RuPaul's Drag Race extends season 15 episodes to 90 minutes following backlash

9 February 2023, 17:25

Watch the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 trailer

By Sam Prance

RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 episodes were initially reduced to 40 minutes

UPDATE: WOW Presents Plus have announced that they are extending the length of the season 15's episodes to 90 minutes. (Feb 9th)

In a press release, WOW Presents Plus wrote: "90 minute episodes of Season 15 will air exclusively on the platform (outside of US) from episode 11 on Saturday 11th March onwards. MTV will also make 90 minute episodes available for viewers in the US from March 10th.

Accompanying episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked will continue to air alongside each episode."

RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 is finally here but fans are calling out MTV for making the show's episodes so much shorter.

Throughout RuPaul's Drag Race herstory, the beloved reality competition has had many changes. From the judging panel to the format, the show continues to evolve over time. Drag Race has also changed networks as it's become more and more popular. The first eight seasons aired on Logo TV, it then moved to VH1 for six seasons and, now, it's airing on MTV.

READ MORE: Yvie Oddly had to reshoot her All Stars talent show performance after dramatic fall in front of RuPaul

In recent years, episodes of the show have also gotten longer with people craving more Drag Race content. However, this season the episodes have gone from being 90 minutes long to 40 minutes long and fans are now slamming MTV for it.

Why are RuPaul's Drag Race season 15's episodes so short?

The controversial reason why Drag Race season 15 episodes are so short comes down to the fact that MTV are using it as a way to promote their brand new LGBTQ+ reality TV show The Real Friends of WeHo. According to Deadline, MTV want to "build a destination night by using the existing hit franchise to launch a new series like The Real Friends of WeHo".

As of next week, episodes of The Real Friends of WeHo, will air in between Drag Race and UnTucked. The Real Friends of WeHo is a new show inspired by The Real Housewives franchise. It seeks to explore the lives and drama of a group of famous LGBTQ+ friends in West Hollywood. The main cast includes the likes of Todrick Hall and Brad Goreski.

In order to accommodate for The Real Friends of WeHo, Drag Race episodes have now been edited down from 90 minutes to 40 minutes. This means that the challenges, runways and judge's comments are much shorter and, as a result, fans feel as though the episodes are rushed, and they are missing out on vital parts of the competition.

Reacting to the new episode length, one person tweeted: "I honestly hate that the new episode is so short like why is mtv ruining this for us. We need to make them know that we actually hate this." Another added: "THESE RUNWAYS ARE SO SHORT GIVE ME A SECOND TO ACTUALLY SEE THE GARMENT."

Over 20,000 fans of the show have also signed a new petition named: "Bring back 90 minute episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race and not air The Real Friends of WeHo."

As it stands, MTV and RuPaul are yet to address the backlash. We shall update you if they do.

What do you think? Are the new Drag Race episodes too short?

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