'Drag Race Brasil's Long Herstory: The 6-Year Journey of Getting the Show Made

‘Drag Race’ finally came to Brazil!

As far as most fans are concerned, the global expansion of RuPaul’s Drag Race was officially kicked off in 2018 with the greenlighting of Drag Race Thailand season one. While some argue that the 2015 Chilean series The Switch Drag Race is a part of the overall franchise, that show has very little actual resemblance to the format that is being exported to so many countries in recent years.

What many fans don’t know, however, is that Drag Race Brasil was already in the works even before Drag Race Thailand premiered on television. There was a very real possibility that the Brazilian version of Drag Race was going to be the franchise’s first official international spinoff, but a series of casting switch-ups, production setbacks, and changes in politics contributed to the show taking a long six years to go on the air.

Most international versions of Drag Race come to fruition as World of Wonder sells the rights to the series to networks, streaming services, and/or production companies in different countries. This is a pretty straightforward process that many other reality competitions follow, with shows like Big Brother, The Voice, America’s Next Top Model, and MasterChef also having several international versions all around the world.

Alas, the herstory to get Drag Race Brasil on the air started out long before the global expansion of Mama Ru’s universe that we’ve been witnessing in recent years.

Scroll through to learn more about the long herstory behind the making of Drag Race Brasil, which is now streaming new episodes every Wednesday on WOW Presents Plus.

‘Drag Race Brasil’ enters pre-production (August 2017).

The very first news regarding the making of Drag Race Brasil were reported as early as August 2017 by Meio e Mensagem, the biggest publication about Brazilian media and marketing.

According to this initial report, Endemol Shine Brasil had acquired the rights to make Drag Race Brasil and started looking for sponsors. The rights for the show were acquired in a partnership with distributor Passion Distribution.

The production company claimed that RuPaul was guaranteed to make an appearance on the show and had a “personal desire” to be as involved as possible. Producers were also already trying to secure guest judges, though a host hadn’t yet been established at this time.

And yet, 2017 marked the rise of Jair Bolsonaro, a conservative – and explicitly homophobic – politician in Brazil who would go on to become president in 2018. Among other things, Bolsonaro was infamous for giving out an interview declaring that he’d “rather have a dead child than a gay child.”

Various reports at the time suggested that Drag Race Brasil was at risk of not happening due to the political climate in 2017, which was not favorable to a new LGBTQ+ show such as Drag Race.

RuPaul claims he has ‘no idea’ about ‘Drag Race Brasil.’

In September 2017, Brazilian celebs Hugo Gloss and Carol Ribeiro attended the Primetime Emmy Awards as reporters to cover the event for cable network TNT Brasil. Upon seeing RuPaul walking the red carpet, Gloss took the opportunity to ask Mama Ru about the status of Drag Race Brasil.

Interestingly enough, despite the aforementioned report published in August 2017, RuPaul told Gloss the following about Drag Race Brasil: “I’ve heard that rumor too. I have no idea where that came from. I mean, people keep saying that, I hope so.”

Brazilian producers immediately respond to RuPaul’s interview comments (September 2017).

Literally one day after RuPaul’s statement about not knowing anything about Drag Race Brasil, production company Endemol Shine Brasil issued an official response “guaranteeing” that it did hold the rights to make the show and was actively working on it (via Meio e Mensagem).

Pabllo Vittar is reportedly invited to appear as a guest judge on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 11 (December 2017).

While rumors about Drag Race Brasil kept coming to the surface, Folha de São Paulo – one of the most reputable news organizations in the country – reported that Pabllo Vittar had been officially invited to be a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11. That season was scheduled for filming in the summer of 2018 and would subsequently premiere in February 2019.

As a result, Vittar planned a long-term summer trip to the US so that she could be available for the entire filming period of Drag Race season 11. Vittar was reportedly also going to use this time in the US to work on new music with producers based in Los Angeles.

Potential hosts of ‘Drag Race Brasil’ are discussed, and Netflix expresses interest in streaming the show (January 2018).

In January 2018, a story in the Extra newspaper reported that Paulo Gustavo expressed a desire to host Drag Race Brasil. Gustavo was a comedian and actor best known for impersonating a drag version of his mother in Brazilian plays and movies titled My Mom Is A Character. Alas, producers were still favoring Pabllo Vittar to be the main host of the show given that Gustavo wasn’t necessarily a drag performer outside of impersonating his mom.

