Crystal Methyd's finale runway on 'RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars' season 11. Paramount+ Logo text When Crystal Methyd decided she was ready to return to the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise for All Stars season 11, she wasn’t going to let the crown slip through her fingers a second time.
Crystal joined the Drag Race Hall of Fame on Friday, successfully winning season 11. But this wasn’t the first time she found success on the show; in 2020, Crystal made her franchise debut on season 12 of the mainstay series. That’s also the year the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world. While her season of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered in late February, most of the installment aired during the first major lockdown.
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Crystal made it to the final three of season 12, where Jaida Essence Hall was ultimately crowned the show’s winner, over Zoom. It took her six years to say yes to return to RuPaul’s Drag Race post-season 12, although she’s rumored to have said no to the opportunity to compete on All Stars a few times.
It was worth the wait. Crystal won RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 11 on Friday. “I was so excited to finally come back,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter, “but I definitely wanted to make sure I had some time to cook, because I knew those expectations [after season 12] were going to be high, and I really wanted to be able to meet them.”
All Stars season 11 was partly the right time for Crystal to compete for a second time because she wanted to make sure she had the full RuGirl experience (traveling for gigs, attending watch parties with fans, etc.) that she lost during the pandemic.
“I felt like I was playing catch-up after my season,” she says. “I didn’t get to travel around. I didn’t have all the club experiences that a normal cast member would get, so I just wanted to have time, make sure I got every experience that I wanted.”
Amid the growth of the Drag Race franchise, some have argued the schedule of airing one All Stars installment each year should be reduced to once every few years. Although there were six years between Crystal’s RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 and All Stars season 11 appearances, she doesn’t think the franchise should slow down its release schedule.
“I don’t think that we should ever have any pause in Drag Race,” Crystal says. “I think more drag is good for everyone.”
Below, Crystal reflects on what the first few days of being a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner have been like, the behind-the-scenes differences she felt between season 12 and All Stars 11, why she doesn’t mind the show’s bracket format and what it means to be the first person of Mexican descent to win the mainstay series.
What have the last few days been like for you since winning All Stars?
It has been really, really fun and wild. I got to be in Vegas for the last episode, and then I had a few days off, so I was living up my Vegas fantasy, staying at the club till six a.m., partying with my girls Kylie [Sonique Love] and Jaida. It’s been great. I’ve been feeling all the love from the fans and my friends, so I’m on top of the world.
Watching the show back, you don’t know who wins; you film two outcomes. What did it feel like when you finally heard RuPaul call your name and crown you?
It was really wild, because I’ve been close to winning before, and I think on season 12, I didn’t even want to win until I knew it was a possibility. And then I got really, really close, and when I didn’t win, I was, like, so sad. I remember closing my computer with our Zoom finale and crying all my makeup off. So this time, I didn’t want to get my hopes up either way because, you know, the show is unpredictable. You never know what could happen. So for it to all become a reality, it still didn’t feel real that day we found out. I think it took a couple days to hit.
Crystal Methyd wins ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 11. Paramount+ You were so beloved on season 12, and your All Stars return was long awaited. Because of the expectations that fans had for you going into the show and the fact that you took time off, you didn’t jump right back into All Stars. Did you feel any pressure going into your return or were you more excited?
I was so excited to finally come back, but yeah, I definitely wanted to make sure I had some time to cook because I knew those expectations were going to be high, and I really wanted to be able to meet them. And then at the same time, I felt like I was playing catch-up after my season. Like, I didn’t get to travel around. I didn’t have all the club experiences that a normal cast member would get, so I just wanted to have time, make sure I got every experience that I wanted, and to have some experiences that maybe not everyone had. I was so excited that I got to be in Slay, the Tubi movie, and actually have these experiences on a set where it’s not reality television. I was ready, though, for All Stars 11. It was like, I can’t wait any longer. We put it off for far too long.
Season 12 was still the VH1 era of Drag Race. Now, Drag Race is in this MTV-Paramount era. Is there anything you noticed that was different behind the scenes from competing on the show in season 12 versus All Stars 11?
