RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race has an all-new format for Season 2, and PEOPLE has an exclusive look at the starry premiere.
The VH1 reality show, which begins Friday, urges the stars to “unleash the drag queen that’s within them.” And for its second season, the series undergoes a radical transformation of its own, keeping the celebs’ identities a secret from audiences until they’re eliminated from the competition each week.
It is a format similar to The Masked Singer, the show’s backdrop even moves to a stage for RuPaul’s iconic study, live in front of a studio audience. But as Ru says in the premiere’s opening, “This isn’t a guessing game.”
“We keep our candidates’ identities private so you can focus on their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent,” explains Ru.
A total of 9 celebrities will take part in the show, the stars “agree to leave their famous identities behind” as they undergo “a wig-to-heel transformation”. Each week they perform in a flamboyant lip-synching. The bottom two queens will face off in a sudden-death “lip-sync for your life” that will send a celebrity home.
It’s all about winning $100,000 for her favorite charity and the title of America’s Next Celebrity Drag Superstar.
“I live to be on stage,” says one star in the trailer, while another adds that the show is “an exercise in confidence.”
“People have always known who I am. I can’t hide,” says one hidden celebrity. “So it’s really exciting for me to embrace a new identity.”
“This will shock everyone to death!” jokes another.
Ru’s “Queen Supreme Mentors” are helping the queens – RuPaul’s Drag Race outstanding jujubee, RuPaul’s Drag Race Canada Judges Brooke Lynn Hytes and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 4 Champion Monet X Change.
Other stars from the Drag Race Family – Eureka, Gottmik, Katya, Morgan McMichaels, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Violet Chachki – will be stopping by as “Extra Special Guest Stars” throughout the season.
As for the judges, they will all be familiar faces Drag Race Viewers: Michele Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews and RuPaul himself.
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All in all, the show should be fun. “Drag doesn’t change who you are, it shows who you are,” RuPaul says in the premiere.
RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race Season 2 premieres Friday (8 p.m. ET) on VH1.