Ironically enough, at the same time that a conservative president like Bolsonaro was elected, a drag queen like Vittar was one of Brazil’s most mainstream artists. Thus, one major obstacle for Vittar to host Drag Race Brasil was that she was already constantly appearing on other TV shows, performing at events, releasing new music, and touring the country.

At this time, Netflix was reportedly in talks to acquire the streaming rights of Drag Race Brasil.

Producers postpone ‘Drag Race Brasil’ after Bolsonaro is elected president (February 2018).

Just one month after Bolsonaro became president, Endemol Shine Brasil announced that Drag Race Brasil had been “postponed” indefinitely. And yet, the production company claimed in a statement from February 2018 that this delay was actually caused by Passion Distribution suddenly “reorganizing the international strategy” for the Drag Race franchise (via Meio e Mensagem).

RuPaul shares a very confusing tweet while promoting his book release in Brazil (April 2018).

RuPaul shared a since-deleted tweet in April 2018 to promote the release of his book Workin’ It in Brazil. Confusingly, attached to that tweet was a picture that showed the Drag Race Brasil name alongside the logo of Record TV, a Christian faith-based broadcast network (as reported by Papel Pop).

Fans were completely puzzled by the association between a queer show and a Christian network. Chances are that RuPaul – or his social media manager – made a mistake, and that this had nothing to do with any real chance of Drag Race Brasil airing on Record TV.

Rumors of Pabllo Vittar appearing on ‘Drag Race’ season 11 are still in full motion (February 2019).

Right before the airing of Drag Race season 11, Pabllo Vittar was still rumored to appear as a guest judge on the show. In fact, there was even a rumor that she’d appear alongside Britney Spears in the judging panel.

During an interview with radio station Jovem Pan (reported by PureBreak), Vittar didn’t confirm or deny that she’d be featured on the show. “I can’t say anything,” she said that the time.

Pabllo Vittar officially rejects invitation to host ‘Drag Race Brasil’ (March 2019).

According to a March 2019 report from the Jovem Pan website, Pabllo Vittar officially passed on the offer to host Drag Race Brasil. This was seemingly one of the many challenges that Endemol Shine Brasil had been facing while trying to make the show.

The article specifically noted that “there isn’t a consensus on who would host the show and which network it would air on.” Moreover, the report acknowledged that Drag Race Brasil might not be finding enough sponsors to pay for production due to the conservative political climate that the country was facing.

At this time, the only channel that was reportedly considering airing Drag Race Brasil was cable network Multishow, which has always been MTV’s biggest competitor in Brazil.

Pabllo Vittar gives update on her relationship with the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ franchise (April 2019).

​As season 11 of Drag Race aired and Pabllo Vittar did not appear as a guest judge, fans started to speculate on what changed – or fell through – regarding the singer’s planned appearance on the show.

However, Vittar has always maintained some level of secrecy, noting that she isn’t sure why she wasn’t called to be a guest judge on Drag Race after receiving an invitation to appear on the show, traveling to the US at the time of filming, and making herself available.

During an interview with Gay Times in April 2019, Vittar said that she’d never compete on Drag Race, but once again expressed how much she’d like to appear as a guest judge. She also talked about Drag Race being the reason why she started doing drag.

Endemol Shine Brasil issues statement about not having the rights for ‘Drag Race Brasil’ any longer (November 2020).

In November 2020, UOL reported that Endemol Shine Brasil had “quietly relinquished” the rights it had acquired to make Drag Race Brasil. This meant that the show was officially canceled and no longer in production.

The report indicated that this decision was made due to the very polarized political climate in Brazil, which at this point had very conservative politician Jair Bolsonaro as president for nearly two years.

The company’s official press release read, “On September 2017, Endemol Shine Brasil acquired the temporary rights to market and produce the show in question in Brazil. This contract hasn’t been in effect for many years.

Michelle Visage reacts to a tweet about ‘Drag Race Brasil’ being forgotten (January 2021).

