A Definitive Ranking of the Winners of RuPaul's Drag Race

A little over a week ago, I posted my rankings of the seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, which you can check out by clicking HERE. It's one of my absolute favorite shows, which of course means that I love ranking anything and everything related to it, so I'm back again to do another Drag Race related ranking. Today, I'm going to be ranking the winners of the show. Like with the season rankings, I'm including both the winners of the main show and All Stars. 

I feel like I need to set up my criteria here just a bit, since this ranking seems a bit more subjective than the season rankings. As per usual, I'm taking a lot of different things into account when comparing these queens. Obviously, the first is their performance on the show-- how consistent they were, how many times they were in the bottom, their Dusted or Busted score, etc. But, another important factor is how they were as a character on the show. Were they one of the more entertaining queens? Were they likable? Were they so unlikable that they were entertaining? Stuff like that. And, of course, personal preference. Even if we can agree on paper which queens were stronger, pretty much everyone is going to vary when considering which queens they gravitate toward, like more, and generally rooted for. Given that criteria, this list is going to be pretty subjective. As always, I have my opinions & you have yours. I respect your opinion, so please respect mine in return by not yelling at me in the comments. I promise, we can disagree without getting in a huge argument. Now, on to the list!

11) BeBe Zahara Benet- Season 1

This should come as very little surprise given my opinion on S1. Overall, I didn't find much about the season compelling, and that includes most of the cast. BeBe was certainly one of the stronger competitors and one of the bigger personalities, but I definitely preferred some of the other contestants like Shannel, Ongina, and Nina. I certainly don't dislike her, but I just don't really have a strong opinion of her. I think that she was up against a cast that was clearly the weakest cast across the board. While she was a strong competitor, she certainly didn't completely dominate everyone, while some other winners did completely annihilate seasons with much stronger casts. My apathetic feelings toward her, the strength of the other queens on this list, and the weak field in her season all combine to land her down at the bottom despite the fact that she's a fierce queen overall.

10) Tyra Sanchez- Season 2

If this list were made after my first watch of Season 2, Tyra might've been all the way at the bottom. The first time I watched season 2, I really, really disliked her. After re-watching the season in May, my opinion turned around on her a bit. Some of the things I said about BeBe still stand for Tyra. Her competition was certainly weaker than modern seasons. The drag was more ready-to-wear. However, I think that Tyra did better in her respective season than she got credit for. Yes, she was a bit unlikable, and yes, she doesn't have as strong of an aesthetic as some other queens, but she was very polished, especially relative to the queens around her. She had a really strong track record-- 3 wins, plus several appearances in the top and only one in the bottom 3. Ultimately, she winds up here mostly because she's not a queen I like very much, and that despite doing rather well in her season, the level of drag that season was still rather ready-to-wear. 

9) Violet Chachki- Season 7

Violet is another queen that I liked more upon a re-watch of her season. Although she was really unlikable at the beginning of the season, by the second half, she'd really gotten a bit of a redemption arc. So upon a re-watch, I saw her in a bit of a different light. I'd never totally hated her, but upon first watch, I'd certainly been rooting for anyone but Violet in the finale. On re-watch, I still preferred a few of the other queens, but I found her to be a much more rootable character and felt like I understood her a bit more. That being said, Violet has some really clear flaws that I think makes her weaker than the queens above her on this list. Violet's big weakness is her ability to perform. She did alright in the lip sync performances, but the acting challenges were absolutely abysmal. That being said, she certainly does make up for it some with her fantastic fashion. So many of her looks have now become iconic, especially the one in the above gif. Like with the last two, season 7 has also been criticized for being a weak cast of queens. While I like the cast quite a bit, I can definitely see that argument, and I think that's a bit of a knock on Violet as a winner. Overall, I like her and think that her fashion is fantastic, but I also think that she has several weak points in her abilities. 

8) Chad Michaels- All Stars 1

I went back and forth on these next two queens, but I eventually ended up with this order because although I think Chad had a stronger showing on her season(s), I prefer the queen that I put in 7th place. That being said, I do really like Chad. Once again, it took a re-watch for me to really appreciate Chad. I've always respected her and her talent and how incredibly polished she is, but it wasn't until a re-watch of season 4 that I began to really grow to like her and root for her. Her personality is much quieter than many other queens, and I think that definitely contributes to the reason that I really had to warm up to her. Chad is one of those people who seems to be almost too perfect. She's so put-together, so polished, and just so perfect that she almost doesn't even seem human. Chad killed it not only in the All Stars Season that she won (in which she basically just demolished everyone), but also in her original season 4. Overall, I really enjoy Chad and I think that she's incredibly polished and amazing, but she's not a personal favorite for me. 

7) Raja Gemini- Season 3

I really like Raja. We're to the point in the list where I fell in love with these people my first time through, and even if they weren't my favorite in the season, I still cheered them on as they won. However, Raja was definitely my favorite in her season, and I really love her outside of the show as well. Of course, I watch Raja and Raven on Fashion Photo RuView, and I usually really like her opinions on things. And on her own season, I think she was also really great. While she was definitely firmly in the "fashion queen" department, she proved that she was incredibly capable in other areas and extremely well-rounded. She proved that she was funny and a competent performer, on top of her amazing fashion sense. While there was certainly a bit of a mean girl vibe to her throughout her season, she was also really fun and snarky and gave interesting confessionals. Like I said, at this point we've gotten to some of my all-time favorite queens and the only knock I really have on Raja is that she was a bit of a mean girl sometimes and that I like some of these queens better than her and think that some of them are even more well-rounded than her and have made bigger impacts on both the show and on drag in general. 

