Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 6 of Drag Race: All Stars.
The legendary RuPaul has crowned a new winner! Fans tuned in to the final episode, curious about who won Drag Race: All Stars 6. It was an important moment for the entire franchise.
Who won ‘Drag Race: All Stars 6’? Spoilers ahead!
Thirteen queens entered the workroom of All Stars 6. After 12 episodes, 19 iconic lip-sync battles, the “game within a game,” lip-sync assassins, and a whole lot of wigs, the season has come to an end. And, in the end, there was one who reigned supreme.
Kylie now joins previous All Star winners Chad Michaels, Alaska, Trixie Mattel, Monet X Change, Trinity The Tuck, and Shea Coulee in the Hall of Fame.
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The final episode aired on Sept. 2, and walking away with the diamond scepter, crown, and title was Season 2’s returning queen, Kylie Sonique Love. She deserved the win after turning looks week after week in every challenge.
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The win for Kylie is an important cultural moment too. Kylie is the first trans winner on any of the U.S.-based seasons of Drag Race. She was the first to come out as transgender while on the show as well, revealing that she’s a woman during Season 2’s reunion episode.
Source: VH1/2021 Paramount+
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The moment was powerful and she was the first of several other women in the Runiverse to come out after. This season, when Kylie said that drag helped her discover who she is, she really means that.
After she was announced as the winner, Kylie hugged her fellow competitors (Ginger Minj, Eureka O’Hara, and Ra’Jah O’Hara). She thanked those who supported her throughout her career.
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Source: VH1/2021 Paramount+
“Live life in your truth, and love always wins,” she said in her speech. “This means everything to me. I found myself through drag. Drag has been my life, it’s been my saving grace, it’s given me a place to express myself. And winning this title is just reassurance that I followed the right path.”
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And that’s what makes her win feel even sweeter – not just because she was the underdog this season, having not been in the Drag Race scene for 11 years, but also because it really felt a full-circle moment for her and the franchise in general. A true Rudemption story and the first All Stars winner who didn’t do well in her original season.
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As a transwoman, Kylie Sonique Love’s win is an important moment for the show.
Kylie isn’t the first trans person on RuPaul Drag Race to take the crown – Drag Race Thailand‘s Angele Anang holds that title when she won in 2019.
But Kylie’s induction into the hall of fame will hopefully quell the rumor or the unspoken rule that trans people don’t belong in drag.
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Source: VH1/2021 Paramount+
In 2018, RuPaul apologized for controversial statements he previously made about the transgender community, which likely fed rumors that trans people weren’t welcome in the competition.
“Each morning I pray to set aside everything I THINK I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience,” RuPaul tweeted after an interview where he indicated he likely wouldn’t allow trans women to join the cast. “I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers.”
You can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars Season 6 on Paramount Plus if you missed the season.