international icons

Here’s the tea on the fierce international queens competing on ‘Drag Race Global All-Stars’

This summer, fierce challengers face off in the ultimate test of talent and skill…. 

We’re talking, of course, about RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars—the highly anticipated drag games of olympic proportions! 

The biggest drag competition in the world is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+: Twelve fan-favorite queens from twelve different countries vie for a spot in the international pavilion at the Drag Race Hall Of Fame, a grand prize of $200,000, and the title of “Queen Of The Mothertucking World.”

Every performance is a moment to shine on this international stage, and Global All Stars presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans to rally behind their home-country heroes—and fall in love with queens that might not already know from abroad.

With that in mind, in anticipation of this worldwide drag extravaganza, Queerty’s got your primer on each of the queens vying for the crown. 

Follow which queens are representing which countries, learn about the challenges they’ve crushed in their previous seasons, and find out some fun facts about each.

And don’t miss the two-episode premiere of the all-new RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars, now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

Alyssa Edwards

Representing: Team USA

Previous Seasons: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 (6th), RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2 (5th)

Strengths: Well, they don’t call her “The Dancing Queen” for nothin’! Alyssa first hot-stepped into the Werk Room in 2013 already a revered dancer and choreographer, and she’s more than proven her fancy footwork skills across the competition, from the Black Swan ballet challenge (her first Maxi win) to being part of some of the most iconic Lip Syncs of all time.

Fun Fact: Alyssa’s the only Drag Race queen to have been impersonated twice on Snatch Game (by Violet Chachki and Aja), which speaks to just how iconic she is.

Athena Likis

Representing: Team Belgium

Previous Season: Drag Race Belgique Season 1 (2nd)

Strengths: Athena’s personal style is extremely sharp and creative, leaning into high-concept looks that draw influence from pop culture and the art world. The innovative aesthetic served her well on the runway, but also secured her win for both the makeover challenge and Talent Show, where she perfectly executed a scene of screwball prop comedy.

Fun Fact: Originally from Greece, Athena is named after the Greek goddess of wisdom. She competed in Belgique with her full last name, Sorgelikis, which comes from her drag mother.

Eva Le Queen

Representing: Team Philippines

Previous Season: Drag Race Philippines Season 1 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: Eva may not have won a Maxi Challenge during her initial run on Philippines, but you certainly can’t count her out: She’s got a sparkling stage presence, earning high-ranking remarks for the Talent Show, Snatch Game, Girl Groups, and more. Plus, she won the “Reading Is Fundamental” Mini Challenge, so don’t even try to come for her—she’ll read you down!

Fun Fact: Eva is the CEO of Filipino entertainment brand Drag Playhouse, which she co-founded with her dear drag sister Marina Summers, recently seen on UK Vs. The World.

Gala Varo

Representing: Team Mexico

Previous Season: Drag Race México Season 1 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: With a background as a circus entertainer—like, seriously, she did acrobatic stunts on the trapeze and aerial hoops!—Gala knows a thing or two about performing to the back of the room. That’s why she turned it all the way up and won her season’s Girl Group number, while also scoring high notes in others like the Rusical and telenovela acting challenge.

Fun Fact: Prior to starting her drag career, Gala got her PhD and was a professor of Biomedicine, Biochemistry and Immunology in Guadalajara. Support queens in STEM!

Kitty Scott-Claus

Representing: Team UK

Previous Season: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: Check the track record: Kitty’s one of the rare queens to make it to the finale without ever landing in the bottom. So, sure, she’s well-rounded, but her greatest asset is her catty sense of humor (and infectious laugh), which propelled her to a win in the campy “Bra Wars” acting challenge, as well as high marks for her Roast and Snatch Game turn as Gemma Collins.

Fun Fact: Kitty’s a proper reality queen—even beyond Drag Race—having also competed in Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Masterchef, The Weakest Link, and Brit quiz show Pointless.