6) Sharon Needles- Season 4

This might be my most controversial placement of a queen, given that Sharon was such a monumental winner and because she's become such an icon for the show. Once again, I see Sharon as mostly tied with the next queen on the list, but for one reason or another, Sharon ended up just slightly lower. Like I mentioned already, Sharon was an incredibly strong competitor, who really made everyone think about drag in an entirely new way. When she walked into the workroom, she was seen as a joke, but she quickly proved that her uniqueness wasn't the only thing that she had. She won an unprecedented 4 challenges throughout the season and did well in many of the other challenges as well. She quickly became not only a strong competitor, but also a rootable, lovable character. She wasn't even really an underdog, but definitely took on that role because of how much people didn't respect her drag aesthetic. Overall, Sharon was just an incredible competitor, a phenomenal winner, and a lovable character. Like I mentioned with Raja, we've gotten to the point where I love all of these queens and the largest difference is just who I like more.

5) Jinkx Monsoon- Season 5

As I mentioned with Sharon, she and Jinkx are mostly tied in my mind. Jinkx edges her out just slightly, for a couple of reasons. When making this ranking, I went back and looked through the Dusted or Busted score cards just to see how they technically compared to each other on paper. That really shed light on how impressive Jinkx was, because she was in the top for nearly every challenge. There were literally only 2 challenges where she wasn't in the top. There's only one other queen who's ever done that, and that queen is also the only person to have a better Dusted or Busted score than Jinkx... but we'll get to her in a bit.

So, given Jinkx's impressive track record, you're probably questioning why she's all the way at #5. If she's that good, she should be all the way up at #2, right? My main reasoning for her being a bit lower (and I think I'm sounding like a broken record here) is just personal preference. There are just some other winners that I gravitate toward a bit more than Jinkx. That being said though, I still absolutely love her. The other slight knock on Jinkx is that she's not the most polished when it comes to her runway. She definitely has a clear aesthetic, and she turned out some amazing looks, but she also turned out some looks along the way that weren't quite up to par. But her performances in the challenges, her personality, and her humor were amazing enough to get her consistently in the top despite some of the lackluster looks. Overall, Jinkx is an incredibly strong queen, a deserving winner, and definitely one of my favorite Drag Race contestants. 

4) Sasha Velour- Season 9

Going into the finale of S9, I felt like Sasha was the underdog. Sure, she had the fan support by A LOT, but Trinity and Shea both had more wins under their belts and were generally seen as the obvious top 2. So, when she turned out those fantastic lip sync performances, I was so excited, just hoping that she would take home the crown. And she did! A look back at her track record proves that she certainly deserved the crown. She was never in the bottom 2 (and hardly deserved her one appearance in the bottom 3), was in the top 7 times (same # as Shea), and probably should've won at least one more challenge than she actually did. But that last one's just my opinion. 

Either way, Sasha was one of those queens who just spoke to me immediately upon the cast announcement. The second she marketed herself as the brainy, intellectual queen, I was sold. And she continued to impress me throughout the entire competition with how well-spoken and witty she was. She certainly wasn't one of the most out-there personalities on the show, but I kinda loved that. I loved that she became the go-to for an intelligent comment on the more serious discussions. I was a bit worried about her versatility at the very beginning, but she quickly proved to be well-rounded, turning out interesting looks, killing the challenges, bringing the humor, and ultimately bringing home the crown with her impressive lip sync skills. Overall, Sasha was absolutely fantastic and I was legitimately cheering when she finally won.  

3) Bob The Drag Queen- Season 8

Let's be honest, S8 should just be re-named "Bob's season." Bob was the front-runner from the very beginning and dominated the competition pretty much the entire way through. While she doesn't have the same flawless track record as some other queens that got a bit lower than her, Bob completely dominated the entire season in pretty much every single way. She was the clear stand-out personality, dominating screentime both in the workroom and in confessionals. She also got the most wins under her belt, beating out Kim Chi. For me, S8 is a season full of interesting, fun, and likable queens, so it should be difficult for one queen to completely steal the show, but Bob did it with ease. Any comedy challenge probably should've just been handed directly to Bob, because she didn't falter in the slightest. Her performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge is possibly the best single-challenge performance in the history of the show. It was masterful, over-the-top acting and comedy at its finest. Her Snatch Game performance was also top-tier. Pandora Boxx's Carol Channing has always been a favorite Snatch Game performance for me, and Bob did just as good a job, if not better. Overall, Bob was just an absolutely phenomenal performer and character, and while her march to the end was predictable, she was clearly the best in her season. 

2) Alaska- All Stars 2

Honestly, Alaska's All Stars win is the majority of the reason that I wanted to include All Stars winners & seasons on these lists. She's always been one of my favorite queens from Drag Race, and she was also probably my favorite to win All Stars 2. While her tantrum in the second-to-last challenge is still extremely off-putting, she's still definitely one of my long-standing favorites and she absolutely demolished the season. She was in the top for nearly every challenge, and she essentially won half of the challenges. She definitely came to win this season, and she proved it pretty much every single episode with how hard she was trying.

And while Alaska wasn't the most likable in her All Stars appearance, she was definitely my favorite on S5 by a long-shot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jinkx, but Alaska's personality was so hilarious and so endearing, despite the fact that she had attached herself to relatively unlikable people like Roxxxy and Detox. Although Jinkx clearly had the best showing in the season, if not for the public outcry for her as the winner (due mostly to Roxxxy's bullying), I think Alaska could honestly have taken it. She was such a stand-out queen and character, and so many people just absolutely fell in love with her that season. While I'm a bit lower on her post-All Stars, she's still definitely up there as both one of my favorite queens and one of the best queens that's ever been on the show. 

1) Bianca Del Rio- Season 6

This is pretty much a given, right? Bianca Del Rio is far and away not just the best winner in the history of the show, but the best queen who's ever competed on the show. PERIOD. Not to rely on Dusted or Busted scores too much, but Bianca is the reigning champ on there, due to her 3 wins, 5 times in the top, and 0 trips to even the bottom 3, let alone the bottom 2. Not only did she show her skill in the challenges, but she was definitely the stand-out personality of the season. Sure, Adore was also right up there with her, but the development of their friendship was one of the prevailing storylines throughout the show. Although she markets herself as being hateful, Bianca was never afraid to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, simply because she knew she could still beat them. 

