques. As with the more old-school returnees from Brackets 1 and 2, she ended up finishing with very few points, but did serve as the bracket’s kingmaker. This week, she earned a point from Denali and ended up sending Cynthia through to the semi-finals.
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Denali
Perhaps the most shocking loss of Bracket 3 was Denali. She earned the “robbed queen” moniker in her original season, after becoming a fan favorite who was repeatedly overlooked. While she did earn a spot in the top two last week, RuPaul awarding Ginger the lip sync win was a bit surprising and seemed to spell out that Ru was fine should she leave. Then the other queens rallied around Cynthia with their MVQ points, it was Denali who found herself on the outs. She only received one MVQ point this week from Alyssa.
Who won Bracket 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
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Ginger Minj
Finishing in the top two for all three challenges in Bracket 3, Ginger Minj secured her spot in the semi-finals without receiving a single MVQ point from her sisters. While she has unfortunately been the victim of the internet’s scorn, Ginger certainly swept the floor with her competitors in this week’s improv challenge. While she seemed to be the favorite in Bracket 3, it will be interesting to see if her streak of luck continues in the semi-finals.
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Daya Betty
Not only did Daya Betty end up securing a spot in the top in two of the three challenges in Bracket 3, she also managed to be the main source of drama. This week her improv skills weren’t nearly as good as Ginger’s, but she ended up edging out the other girls for second place and then edged out Ginger during the lip sync. I can’t wait to see Daya go head-to-head with Mistress Isabelle Brooks next week, because she does not suffer fools.
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Cynthia Lee Fontaine
The surprise of the season so far is Miss Cucu making it to the semi-finals based solely on receiving MVQ points from her sisters. While Cynthia performed well in all three challenges, like Acid Betty, she could never quite secure a win. However, thanks to Acid’s strategy of point pooling, she earned five points from the other queens and edged out Denali to go to the semi-finals.
Who won Episode 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
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Daya Betty
In this week’s Golden Bachelor-themed improv challenge, Daya Betty’s snooty poodle was strong enough to secure her a spot in the top two, even if Ginger’s boozy St. Bernard stole the show. During the lip sync, however, Daya managed to block Ginger from winning a third week in a row, snagging that extra point.
Who earned points in Episode 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
Between the bonus points from Episode 8 and all nine awarded points from Episode 9, a lot of points were passed out this week. Here’s who earned what.
- Daya Betty: 4pts
- Cynthia Lee Fontaine: 4pts
- Ginger Minj: 2pts
- Acid Betty: 1pt
- Alyssa Hunter: 1pt
- Denali: 1pt
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 Bracket 3 Scoreboard
After three episodes, the All Stars 10 final leaderboard for Bracket 3 stands as follows:
- Ginger Minj: 8pts
- Daya Betty: 6pts
- Cynthia Lee Fontaine: 5pts
- Denali: 4pts
- Acid Betty: 2pts
- Alyssa Hunter 2pts
What is the wild card lottery twist on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
At the end of Episode 3, RuPaul announced a wild card lottery for the Season 10 finale. While the finale logistics remain a bit dubious, each of the regular judges on this season will select one queen they’d like to send to the finale. A random draw will then put one of those four queens into the final lip sync against whoever remains post-semi-finals.
Which queens will be competing in the semi-finals of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10?
With all three preliminary brackets complete, we now have the nine queens competing in the semi-finals locked down. They are:
Bracket 1
- Irene the Alien
- Bosco
- Aja
Bracket 2
- Jorgeous
- Lydia B. Kollins
- Mistress Isabelle Brooks
Bracket 3
- Ginger Minj
- Daya Betty
- Cynthia Lee Fontaine
Related: Ginger Minj Reveals How the ‘Wicked’ Trailer Helped Her Return to ‘Drag Race’ (Exclusive)