Kween Kong

Representing: Team Australia

Previous Season: RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: Kween is another Global All Star who’s formidable on their feet, a professional dancer and choreographer who trained and toured for years with New Zealand’s leading contemporary dance company, Black Grace, as a principal performer. That’s served her well in the competition, smashing the Girl Group challenge and wowing with death-defying Lip Syncs.

Fun Fact: Kween originally hails from South Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Tongan descent. She cites fellow “Polynseian deity” Sasha Colby as her “soul mother.”

Miranda Lebrão

Representing: Team Brazil

Previous Season: Drag Race Brasil Season 1 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: The Rio de Janeiro-based Miranda is all about the visuals, baby. She’s a visual artist by trade, who also happens to have a degree in naval engineering! That blend of brains and creative flair makes her a formidable competitor in design-based challenges, someone who can rock a pattern or stun in monochrome—like her Maxi-winning dual black & white looks.

Fun Fact: Miranda made it to the Brasil finale—which aired November 15, 2023—so technically she’s had the shortest gap between competing on her original season and Global All Stars.

Nehellenia

Representing: Team Italy 

Previous Season: Drag Race Italia Season 2 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: With a background in drag pageants, Nehellenia is a polished performer who oozes charm on-stage and off. She showcased her ineffable charisma in Italia’s Lady Gaga Rusical, scoring in the top queens, and won her season’s makeover challenge, too. But it’s her emotive personality—she’s never one to hold back tears—that makes her a true queen of confessionals.

Fun Fact: Nehellenia’s one of only a few queens across the entire Drag Race franchise to make it to the grand finale and be named her season’s Miss Congeniality.

Pythia

Representing: Team Canada

Previous Season: Canada’s Drag Race Season 2 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: The Greek-born Pythia’s inventive, outside-the-box style blends high camp with high fashion to create looks that become instantly iconic. Who else would turn a reference to Catherine O’Hara’s Schitt’s Creek character into a show-stopping runway moment? And don’t get us started on that two-headed design for the Circus Bezerkus category. Hall of fame-worthy!

Fun Fact: Before Roxxxy Andrews freaked it as Hennywise in the All Stars 9 Rusical, Pythia actually played a yass-ified version of the IT clown, too—and won Canada’s first Rusical for it!

Soa de Muse

Representing: Team France

Previous Season: Drag Race France Season 1 (Runner-Up)

Strengths: A seasoned performer, Soa came in hot when she said “Bonjour!’ to Drag Race France, snatching the first win of the season with her fierce vocals in the premiere Talent Show. And though the next two challenges tripped her up, forcing her to Lip Sync twice in a row, she proved she was ready to do so, bouncing back strong and scoring high all the way to the finale.

Fun Fact: Soa got her start in burlesque, performing in France’s historic drag cabaret Madame Arthur, and later helped open a Parisian cabaret of her own, La Bouche.

Tessa Testicle

Representing: Team Germany

Previous Season: Drag Race Germany Season 1 (8th)

Strengths: Tessa knows how her track record looks next to the others—she went home fourth her season and had to Lip Sync four out of her five episodes. But, do the math: it means she won three of them, and could wind up being the Lip Sync Assassin of Global All Stars. Combine that with her background in fashion design, and Tessa’s an underdog not to be underestimated.

Fun Fact: Many of the Global All Stars are at least bilingual, but Tessa speaks English, German, the regional Swiss-German, Italian, French, a little Spanish, too.

Vanity Vain

Representing: Team Sweden

Previous Season: Drag Race Sverige Season 1 (3rd)

Strengths: Vanity knows her way around a sewing machine, winning Sverige’s recycled materials design challenge. And she knows her way around a stage, too, earning high praise for her Girl Groups performance. But that’s just a taste of what’s to come: Vanity teases she’ll be bringing original songs on Global All Stars—and Sweden is the “capitol of good music” after all!

Fun Fact: Actor Alexander Skarsgård is a huge fan. He famously wore a Vanity Vain shirt while partying in a Stockholm gay bar last year, and even snapped a cute pic with the queen.

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