Sure, she delivered different versions of the same look over and over throughout the competition. But, do you know who else does that? RUPAUL CHARLES. If the looks are put together and polished, who cares if they look similar? Bianca knows what works for her, and she knows the aspects of her drag persona that are important. AKA- her humor, her wit, and her scathing rolodex of hate. Bianca is truly the whole package. She's entertaining, funny, intelligent, well-spoken, and despite being so snarky, she's inherently lovable. Bianca is, unquestionably, both the best contestant and the best winner in the history of RuPaul's Drag Race. 

So, those are my rankings of the winners of RuPaul's Drag Race! Sometime in the near future, I'm hoping to do a ranking of all of the queens in the history of the show, so if that's something you're interested in, let me know!

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A Definitive Ranking of the Seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race

Over the past few years, I've watched and enjoyed many new shows, but there are few shows that have impacted me the way that RuPaul's Drag Race has. I started watching about 4 years ago, and quickly fell in love with it and went back and watched every single episode of every single season. It's a show that I find myself going back and re-watching all the time, and it found itself super high up on my list of favorite TV shows when I ranked them back in May (which you can check out HERE).

So, as with everything that I really love, I've decided to do a ranking of all of the seasons of Drag Race! I've decided that this list is going to include both the regular seasons AND the All Star seasons. I went back and forth several times, but eventually settled on including them because when I do my winner rankings (coming soon!) I want to include the All Stars winners in my rankings. So, these are my rankings of all 11 seasons. Per usual, I'd like to remind everyone that these are just my opinions. We all have differing opinions. I respect yours, so I hope you'll respect mine by not yelling at me in the comments if you disagree with a season's placement. With that being said, let's go ahead and jump into the rankings!

11) Season 1

I feel like season 1 just has to be the worst by default. It's also been dubbed the "Lost Season"... and for a pretty good reason. Fans always joke about the horrible "blurry filter" but I feel like the video quality is even worse than the jokes lead on. In my opinion, this is by far the least compelling cast. As the show has gone on, it's gotten much more high fashion, while this first season was very ready to wear-- some queens even walked into the workroom in a t-shirt and jeans. Seriously. Like many first seasons, Drag Race hadn't quite figured out their formula yet. The timeline within the episodes was incredibly wonky, jumping back and forth between segments in a way that was hard to follow, and including things that they would later realize simply weren't important. There are definitely some good aspects to the season-- Tammie is such an interesting character, Ongina's story is always inspiring, and we get some really great queens like Shannel and Nina. But overall, this season is the clear weak link when compared to the other seasons. 

10) All Stars 1

To be perfectly honest, I struggled to get through this season. Sure, there were some queens brought back that I really loved, but the twist that RuPaul threw into the mix just made it so little fun to watch. Fan-favorite Pandora Boxx was cut episode one because she was forced to team up with Mimi Imfurst. Still not sure why anyone decided to bring her back. It had lots of great queens, the same judges, and the same studio, but the pairs twist just made it feel very foreign-- almost as if it wasn't Drag Race at all. I'm glad that Chad won, because Chad was definitely one of the most deserving losers of the main show, but overall this season was just a struggle all the way through.

9) Season 3

OK, so we've gotten out of the "bottom of the barrel" section of the ranking and into my next tier, AKA the next 2 seasons. The seasons placing at #8 & #9 are mostly tied and are a definite step up from the ones below. Overall, I really enjoy season 3. There are certainly aspects of it that I like more than the season that placed just above it, but there are also some definite detractors. I think the major knock on season 3 for me is that I have yet to re-watch the second half of the season. Might be a bit petty, but for a show that I go back and re-watch regularly, the fact that I've never re-watched half of this season is a definite knock on it. I feel like there were also a lot of queens that I didn't really love. Raja and Manila are fantastic, and I love Shangela, but other than that there weren't many queens who I really gravitated toward. I do think that the level of drag and the quality of the challenges was definitely upped from S2, but overall this one just comes off as a bit less memorable and often overly catty/mean. 

8) Season 2

Like I said, Seasons 2 & 3 are mostly tied for me, but I originally had them flipped. And that was mostly because the level of drag in season 2. It was kinda walking the border between S1 & S3. Not quite as ready-to-wear as S1, but not quite upped to the level that someone like Raja brought in S3. But what really stands out to me this season are the characters and the storylines. Raven and JuJu are still some of the most memorable queens in the history of the show. Pandora was lovable and hilarious. Tati was sassy and snarky but in the most fun way possible. And Tyra was... Tyra. I didn't like her the first time, but upon a re-watch my mind definitely was changed just a little bit. Still not my favorite winner, but she was more likable the second time around. And even some earlier eliminees like Nicole Paige Brooks and Mystique Summers Madison were really memorable. Also, who green-lighted the "Chicken or what?" competition? Because that's still a head-scratcher 7 years later. Overall, it's a really fun, drama-filled season that's just a bit rough at the edges. 

7) Season 9

I really enjoyed this season of Drag Race, so after finishing up my ranking, I was actually a bit surprised to see that I put it all the way down at number 7. I think that on its own speaks to the overall strength of this show and how much I love it. Like with Season 2 & Season 3, this one and the next one are mostly tied, but this one got edged out by just a little bit. Overall, Season 9's biggest strength for me was the quality of the queens. There were certainly some weak points in the cast, but once we got up to the top 7, everyone was so talented. I honestly kinda liked how nice the cast was to each other, especially since we got all of the fighting out in the reunion episode. I also absolutely loved that even by the final 4, I had no idea who was going to win. Yes, Shea won the most challenges. Yes, Sasha had the fans' support. Yes, Pepper probably had the worst track record. But all 4 of them brought it so hard all season long and proved over and over that they deserved to be there. There were just so many really strong contestants this season.

We also got some really gag-worthy moments, like the cringey lip syncs and Sasha's finale lip syncs that made up for all of the bad ones. I think the weakest point for me was some of the challenges. They were fine, and nearly all of them fit into one of the typical challenge molds for Drag Race, but it just always seemed like something was missing, whether it was the contestants' ability to impress, the writing, or just the challenge as a whole. While I'm mostly very #GurlBye on Lucian Piane being gone, I do think that his musical talents were pretty sorely missed.

