RuPaul’s Drag Race will include first straight male queen in 14th season
Maddy Morphosis is a small-town queen from Arkansas who's ready to "prove she can perform with the best of them"
The upcoming 14th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race will include the long-running reality show’s first ever cisgender heterosexual drag queen.
Maddy Morphosis, a “small-town camp and comedy queen” from Fayetteville in Arkansas, will be the first straight male to compete in the U.S. version of Drag Race.
“As the first heterosexual, cisgender male contestant on Drag Race, Maddy’s quirky performances set her apart from the pack and she’s here to prove she can perform with the best of them,” VH1 noted in an official release.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Maddy said that she grew up feeling “different” and “enamored” with the feminine perspective.
“I started to question myself,” she said. “Who was I? I wasn’t into things that were traditionally masculine. Am I trans? Does that mean I’m gay?”
A former girlfriend introduced Maddy to drag, where she learned she could “take a lot of those aspects and apply it to my daily life.”
“As far as the gender stuff, I learned that all the things related to gender are arbitrary,” Maddy said. “I identify as a cisgender straight man, but I’m gender non-conforming in my presentation.”
Maddy Morphosis’ inclusion in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 is the reality show’s latest attempt to extend access beyond gay, cisgender drag queens.
Season 13 finalist Gottmik was Drag Race‘s first transgender male competitor, while Drag Race All Stars Season 6’s Kylie Sonique Love became the franchise’s first openly trans winner.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 will also feature Alyssa Hunter, Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Bosco, Daya Betty, Deja Skye, Jasmine Kennedie, Jorgeous, June Jambalaya, Kerri Colby, Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté, Lady Camden, Orion Story, and Willow Pill.
The season is set to debut on VH1 on Jan. 7, 2022, with a two-part premiere that will introduce all 14 queens.
RuPaul teased a curious new twist to the show’s format in a preview for the upcoming season, in a candy-coated boardgame-inspired promo video.
“This season, victory never tasted so sweet. Unwrap a world of imagination with 14 new queens who are all game to play,” RuPaul says.
“Forget the rulebook. For the first time in herstory, a one-of-a-kind candy bar could make a queen’s wish come true. Hope you saved room for dessert!”
While Maddy Morphosis is the first U.S. Drag Race competitor to identify as heterosexual and cisgender, the show’s RuPaul-hosted British counterpart Drag Race UK featured a male drag queen with a girlfriend — Season 1’s Scaredy Kat — although they didn’t identify themselves as straight.
Drag Race UK‘s latest season also featured a cisgender female competitor, Victoria Scone, who emerged as a leading contender for the crown before being forced to drop out due to injury.
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