Drag Race fans fall for April Fool’s Day post about major changes to show
RuPaul’s Drag Race fans have been tricked by a viral social media post. (BBC)
A viral April Fool’s Day post has tricked scores of RuPaul’s Drag Race fans into thinking the series is heading for a huge revamp.
Shortly after midnight UK time on 1 April, aka April Fool’s Day, Drag Race Facebook fan page “RuPaul’s Drag Race Family” shared a post about the drag reality show adopting a “brand new format” from 2025 onwards.
The fan group teased that season 17 of the show, which is in reality several months from being filmed, will be “completely live”.
“Rather than filming for six weeks and having a whole year to wait and see the results, the cast will film each task weekly with the runways and final lip-syncs being completely live on a Friday night,” the post read.
“After 16 seasons producers decided this shake up is just the thing the format needs.”
In addition to promising a live format, the fan page also stated that two-time Drag Race winner and Doctor Who star Jinkx Monsoon would be taking over from the hilarious Ross Matthews as a permanent judge.
At the time of writing, more than 12,000 Drag Race fans had “reacted” to the Facebook post, despite the page providing absolutely no source for the information, and the post being conveniently shared on April Fool’s Day.
There are also 2,000 comments and almost 2,000 shares on the post, proving just how quickly misinformation can spread online.
“Of course I love Jinkx, but I’ll miss Ross Matthews. Can’t we switch him out with Carson [Kressley],” questioned one fooled fan.
Another gullible social media user commented: “Whoa! Massive changes. Exciting. I love Ross so much… However, if anybody was going to fill his shoes it’s AMAZING that it’s Jinkx.”
“I will miss Ross! I hope he comes back as a guest judge every now and then. I love Jinx Monsoon, so that is very exciting,” a third deceived fan wrote.
However, thankfully, a number of followers of the fan page swiftly noticed the date and came to their senses.
“Damn I was suspicious and I’m pretty sure I was right to be so considering the date,” one person commented.
“I love to see such exciting news at the beginning of April,” added another.
Despite being an obvious April Fool’s Day joke, the fake news may have appeared more likely considering recent changes to the Drag Race franchise.
Last month, it was announced that RuPaul’s right-hand woman Michelle Visage would take over as the head judge on spin-off franchise, Drag Race Down Under.
Plus, considering Jinkx Monsoon’s star continuing to rise – both on TV in Doctor Who, and on stage – it wouldn’t be too shocking to see her as a permanent Drag Race fixture in the near future.