6) Season 8

This season was really solid across the board. The challenges were really great. The a cappella lip sync is probably my favorite lip sync challenge that we've had across the board and the RuCo Empire challenge was absolutely hilarious. The queens were really awesome across the board. I liked almost every single one of them, and they were all really strong queens. The few weak links got cut fairly early, leaving us with an overall really strong cast. The biggest down side to the season is that it was pretty clear from the beginning that Bob was going to do well, if not win. Bob was the front-runner from the very beginning and it was a pretty easy march to the end with maybe one little tiny slip-up near the end. Overall, it was definitely a really fun season and really strong all-around but not quite as great as the next 5 seasons. 

5) Season 4

I feel like this might be a bit controversial, but I'm alright with that, because this is just how I feel. I know that Season 4 is the season that really got people into the show and was really the first of the "modern" Drag Race seasons, but for me there are a few seasons that are better. I feel like this cast is the perfect case of amazing highs and incredibly low lows. Sharon, Chad, Latrice, Willam, and even PhiPhi were really strong, while there were some absolutely disastrous people like Alisa, Madame LaQueer, Milan, and Kenya Michaels. There were, however, some really fun challenges. Honestly, pretty much every single one of them is really memorable to me. The prison acting challenge is probably the biggest stand-out, though. Plus, we get some really iconic moments like the "go back to Party City" fight, Willam's disqualification, and Sharon's apocalyptic look. Speaking of Sharon, she's probably one of the most memorable queens in the entire history of the show. I have yet to do winner rankings, but she's definitely a queen that I've really loved and appreciated, and both her presence on the show and the fact that she won had such a huge affect on drag. Sharon was the weirdo that broke the rules and it was so great to watch her win.

4) Season 7

I'm pretty sure this is the most taboo of all of my rankings, because Season 7 doesn't have such a great reputation. But I loved it, and I love going back and re-watching it. Admittedly, a lot of the reason that I love watching it is because I love watching the train wreck over and over again, but it makes it such entertaining TV. Season 7 gave us one of the biggest stand-outs in recent years- KATYA. I'm also a pretty big Pearl fan (her personality just speaks right to my overly-chill heart), and I really liked Max as well. Apart from them, there were a few other strong queens, many weak queens, and a few really unlikable queens. I actually don't mind Violet, and I generally like Ginger, but Kennedy and Jasmine were nearly unbearable. But the challenges this season were really great. Shakesqueer was fantastic despite being a mess, the parody music video was hilarious, and I re-watch videos from the Divine challenge and Glamazonian airways on the reg. Yes, I think that the cast could've been a bit stronger in the talent department, but I think that they made up for it with the entertainment that they brought to the show.

3) All Stars 2

I feel like everything this season was either absolutely amazing or just really messy. The cast of queens was amazing. I've never been a big Coco fan, so I thought she was a bit unnecessary in the cast, but everyone else clearly belonged on the season and was great to watch for their own unique reasons. Even including Coco, the entire cast were all people who were incredibly memorable and made huge impacts on their respective seasons. On top of this, the challenges this season were fantastic. The All Stars Snatch Game was great, and my personal favorite was probably the Herstory of the World lip sync performance. To be honest, I don't think there was a single challenge that I thought was a dud. They were all really interesting and gave us some really great moments. Even the makeover challenge, which is usually a bit of a snooze for me, was really great because it was their own family members. We also got the now-classic Shut Up and Drive lip sync between Alyssa and Tati, which was just absolutely phenomenal and probably the best (or at least, most competitive) lip sync in the history of the show. 

Now, here comes the slight negative. I feel like this season definitely tainted my opinion on a few queens that I absolutely love. Going into All Stars, my top 3 favorite Drag Race queens of all time were Adore, Bianca, and Alaska-- probably in that order as well. Now... let's just say that Bianca is firmly in first place. I still love Alaska and Adore, and they're probably still both in my personal top 3. But, for some people, this season completely tanked their reputations. I have no qualms with Alaska winning the show- she killed it almost the whole season and clearly deserved the crown. But, that hissy fit that she threw in the second-to-last episode was just a mess, and I think we all know that Katya deserved the money on at least one of the challenges that she narrowly lost to Alaska. Despite those couple of hiccups, I really enjoyed this season and despite some pretty low moments, I thought it was a really entertaining season.

2) Season 5

These top 2 seasons have consistently been my top 2 over the years, and I really don't see them going anywhere any time soon. Both of these seasons are just so awesome, and I find myself gravitating toward re-watches of them constantly. However, season 5 is the clear #2 for me. I think the cast this season was pretty awesome. I mean, if you look at the All Stars 2 cast, the entirety of the top 6 this season (sans our winner, Jinkx) was brought back. That's literally half the All Stars cast. Season 5 really had everything that you could want in a season of Drag Race- a great cast, great challenges, and oh. so. much. drama. This cast is especially interesting to me, because I feel like it was very top-heavy (AKA, the best were super strong, not that they were all tops haha) but the rest of the cast was kinda weak. However, we got a ton of really memorable personalities. We got introduced to Serena ChaCha, who chachaed onto our screen for a hot second to fight with everyone and then shashayed away. With Jinkx, we found another really quirky queen who helped to try and change the overall perception of quirky queens. We got our first on-show trans confession with Monica Beverly Hillz. And, of course, we got our first double-elimination and Roxxxy's wig reveal lip sync. So, even though some of the queens were a bit weaker, they still gave us great moments. 

On top of that, the challenges this season were fantastic. We got the perfume challenge, which gave us the now-classic Alyssa's Secret. The RuPaul Roast was not only a fantastic challenge overall, but the lip sync that episode was the one where we got Roxxxy's wig reveal. We also got the great telanovela challenge and the candy couture challenge as well. Plus, the kids Barnyard Buddies TV show challenge. There were just so many really, really great ones this season. And of course, the drama. Alyssa and Coco were constantly at each other's throats, giving us the amazing "Backrolls?" line (technically, that was Jade's doing, but let's just forget about her), Roxxxy was coming for Jinkx constantly, and the aforementioned Serena ChaCha totally brought the drama for the 2 episodes she was on. This whole season was just so entertaining from beginning to end, and I can't help but re-watch over and over and over.

