If you thought RuPaul's Drag Race's new episodes were going to be sweet for season 16, the 14 new queens entering the Werk Room have a spicy surprise in store — and EW got an earful in our new, exclusive (and explosive) interview teasing all of the juicy goodness, twists, and "rotted" gaggery ahead.
"I saw a tweet that said, either this whole season is full of villains or we'd all be the individual villains on other seasons we might appear on," Plasma tells EW in our group interview with the new cast (below). "I don't know, I have no reply to that. I just think it's interesting."
"Everybody's not afraid to go in on each other. Honestly, I think this is a cast of really shady bitches and we all like to read and we all understand that reading is a part of drag. There are some girls who dish but can't take in the cast," observes Q. "These queens are just overwhelming and it was really stressful," Nymphia Wind later adds, feigning a sweet baby voice as she reflects on the competition — which also implements several new twists and reintroduces some new ones, too.
"For the Rate-a-Queen twist, the only word is rotted. Why would you make us do that?" Megami says with a laugh, clearly gooped by the fact that the cast — split into groups of seven to compete in separate talent shows across the two-part premiere — was tasked with voting for the best and worst performers of their respective episodes.
The immunity twist is also back for the first time in several years this season, which Megami calls a "nice" development that impacted how she played the game with her sisters, though Hershii LicQour-Jeté — drag sister to season 14's Miss Congeniality, Kornbread — describes the jolts coming up as straight-up "foolery."
Sapphira Cristal also offers a more ominous (and cryptically hilarious) summary of the season, which she says fans will fully understand once episodes premiere throughout the year.
"One of my favorite words to think about this season is 'hoarders.' Think about it, and as you watch the season you'll be like, ohh," She teases. "They will know exactly what we're talking about."
In the end, Dawn insists that no one on season 16 comes off like a nefarious villain, but rather the cast is just plain "fun and a little evil," she says. "It very much feels like a family to me," Plasma summarizes. "We very much love each other — and also hate each other, but it comes with a lot of love."
RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV. Watch EW's exclusive interview with the cast of queens above, and read on for a full breakdown (with timestamps) of major highlights from the interview.
