Why it’s time for ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ to get a ‘Love Island’ makeover
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 just wrapped a record-breaking season. Featuring a supersized cast to mark a decade of the series, the season broke the mold with a bracket-style competition reminiscent of a rhinestoned March Madness. Yet, many viewers called season 10 predictable and over-produced, an issue furthered by rampant spoilers on social media.
Meanwhile, Love Island USA, another reality show known for its catfights and neon aesthetics, dominated American social feeds this summer with its chaotic twists and red-hot challenges. But what if Drag Race took a page out of Love Island‘s playbook?
No, I don’t mean that Drag Race should become a dating show (although Kori King and Lydia B. Kollins somehow made that happen). But adopting aspects of Love Island‘s format and production could re-energize the Drag Race fanbase and keep the show fresh with elements already working in reality TV. The show could re-energize itself by borrowing three tactics from Love Island USA: Real-time production, audience involvement, and more unpolished moments.
Real-time production
One of Love Island‘s strengths is its real-time feel. The show premieres while the contestants are still living in a hidden camera-filled paradise. Episodes roll out mere days after they are filmed, creating urgency and voyeuristic audience investment made possible by real-time competition. Anything can happen.
Of course, Drag Race is a different beast. Contestants are writing songs, doing standup, and competing in talent shows rather than lounging by a pool. A rushed edit could lead to a messy season (as Love Island sometimes suffers from repeated confessional clips and choppy transitions). However, a tighter turnaround from filming could restrict spoilers and lend itself to more organic storylines.
Leaks are sporadic in the Love Island universe thanks to its quick pace and on-set secrecy. If Drag Race adopted the Love Island quick-production format, producers could build hype by announcing the cast before filming and virtually eliminating spoilers with a release-after-filming timeline. It wouldn’t have to be days, but a tighter turnaround (say, weeks) rather than the current 6+ months could make the season feel current rather than a rumor-laden recap. This would also prevent episode-by-episode spoilers familiar to the Drag Race Instagram comment section and avoid competition drama from going stale by the time it premieres.
Audience Involvement
Another appealing aspect of Love Island is its audience involvement.
Love Island USA lets fans participate in the show by encouraging them to vote on everything from favorite islander to least favorite couple, a democratic feature made possible by the official Love Island app. These audience-determined metrics factor into regular eliminations and shape storylines in real-time. They also lead to exciting contestant reactions (like islanders realizing they aren’t as popular with the audience as they assumed).
Although letting the audience vote off queens might not be possible, the Drag Race franchise could benefit from more audience participation to secure season-long buy-in. For Drag Race, this might look like letting the fan base vote on the season’s lip sync songs and challenges. Perhaps more appealingly, the audience could have a say in which queens get sent into the Werk Room arena.
Unpolished moments
Finally, Drag Race could benefit from Love Island‘s emphasis on unpolished moments.
The firepit ceremonies, where Love Island contestants get eliminated, can be likened to the Drag Race mainstage; both arenas are the centerpiece of drama and competition. However, the most appealing scenes from Love Island are often the conversations in the villa over breakfast or before bed. For most of the episode, the audience watches the islanders interact within the villa environment while having conversations that naturally further their relationships (and the competition).
Drag Race includes aspects of this in the “getting ready” Werk Room scenes, which often reveal vulnerability and camaraderie beyond the main stage. But these scenes usually feel manufactured or too brief. This season, Denali allegedly stormed backstage after losing a lip sync to Ginger Minj. But fans would have no idea if they didn’t spot her absence at the end of the episode or watch a Roscoe’s recap.
Unpolished moments make reality television sparkle. For Drag Race, spotlighting the real moments would be less copying Love Island and more returning to the roots that made the show so popular in the first place.
To its credit, Drag Race is trying something new with the All Stars bracket format. But looking at Love Island may help the show keep the audience engaged for the whole season. And who knows? Putting a bunch of drag queens in a villa is something I would certainly watch.