1) Season 6

And finally, we're at my favorite season of Drag Race. To be honest, it's not even close. Ever since the first time I watched this season, it has been my favorite. I've re-watched this season probably more than I've watched any other season put together. Everything about it is absolutely fantastic. The best part about the season for me is the cast. Every single queen brings something to the season-- even Magnolia Crawford. Joslyn Fox is completely precious, Gia Gunn is so oblivious, Milk is crazy-unique, De La is so rootable, Adore is a perfect mess, and Bianca is just actual perfection. Even Trinity K Bonet is fantastic. I just absolutely love this entire cast. They're so awesome and such a great mix of personalities, all of whom made a huge impact on the season. Personally, Gia Gunn annoys me to death, but it's so much fun to watch her on the show. Overall, the cast is just absolutely fantastic. 

The challenges this season are also amazing. Honestly, I think every single challenge this season is memorable. Every time I re-watch, I have trouble stopping because I see the next week's preview and think "ooh, I love that challenge." For me, this season's Snatch Game is unquestionably the best in the history of the show. Even the people who landed in the middle were overall fantastic, on top of the fact that Bianca, Adore, and De La's performances were elite. The Scream Queens challenge was really great, Oh No She Betta Don't was hilariously perfect, and Shade the Rusical is in contention for my favorite challenge in the history of the show. It's amazing. Like I said, I don't think there's a single challenge this season I don't like. Every single one is so good. Plus, in addition to these challenges, Laganja gives us a great amount of drama. It's so much fun to also watch the Adore/Bianca friendship develop from strangers, to slightly antagonistic, to actual besties. Plus, the development of Trinity K Bonet as a character is really fantastic. Overall, this season just has everything I could ever want and I re-watch it over and over and over. It's amazing.

So, those are my rankings of the seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race! I'm planning on ranking the winners very soon, so watch out for that very soon! Let me know down in the comments what you think of my rankings, and which season of Drag Race is your favorite!

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Project Runway Seasons Ranked- Worst to Best!

Hey, y'all! So, for the past few months, I've been consistently posting my Project Runway Designer Rankings, which you can check out here. And since I've just wrapped that series up, I decided that the best way to bookend that series is to rank the seasons from least favorite to favorite. I have a ton of other Project Runway rankings that I'd like to do, but this one is the major one that I've been wanting to do for a while. This is also really interesting for me, because despite having loose rankings in my mind, I never sat down and actually ranked them until I was preparing for this post.

Just to explain how I ranked these, it's definitely a mix of personal feelings and objective aspects such as the quality of designers and the level of competition in each season. I'm not going to claim that my personal likes and dislikes don't play a part-- they absolutely do, and this is in no way a completely objective ranking. My personal enjoyment of a season and the number of designers that I connected with certainly plays a part in the ranking. But I also feel like I definitely took the objective aspects into account and will certainly argue that the general placement of each season in the list is on par with the objective aspects as well. 

Given that I've already openly discussed everyone's placings in their seasons, there will definitely be moments where I mention/discuss the winner of each season. So, if you'd prefer not to know who won, you might want to skip out on this. That being said, let's just go ahead and jump into this list!

14) Season 6

If you're a hardcore Project Runway fan, this is probably completely unsurprising. For the uninitiated, this was the first season after the move from Bravo to Lifetime and the only season to take place in LA rather than NYC. Not much really worked about this season, and it almost feels like a spin-off rather than a normal season. This was just a really weak cast, not just in personality, but in skill and aesthetic. Almost none of the characters are memorable. The top 3/4 designers are pretty much the only strong designers in the season-- and they're blatantly obvious from very early on. 

On top of this, we had one designer who was such a disaster that he was eliminated despite his team winning the challenge. And, even worse, we had that really weird Johnny controversy that I still don't fully understand. Perhaps this season could be redeemed even a tiny bit by a likable winner, but instead our winner was the contestant nicknamed "Meana Irina" (who unfortunately was probably the strongest designer). Across the board, this was just an incredibly weak season-- few memorable people, few strong designers, few memorable moments, and an unlikable winner. 

13) Season 5

I'll admit that Season 5 being this low could be due to the recency bias-- it's been years since I've watched this season-- but I didn't really like it the first time around either. To me, this season just wasn't that interesting. Many of the people on this season weren't memorable, and most that were memorable were rather unlikable. Like with season 6, I think that we had a strong final 3/4, but that the rest of the designers were pretty mediocre at best. We do get some fun moments with Tim trying to holla at your boy, but did anything else that was vaguely interesting happen this season?

I know that most people have this one ranked quite a bit higher, but I just simply don't like this season that much. I think I'm going to do a re-watch to confirm that I really do want to have it this low, but I really don't think it's necessary. I just really don't like it that much compared to all of the other awesome seasons. It's not quite as low as season 6 because I feel like Season 5 had more strong and more likable designers... but not by a lot. Hence it sitting here.

12) Season 11

Admittedly, as a Project Runway superfan, it's a bit sacrilege to put this anywhere except last or second-to-last. Again, for the uninitiated, season 11 is the blatant outlier because it's Project Runway: Teams. In season 11, the contestants were divided into teams for the majority of the season. They began as 2 large teams, and got shuffled around multiple times before eventually working individually in the endgame. The format just works so completely differently from any other season, and like with season 6, it almost feels like a spin-off show. It's incredibly frustrating to watch people being forced together for multiple weeks in a row. There were also some people this season who seemed to be so outside of what PR usually casts and seemed to be set up for failure from the start. 

Anyway, after that whole spiel, you're probably wondering how this ended up falling higher in my rankings than the other two. Honestly, it's simply more likable designers. Sure, I don't think that there are a ton of super strong designers on this season. I'd say that there are 4ish standouts. However, I really enjoyed a few of the designers. I love Michelle. I love her, I love her aesthetic, and she's definitely my favorite this season. I also really enjoyed Benjamin and Amanda and thought that there were a few more likable people. And despite it being such a different format, the recency of it is a definite advantage. It's definitely a bit more enjoyable to watch the snappier editing and more current aesthetics than to watch seasons 5 or 6 (IMO) so it edged those out just a bit. 

