Why Santino Rico Isn’t a ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Judge Anymore
Sometimes it’s “just family” on the RuPaul’s Drag Race judge’s panel. Even if Michelle Visage and RuPaul are often commenting on the queen’s charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, the other judges on this reality series are sometimes missing — including Santino Rice, who left after a cameo on season 7.
Who is the former ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ judge Santino Rice?
Known for his role in the second season of Project Runway, Rice was a fashion designer and former judge at the 2006 Miss Universe Pageant. The celebrity joined RuPaul’s Drag Race in its first season, judging the contestants on their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
Rice remained on the judges’ panel through season 6, specifically commenting on each queen’s runway outfits. He returned with a guest appearance on season 7 before he was officially removed from the reality competition series. However, the reasoning behind his leave is still unknown.
Why isn’t Santino Rico a judge on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’?
The exact tea regarding Rice’s departure from the show remains unclear. Some speculate whether he chose to leave or was fired — with season 1’s Tammie Brown recently confirming that the contestants “got him fired” after too many tense moments.
“It was a tense moment,” Brown said via Drag Tea Interviews with Matt. “I get upset for others, I get upset for myself. I’ll stand up for people in a group and if someone is getting bullied or whatever, it starts to irritate me.”
“How can you talk to us like this? You have Santino up here saying these rude things to us,” she continued. “Who the hell is he anyway? In fact, we got him fired is what happened. We were really talking among us, he was threatened by us, and we got him fired eventually.”
There were questionable moments between Rice and some queens, Brown among them. In the season 1 reunion, the judge defended his mainstage comments, saying, “You forgot Tammie, you forgot you’re fabulous. Don’t blame me for that, that’s your f****** responsibility.”
Brown responded with her iconic line, “‘Scuse your mouth.”
Some of the best ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ celebrity guest judges
Most celebrity guest judges who appear on the series take their job seriously — with Lady Gaga going backstage with a binder and specific notes for each contestant. Miley Cyrus surprised the queens by dressing as a crew member for the first episode.
Other notable celebrity guest judges include Lizzo, Ariana Grande (who returned for a second episode of the reality series), Khloé Kardashian, Janelle Monáe, and United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
RuPaul’s best friend, Visage, often appears on the judges panel, while other judges like Ross Matthews and Carson Kressley rotate based on the episode. Now, new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 debut weekly on MTV.
