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For each queen that enters the Werk Room toy car-, dip-, or purse-first, an equal number of RuPaul’s Drag Race eliminations are soon to follow.
Season 17 is no exception, with several queens already sashaying away from the competition — some exiting in more opulent, iconic, and downright hilarious runway looks than others, one might say.
Other would-be season 17 eliminations were ultimately thwarted, however, when Mama RuPaul introduced the new Badonka Dunk Tank twist (which Entertainment Weekly exclusively revealed in December), tasking eliminated queens with choosing to pull one of 10 levers on the Main Stage. Two of the levers would send judge Michelle Visage plummeting into the tank, while the other eight do — *insert chocolate bar twist womp-womp noise here* — absolutely nothing.
Ahead, see which queens were ultimately saved by the new twist — and which RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 eliminations put a gaping crater in our hearts more prominent than Joella‘s quilt hole.
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Episode 1: No elimination
RuPaul’s Drag Race/YouTube
As is now standard for Drag Race, no one went home on the Jan. 3 premiere episode — all 14 queens stayed in the Werk Room for another week. The premiere was still spicy, however, as the first seven queens participated in the annual talent show, only to be ranked by the other half of non-participating queens via the infamous Rate-A-Queen mandate. Then, on episode 2, the tables turned, and the second half of queens took the stage for the others to judge.
Episode 2: Hormona Lisa eliminated, saved by Badonka Dunk Tank twist
MTV
After both Acacia Forgot‘s live country song and Hormona Lisa‘s stand-up comedy act were deemed inferior by their season 17 sisters, the pair duked it out across the first elimination lip-sync of the year. Hope wasn’t lost for Tennessee queen Hormona — who was hand-picked by RuPaul to join the show — as she made her way back to the stage to become the Badonka Dunk Tank’s first test subject. After licking and lathering up the levers, Hormona shockingly chose one of two poles that sent Visage plunging into Badonka Dunk depths, keeping her around for another week (much to Kori King‘s dismay, mind you).
Episode 3: Lucky Starzzz eliminated
MTV
Eliminated queen: Lucky Starzzz
Place: 14th
Episode eliminated: “Monopulence!”
Runway exit line: “Thank you. RuPaul, it’s Starz-z-z-zah!”
Lipstick mirror message: “Lucky Starzzzzzzzz was here! And don’t you forget it! Keep on shining my 13 lucky stars.”
Lucky’s EW exit interview quote: “I honestly felt so ugly. I know how drag queens are. I know queens all over the world are going to read me. I felt embarrassed, I felt ugly, I felt disgusting, I felt like a failure, which is one of my worst fears in life. In that moment, my worst fear came true: I was ugly, my drag was busted, I failed, so all of that came together. My situation back home is not good either, so I felt like, wow, am I really about to leave back to that? What did I do here? I just crashed down that day, so I had to cover my face while crying, because I get embarrassed when I cry. Imagine having a panic attack in public, in front of RuPaul. That’s how I felt.”
Episode 4: Joella eliminated
MTV
Eliminated queen: Joella
Place: 13th
Episode eliminated: “Bitch, I’m a Drag Queen!”
Runway exit line: “Thank you so much for everything. Well, at least I didn’t die a local girl!”
Lipstick mirror message: “Visit me when you come back to LA! Joella’s EW exit interview quote: “I can’t even count on my hands and toes how many people have come up to me and told me how much of an icon and inspiration I am, and how much I mean to them and to Asian people in L.A. These are real things people have told me. People have told me, ‘When I see you in WeHo, I’m scared to go up to you because you look like a goddess, like a rich lady.’ I’m not lying. This is a big reality check for me, because now I’m seeing some of these people run my name through the comments. To my face, you’re saying all this, now that I’m on the show saying this, you want to claim it’s a different story…. When I said ‘local icon,’ I didn’t mean L.A. period, I meant local drag in Los Angeles. Something they can never take away from me is that I was a booked-ass bitch. I’m one of the most-booked queens in Southern California. All those queens in Squirrel Games? I knew them all, because I am that working diva in Southern California.”
Episode 5: Arrietty eliminated, saved by Badonka Dunk Tank twist
MTV
She might’ve lip-synced against fellow contestant Lydia B Kollins (who was dressed as a giant erect penis), but the Drag Race gods didn’t work too hard to keep Arrietty in the competition. After landing in the bottom following the RDR Live! sketch comedy challenge, Arrietty managed to pull the only remaining lever that led to Visage’s second soaking of season 17. Thus, while Arrietty wasn’t eliminated, the prospect of another queen being saved by the Badonka Dunk Tank was. The Seattle queen‘s feat ensured that no one else could be saved by the twist, exhausting its powers — and the remaining queens’ security — in the process.