11) Season 14

While I have a definite ranking here, this list has some pretty definite tiers, and this one closes out the bottom tier, which consists of the 4 seasons that are my least favorites/ the ones I think are the worst. We've now reached the highly-contested, most recent season of Project Runway. Tim Gunn has declared this his least favorite season, and I can totally understand. There were definitely people who weren't working up to their full potential and that's just very disappointing. I wasn't very impressed with this season as a whole, TBH. And it's also really hard to know what all to say about it because it is such a recent addition, and therefore it is a little less solidified in my mind. 

I had super high hopes for Swapnil pre-season, and he definitely was rather successful throughout the show but it was disappointing that he wasn't working that hard. Especially after seeing that finale collection. He could've easily won with that finale collection and it's a downright shame that it was just a decoy. It was phenomenal and beautiful. That being said, one bright shining light in this season was Ashley Nell Tipton, the first winner with a strong leaning toward plus-sized designing, which I really appreciated. There were several aesthetics that I really liked this season, but overall I didn't find many of the characters that compelling. And sure, I've only watched it once, but I honestly have trouble coming up with any extremely memorable moments, which is never a good thing. 

10) Season 12

To be quite honest, season 12 is nearly tied with the season just above it. They're at the bottom of this middle-bottom tier of seasons, and I found myself constantly flip-flopping them. The only reason that I chose the other one above this one is that I have some favorites in that season that I like more than people in this season. There were definitely some pretty big moments this season. The Tim Gunn Save being used for the first time was a very touching moment. The Sandro freakout was another one. And then on top of that, just everything about Ken and his drama, especially that fight with Alex Pope. Also, my personal favorite is all of the silliness surrounding Timothy and his oddball designs and his obsession with unicorns. 

Despite this being rather low in my rankings, there's still quite a bit to like about this season. There are a lot of strong designers. There are handful of likable people. If you want drama, there's definitely drama. I think the reason that this falls so low is simply because everything is just not quite as good as other seasons. There are several likable people, but definitely less than in stronger seasons. There's drama, but it's not always fun to watch because of how mean-spirited it could be. There are strong designers, but for every strong designer, there are 2 fairly weak designers. It's just a very watered down version of what Project Runway has the potential to be, and what it has been in the past. 

9) Season 13

Three words describe why, despite being tied with season 12, this one won out. Sean. Kini. Amanda. The end. I think that quality-wise, season 12 might be a better season. If I had to re-watch one of them now, I'd probably watch season 12. BUT. Sean, Kini, and Amanda completely ran the table this season and I loved all 3 of them. They were all so very strong and I loved a lot of the designs that they created throughout the season. And the rainway challenge was outstanding. Of course, given that it's Project Runway, there's drama. Korina creates a lot of drama, especially with Char. But the craziest drama was the drama with Sandhya, the designer from all the way out in left field that no one understood and everyone attacked. 

When talking about season 12, I mentioned that it was basically watered down version of what the show has been in its heyday. And, in general, I think that this might even be more watered down. The designers who transcended that are the reason that it's found itself higher than 12. As stated, I'd be willing to say that objectively, season 12 is better. But Sean, Kini, and Amanda were just so awesome to watch. Even Korina was rather strong. The rest were almost completely forgettable. I liked Alex, Char was alright, Sandhya at least brought some entertainment, and Fade was quirky. If that's the best I have to say about a season's cast, it doesn't bode super well for that season. Fortunately for y'all, this is the completion of the bottom-middle tier of the list. These bottom 6 seasons are leagues below the other 8, in my opinion, so let's not talk about them anymore and let's get into the solid seasons. 

8) Season 1

The season that started it all! I found it really hard to figure out where to place season 1, because it's so incredibly different from the other seasons. While the other seasons' focus was almost solely on the design competition, in season 1 we got several segments in the apartments during the designers' extremely brief downtime. We also got to see a lot more of the drama with the models- Olga hating everything, models not wanting their hair changed, and of course, all of Morgan's crazy drama. The runway was also rather different, because it takes up a sizable percentage of today's episodes, but a minute percentage of season 1's episodes. In fact, half the time, it was difficult to tell who was in the top and who was in the bottom. 

That being said, there are so many standout moments of season 1 that help it stand the test of time. First off, we have the complete insanity that is Wendy Pepper. She was that "I'm here to win, not make friends," person in the most cut-throat, mean-spirited way possible, and it added so much entertainment. And then, there was Vanessa who was just off-the-wall bonkers. But we also had the ever-wonderful Austin Scarlett, who has become a fan-favorite. I could continue explaining why almost every designer on the show made it interesting, but instead I'll just say that the casting on this season was really great. There were so many stand-out characters, and they really made the show. The big dock on this season, for me, is the fashion. Obviously, it's been 12 years since season 1, so a lot of the fashion looks really outdated. That's to be expected. But even then, the designs this season don't stand up to some later seasons, and some of the challenges weren't exactly ones that suited themselves to fashion. For example, the postal worker challenge is questionable at best. Even the best design- which was admittedly good for a postal worker's outfit- wasn't incredibly fashionable. That being said, despite the fashion being dated at this point, the entertainment factor is definitely there.  

7) Season 4

Yes, I'm prepared for the torches and pitchforks for season 4 barely making my top half. You would've been even more upset with me if you'd seen where it was when I originally made this list (aka behind S12). But, since it had been a long time since I'd watched it, I went back and did a re-watch and it moved up my rankings. One of the reasons that it moved up is because of the general vibe to the season. The way that the show is shot, the editing, etc, everything feels like the first few seasons, which for me is extremely nostalgic and very endearing. And it reminds me that I enjoy the way that the first few seasons are put together. And honestly, from #8 (S1) on this list, these are seasons that I genuinely enjoy- the ones that I gravitate toward and want to re-watch. And upon that re-watch, I realized that season 4 definitely belonged among those... but not quite at the top. I debated moving it one spot higher, but I'll explain why I didn't when we get there.