The stage was insane this year for All Stars. Like, the way that it was video screens and stuff. It just felt like everything had become bigger since I was there. I was like, I don’t know if I’ve just shrunk or what, but it was the set and everything; it was just bigger, bigger, bigger, and I just feel so happy that Drag Race does continue to grow every year.
This was the second year of the bracket format. The season 11 cast had seen a little bit of what the bracket format was like with season 10, so were you excited to take on the brackets, or were you like, “Maybe we should do a regular format season?”
I was excited to do it because my drag sister Daya Betty competed on All Stars 10, so I kind of had a vague understanding of how it worked. But again, after the merge for our season of All Stars 11, the rules changed, so it still felt really exciting. When we were there, it was like, oh, we still actually don’t know what to expect.
Crystal Methyd’s Butter runway on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 11. Paramount+ Do you think, moving forward with All Stars, that they should continue the bracket format?
I do think that it’s nice to guarantee queens a certain amount of episodes because it’s so heartbreaking to make all these beautiful gowns and things and then not even have the opportunity to showcase them. So I think that is definitely a really big perk, and I think that the social game aspect also is kind of a fun twist, because, you know, I almost didn’t make the merge because of all of the crazy twists and turns. It definitely adds excitement.
There’s always a conversation amongst viewers who think that All Stars should start taking years off so that they can give queens more time to grow. What is your take on that as someone who did wait longer to return?
Ooh, I don’t think that we should ever have any pause in Drag Race. I think more drag is good for everyone. But for me, I just wanted to take time off because I wanted to be able to show. It’s hard to have a bunch of growth when it’s only been a year, you know. So you have to travel around, meet those connections, and make that money to be able to invest back into yourself.
Fans have pointed out now, with your track record on All Stars 11, you have one of the best track records across all of the Drag Race franchise. Did you know that? Do you pay attention to that chatter about track records?
I don’t really know. I feel like track records don’t matter to me. But, wow! Oh my God, honored! I’m honored.
What does it mean for you to know that you rank so high in terms of performances on the show?
I mean, I think it just makes me feel good for the fact that, like, I didn’t realize my first season that Ru wanted to build a connection with me. Like, you know, with him calling me El Debarge and joking with me. I think I was so starstruck the whole time. When he was around, I just kind of would smile and toss my hair; like, I didn’t know what else to say. So I was excited to come back for All Stars and be able to be prepared to banter with Ru, because she wants to have fun, she wants to joke around and play, and I felt like I was at the point where I was ready to play with Ru, and so I think that’s why I ended up with those wins. It’s like, she was having fun, and that’s why she was loving it.
One of those challenges that queens do get to banter with Ru is the Snatch Game. There was no Snatch Game this season. What was your take on that?
You know, I had a terrible Snatch Game my season, so I’m not, like, heartbroken about it. But I was wanting to have a little bit of a redemption there. I would have loved to take on another Snatch Game. So maybe we’ll just have to wait for All Winners 2.
Did you prepare somebody for Snatch Game? Did you have somebody ready that you were going to do, and can you share who?
I’ve prepared, like, ideas, just in case in the past. I’ve never fully committed to anything all the way, but I was thinking a historical figure like Martha Washington or something could work.
Crystal Methyd and Joey Jay on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 11. Paramount+ You are the first winner of the main U.S. iteration of RuPaul’s Drag Race of Mexican descent. What does that mean for you to win the title in the time that we are currently politically?
I think it’s perfect timing. I’m so glad that it’s happening now. I feel so honored to be able to represent for all the Mexicans out there. I just got to be in Mexico for Pride, and it was just so, so magical. I felt so much of the love, and I can’t wait to go back and bring them the crown, you know?
What do you hope is to come for your year as the reigning winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars?
Oh my gosh! Well, I’m just excited to continue doing the unhinged drag that I do and maxing it up even more. I actually just announced my one-woman show. So spring of 2027, a stage show, all me, dancers, puppets, all my ideas. It’s going to be crazy and magical, and I’m so excited to start working on it.
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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 11 is streaming on Paramount+.
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