In January 2021, Michelle Visage responded to a tweet about “Brazil being forgotten” within the world of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Fans had also been flooding social media with questions about whether Visage and RuPaul would host a Brazilian version of Drag Race.

As seen in a screenshot captured by Draglicious, Visage responded: “Never forgotten! We don’t speak the language! We stan Brazilian drag!”

It was always unlikely that RuPaul and Visage would host Drag Race Brasil (despite the original statements that RuPaul wished to be very involved in the series). Nonetheless, this served as a soft update regarding the series.

Paulo Gustavo, once considered to host ‘Drag Race Brasil,’ dies from complications of COVID-19 (May 2021).

On May 4, 2021, the entire country of Brazil mourned the passing of Paulo Gustavo, one of the most popular comedians of our time, and who was once considered as a candidate to host Drag Race Brasil.

After being in the hospital for an extended period of time, Gustavo passed away from complications of COVID-19. To this day, many Brazilians place the blame on President Bolsonaro for not purchasing vaccines as soon as they became available.

Xuxa becomes the new leading candidate to host ‘Drag Race Brasil’ (August 2021).

A Metrópoles report made waves in Brazil with the news that Drag Race Brasil was once again in the works. In this new iteration, TV host Xuxa was the main candidate for hosting the series. At this point, the show was reportedly going to air on Multishow and had a reported premiere date set for 2022.

The filming of big productions (e.g. Brazilian soap operas) was still limited by the pandemic at this time. Therefore, this new report suggested that Drag Race Brasil could potentially air on a broadcast network like Globo – the country’s highest-rated broadcast channel – after the episodes premiered on Globo-owned cable channel Multishow.

For context, this would’ve been the equivalent of CBS airing Drag Race after new episodes premiered on Paramount-owned channels like VH1 or MTV.

Xuxa drops out of ‘Drag Race Brasil’ and hosts another drag competition show for Prime Video (October 2021).

Some people in the LGBTQ+ community criticized the decision that Xuxa (a straight cis woman whose fashion looks are sometimes drag-esque, but not always) should not be the host of Drag Race Brasil.

As a result, POPline reported in October 2021 that Xuxa had dropped out of Drag Race Brasil and had signed on with Prime Video to do another drag competition series, Queens on the Run, which she cohosted with drag queen Ikaro Kadoshi.

Pabllo Vittar signs on to host another drag competition show for HBO Max (March 2022).

In March 2022, Pabllo Vittar signed on to host another drag competition series from HBO Max (now simply named Max) titled Queen Stars Brasil. Featuring drag singers as the contestants, this new show came off as a direct competitor to Queen of the Universe from World of Wonder and Paramount+.

Brazilian fans interpreted this move as Vittar squashing any possibility that she might host Drag Race Brasil… if and when the show ever got made.

World of Wonder shares casting call for Brazilian queens but doesn’t mention ‘Drag Race Brasil’ (August 2022).

World of Wonder announced a casting call for Brazilian drag queens in August 2022. On the same day, casting calls were also opened for Mexican and German queens.

However, it was not made immediately clear that this casting call was for Drag Race Brasil. In fact, many notable Brazilian queens heavily speculated that this casting call was for a new show and format, much like Queen of the Universe, which had just come out.

Fans discover that Endemol Shine Brasil still holds the ‘Drag Race Brasil’ copyright (August 2022).

As more questions came to the surface about whether the World of Wonder casting call was for Drag Race Brasil, fans pointed out that Endemol Shine Brasil still held the copyright for the “Drag Race Brasil” name until 2028 (via @xbzpapi on X).

Overall, fans and queens alike were skeptical that the casting call served as any confirmation that Drag Race Brasil was now finally happening.

‘Drag Race Brasil’ is officially confirmed (December 2022).

In December 2022, Drag Race Brasil was officially confirmed to air on MTV and Paramount+ in Brazil and WOW Presents Plus around the world.

Grag Queen is announced as the host of ‘Drag Race Brasil’ (July 2023).

After months of speculation about the actual and finally official host of the series, Queen of the Universe season one winner Grag Queen was confirmed as the host of Drag Race Brasil.

‘Drag Race Brasil’ premieres on TV (August 2023).

After six years of rumors, speculation, and reports, the first season of Drag Race Brasil made its grand premiere on August 30, 2023.