Since this is a fan favorite season, I feel the need to explain why it's not higher on my list, so that's what I'll do. Each season, I tend to find one or two people who are my people. Not only do I enjoy their personality, but I like their aesthetic. And this season... there wasn't really anyone that fit my type of person. Sure, there were personalities that I liked, and sure, there were aesthetics that I enjoyed, but despite several extremely strong designers, none of them came together into the total package. There was one little thing about each of them that I didn't quite love (Christian could be a bit obnoxious, Rami was likable but a little one note, Jillian was sweet but I didn't dig her aesthetic that much, etc.). And quite honestly, I don't agree with the people that hold this season up as a beacon of spectacular fashion. Sure, this is one of the stronger seasons fashion-wise, but I definitely wouldn't argue for it being the strongest. 

And yes, there are a lot of things to like about season 4. You have Elisa's kookiness, Victorya steamrolling team challenges, that amazing avant-garde dress from the Chrises, etc. But for me, this was just a solid season of the show. Definitively a strong season, but not one that I completely fell in love with. The only reason it's this low is because I personally really enjoy the seasons that fell ahead of it on this list. My top 5 is an impenetrable wall of awesomeness, so this would only get 1 spot higher at most. 

6) Season 9

As mentioned in my explanation of season 4, this one slightly edged that one out. I went back and forth between these two, trying to figure out which one I liked more. And what's funny is that argument-wise, this season is the exact opposite of season 4. Season 4's biggest pros are its strong fashion and the fact that it has the vibe of an older season, and its big con (for me) is that I didn't latch on to anyone. With season 9, it definitely doesn't have the advantage of the production of an older season, and has moments where the designing is weaker. But, there are several people among this cast that I do think are strong designers and that I did latch onto. Anthony Ryan is one of my absolute favorite people to be on the show, Viktor isn't far behind, and Josh M brings insane drama. But, while season 4's finale was super strong... season 9's wasn't. Arguably the strongest and most-liked designer of the season, Anthony Ryan, got the auf wiedersehen at #7 in what was (IMO) a very controversial decision. And while the remaining designers were strong for their season, I'm not sure how well many of them would do if placed in a stronger season. 

Anya is also a somewhat polarizing winner. Some people champion her for learning to sew rather quickly and being able to fight her way through the competition to her eventual win. However, other people argue that her skills weren't as strong as they should've been and that her finale collection was a bit one-note. And I kinda agree with both sides. I think it's amazing that Anya was able to do what she did with as little sewing experience as she had, but I feel like she was constantly praised relative to her skill-set rather than objectively on the same level as the other designers. I feel like some of her success can be attributed to less-complicated designs that were executed in an interesting way. And her finale collection winning, IMO, is due to an overall weaker finale. I'll still argue that Viktor's was the best, but drop any of the collections in any other finale, and I don't think any of them would take the prize. That being said, this season is really entertaining to watch, and there were certainly moments of very strong design. The unconventional challenge gave us some really great designs from Anthony Ryan & Olivier. Viktor and Anthony Ryan were rather strong throughout as well. Plus, we got the drama surrounding a designer quitting, and all of the drama that Josh M created on his own. Overall, this is probably a more controversial opinion on my part, but I'm OK with that. 

5) Season 8

As aforementioned, this top 5 is super solid in my mind. I absolutely love season 8. This is one of the most controversial seasons of the show, but that's what makes it so amazing for me. I do have to say that I absolutely despise the finale decision. Tim Gunn has called out the judging on this season, both throughout the season and in the finale. This finale decision is the most highly-contested finale decision in the history of the show, and it was so controversial that Project Runway All-Stars was practically created for Mondo to come back and get the last laugh on Gretchen by winning a lot more money than she got. But aside from that sour spot, there were so many great things about this season. The most prominent is the drama. There was a mean girls clique (really just Gretchen and Ivy) and they spent the entire time they were there just badmouthing everyone. While it was super mean-spirited, it made the show extremely interesting to watch.

The target of most of their rudeness was the poor lil' baby, Michael Costello. They constantly complained about his construction skills and berated him for not being a good designer. It hit a low point when Ivy returned as an assistant and proceeded to accuse Michael of cheating. And part of what made the drama enjoyable is that the underdog got the upper hand in the end. When paired up with Mondo, they didn't get along because Mondo was very wary of Michael with all the drama, but by the end of the challenge, they were besties and it was adorable. Even better, Michael made it significantly farther than Ivy. And, despite just missing out on the finale, Michael has gone on to become one of the most successful designers post-show, regularly designing for major celebrities like Beyonce.

But, of course, there was more than just drama. The fashion this season was really great. Sure, most of the strongest designs came from our eventual top 2, Mondo and Gretchen, but there were some really outstanding looks. There were also several likable people outside of the mean girls. Valerie was a great designer and really likable, as was Andy (now Ari). Peach might not have been the strongest designer, but she was a lovable underdog. Mondo's emotional moment on the runway in the design-a-fabric challenge is still a standout among all of the seasons. There's just a lot to love about this season, and even though there was some mean-spirited stuff going on, the resulting drama makes the show even more entertaining. I think this season is the total package-- great designs, rootable characters, and some really great drama.

4) Season 7

I'm not sure how much of an unpopular opinion this is, but if loving season 7 is wrong, I don't want to be right. I was super torn between this one and the one that got 3rd place, and I even originally had this one in 3rd place. This was the season that I started watching Project Runway. This used to be my favorite season, and it's fallen just a little bit. I think season 7 is criminally underrated. Sure, there are a lot of weaker designers, but the top half of the pack are super strong. There are so many standout designs-- hello, Seth Aaron's mommy & me look & Jay's trashbag couture. There are a ton of really likable designers. Even Janine, someone that I didn't gravitate toward, was an incredibly sympathetic character. And we also had people like Ping who were just totally out of left field oddballs that created drama. On top of all of those, I can't say enough about the top 3 and how much I love them. They were strong designers on top of being really likable. 

There wasn't too much drama this season, which is pretty unusual for a season that winds up this high on my rankings. But the personalities on this season are really what got the season up this far. If you've seen my designer rankings, you'll know that Seth Aaron Henderson is my favorite Project Runway designer. He's such a strong, immaculate designer. There's a reason that he was the first person to win 2 Project Runway seasons. On top of that, Emilio Sosa was also one of the strongest designers to be on the show. He completely killed the competition... ignoring the washer bikini. And Mila was really strong too! A bit one-note, but still very strong. And you can't forget Anthony, one of the most endearingly hilarious designers to be on the show. Plus, the heartbreak of Maya quitting when she was killing it left and right. There's just so much to love on this season, and I definitely did love it. 

3) Season 10

I. LOVE. SEASON 10. For me, the top 4 are the like... holy grail seasons. I've mentioned that season 8 is kinda a total package for me, but season 10 is a definitive total. package. I would argue that season 10's finale episode is one of the strongest in the history of the show. Even then, there were also a handful of designers who could easily have taken one of those slots in the finale as well. I would definitely argue that this season progressed as it should have. The weak designers were out early, and the strongest designers made it to the end. And drama? Oh, the drama. Designers quitting? Check! Designer that causes total chaos all season? Check! Designer shamelessly berating their model? Check! Nearly identical designers who bicker constantly? Check!

And the fashion this season? Amazing. As alluded to earlier, there were some extremely strong designers this season. I'd argue that any of the top 8 designers could've made it to the finale with little to no argument from me. The only argument would've been that Ven was super rude- and that's nothing to do with his design ability. In the end, I do definitely think that the strongest designers made it to the finale, but put some of the other designers in another season and they'd be a finale shoo-in. I mean, the eventual winner of this season, Dmitry, also handily won his season of All-Stars. Seven of those top 8 designers ended up on All-Stars, and most of them did really well on All-Stars as well. I think it also helps this season that I really loved a lot of the designers' aesthetics- once again, especially the top 4. 

And on top of all of that, there are so many likable people! Christopher Palu gave us some of the best confessionals we've ever seen- a beautiful combination of sarcasm, wit, sass, and humor. Dmitry, our Belarusian ballroom dancer, was also a great personality, giving us great lines like "Ven is one-way monkey" and bringing humor to pretty much every scenario. Fabio was this lovable odd-ball- weird but quirky in the best way possible. Even Gunnar, the constant antagonist to Chris, was fun to watch in the Christian Siriano archetype. And Elena was off-the-wall bonkers, screaming at people and running around like a maniac. And I haven't even mentioned Melissa and Sonjia, who didn't have the hugest personalities, but were both inherently likable. Like I said, this season is just the epitome of the total package for me. The drama is there- and it's enjoyable drama! The personalities are big, bold, and lovable. And the designing is some of the strongest we've seen in the history of the show. 

2) Season 2

If anyone has any qualms with my rankings on this post, it's probably not with season 2's placement, unless you think it should be at #1 (and trust me, I seriously considered it). The first 4 seasons are typically the most-loved seasons, and many people consider season 2 to be their favorite. And there are tons and tons of reasons to love season 2. Once again, total package. This season has some of the most memorable, note-worthy designers to appear on the show, both design-wise and personality-wise. Although the fashion is dated at this point, the fashion was extremely strong for its time. And there are also so. many. memorable moments. Dramatic moments like Andrae's meltdown on the runway, Santino's fight with Nina, and Zulema's infamous walk-off. Endearing moments like the designers attempting to ice skate and Project Runway: The Musical. And, of course, the infamous... "What happened to Andrae?" Santino's impression of Tim Gunn will live in infamy forever, in or out of Red Lobster.

The designers this season were incredibly memorable. Santino Rice is a standout designer from the show, with a bigger personality than any past or future designers combined. Daniel Vosovic was this lovable 20-something fresh out of design school who walked in and mostly demolished everyone else. Chloe didn't have the biggest personality, but she was inherently likable and very strong. Nick was the obvious pro with a great personality. Andrae was... Andrae. Zulema was... Shetangi. And Daniel Franco followed his bliss. The cast was amazing, and led to some awesome designs. Unfortunately, the favorite to win got robbed (IMO) in the finale, but that's a small smudge on one of the craziest, most memorable and well-loved seasons of Project Runway.

1) Season 3

And finally, coming in at first place is season 3. This is definitely high up on most people's favorites list, but I'm not sure if this would be many people's number one season. But, I absolutely love it. There are so many big personalities this season- Vincent's kookiness, Kayne's hyperactivity, Keith's cockiness, Mychael's likableness, Angela's... Angelaness, Jeffrey's aggressiveness, etc. etc. There were just so many characters, and a ton of great designs as well! And even the personalities that weren't as big were really likable. We got some big drama, some great fashion, and a really strong final four. 

Once again, there are also so many great moments this season. This was the first time that a designer was disqualified- Keith was found with design books and left the set, so he was eliminated from the competition. We also got that great drama surrounding Jeffrey and his interactions with Angela's mom and all of the crazy drama surrounding Jeffrey and Angela in general. Even more, we got all the controversy with the claims that Jeffrey cheated in the finale. But despite the drama, we also had some super strong designers. Poor Mychael Knight was a front runner the entire season, only to deliver his disco safari finale collection and get axed at fourth. But despite that flub, the final 4 of season 3 are one of the strongest group of finale designers. Sure, Mychael's collection wasn't great, but in terms of his design ability, he was elite. Even the pseudo-villains this season are only pseudo-villains, as many of them still end up being likable/enjoyable at the end of the day. I just absolutely love this season. I've watched it so many times and each and every time I absolutely love it. The reunion episode this season is one of my absolute favorite episodes of the show. Everything about it is so entertaining and there's a reason that it's one of the most beloved seasons of the show. 

So, that's my list of the Project Runway seasons, ranked from worst to best! Let me know down in the comments which season of Project Runway is your favorite, and what you think of my ranking of these seasons! 

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