Deciding they could not cede creative control to the government’s homophobic demands, Netflix pulls the series.

Netflix is cancelling the Turkish series If Only rather than submit to the government’s demand to remove a gay character. The 8-part series starring Turkish film actress Özge Özpirinçci was set to tell the story of an unhappily married mother of twins who travels back in time to the night of her husband’s marriage proposal.

The show had been announced in March and with screenwriter Ece Yörenç as creator and showrunner. The BBCis reporting Yörenç confirmed to FT that “permission to film the series was not granted” due to a gay character. Netflix has also confirmed the story.

Mahir Unal, spokesperson for ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) tweeted that Netflix needs to “show a higher sensitivity towards Turkish culture and art” as well as a “deeper cooperation” with the government.

For its part, Netflix says it “remains deeply committed to our Turkish members and the creative community in Turkey.”

Turkey is currently under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. While homosexuality is legal in Turkey, Erdoğan’s policies have been seen as threatening to the LGBTQ+ community. Members of the AKP have also proposed a series of bills that would further tighten control on social media and elsewhere.

Netflix says they are “proud of the incredible talent” in the Turkish creative community and “have several Turkish originals in production.” The company has a policy of respecting local regulations for original content. It denied it had removed a gay character from Love 101, another Turkish Netflix original, after receiving similar pressure from the government.

Yörenç retweeted a 27-month-old quote from Netflix founder Wilmot Reed Hastings, Jr., that touched on the current issue of censorship and creative freedom under the Erdoğan government. At the time, appeared to brush off those concerns, saying “I can not imagine such a thing.”

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That's a hell of a lot of television.

Every year it seems we have reached RuPaul's Drag Race exhaustion. It seems that each year RuPaul and World of Wonder add a little more to their plates and have saturated the market. This is the year, we say. This is the year that people stop watching. And every single year, RuPaul laughs as we livetweet ourselves through another iteration of the show. It's truly addictive! Now, the Drag Race circus is going to Holland. 

Announced right as RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars season five ended, Drag Race Holland releases later this year, produced by the Netherlands-based production company Vincent TV Production in collaboration with World of Wonder.

"I am proud to announce my beloved Drag Race is coming to you," RuPaul says in a promo video. "And with a brand new host!" The show will air on WOW Presents Plus in the US and internationally while it will be available on RTL's Videoland for Dutch audiences. The show will boast ten queens.

It joins a growing family in the Drag Race franchise. The original, RuPaul's Drag Race wrapped its 12th season earlier this year. It is joined in the U.S. by RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars which just wrapped its fifth season and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race. It has not been announced whether Celebrity Drag Race was a one-off special or whether it will be renewed for a second season. Later this year, that family of shows will be joined Stateside by RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue. That show is a docuseries based on the RuPaul's Drag Race: Live residency in Las Vegas. But like the America's Next Top Model franchise that inspired it, Drag Race has also expanded globally.

The first Drag Race-named international version of the show (The Switch in Chile is a Drag Race property as well) was Drag Race Thailand. But sadly, after two seasons of the show, they didn't air a third installment this year. Truly a pity! Then there was RuPaul's Drag Race U.K. which marked the first international version that kept Ru along as host. That aired its first season this year. Currently, Canada's Drag Race is also in its debut season, with Holland slated for later.  This doesn't count the already-announced Australian iteration of the show which has a yet-to-be-announced timeline.

This signals only the tip of the iceberg in terms of drag on television, which truly makes this moment unprecedented. The franchise has undeniably paved the way for this sort of visibility for performers and has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the pockets of queer creators. So if we don't want to celebrate it for any other reason, let's celebrate that.

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The All Stars season 5 winner has big plans for her reign.

Since the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars season five was announced,  Shea Couleé has been a favorite to win. Those are just the cold hard facts. Having performed exceptionally well in her first stint on the show during RuPaul's Drag Race season nine, the only reason she didn't already have a crown was a truly once in a life-time gaggy performance that involved rose petals. But as the performer had put so much in her first appearance on the show, coming back, which Couleé tells Out was "exciting," required a little bit of internal work.

"It was really about me working on my drag and my craft and getting myself to a place where I would truly be excited and hungry for the crown," the Chicago-based star said ahead of being announced as the season's winner. While that included the therapy she discussed on-air, it also involved developing a core support team that she could rely on when needed. "I went [on The Race] with a better sense of confidence because I knew that I had grown and changed a lot both in my art and personally." And that growth bagged her the crown.

After Couleé was announced as the winner of the most recent season she got congratulations from the likes of Marc Jacobs, Janelle Monae, Elizabeth Warren, and many more. She told The Advocatethat with her $100,000 she plans to "donate $10,000 to Black Lives Matter, put $10,000 in a high yield savings account, and then put the rest into a down payment on a house," and told us that she has big plans, hoping to fashion herself into a mogul. This weekend's win made Couleé the latest in a string of Black performers to come out on top of what has become the most-watched drag pageant in the world; Yvie Oddly, Monet X Change, and Jaida Essence Hall are all recent winners. And it's a bit of poetic justice that Couleé adds her name to this list, as she continually put her Blackness front and center in her art form during her All Stars tour.

"I always aim to feel super authentically Black," she says. "There's so much in popular culture that borrows from Black women, that borrows from Black queer people. For me, I just wanted to show a really authentic representation of my experiences and my views on Black glamour." On the show, she called the result a "love letter to Black women." These references (which range from airbrushed memorial tees, to hairstyles, and other more personal touches) are meshed with high fashion a la Richard Quinn and Cristobal Balenciaga, to turn out some of the most awe-inspiring looks we've seen on the show yet — and that's saying something as Jujubee and Mariah Paris Balenciaga also brought some of the show's strongest runway presentations this season alone. Of all the looks though — and there were many — Couleé's most poignant was for the "Love the Skin You're In" challenge. 

"For me, that was incredibly important just because I think about how it can be such a challenge for me to find tights in my skin color or how the makeup brands don't have quite the shade range that compliments my skin tone," she explains of the Nubian-inspired stoned bodysuit. "I wanted to wear something that I felt like truly exemplified the beauty, the glamour, the power, and the Goddess energy that exists in Black women and Black femmes." To wit, in the photoshoot she did to share the look on Instagram, she recreated Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

But drag and Drag Race are more than just about fashion. There's the challenges, the lip syncs — Couleé developed a reputation for being the lip-sync assassin's assassin, winning every lip-sync she was a part of with nary a trick, flip, or split, to speak of — and the activism. On the show, the Werk Room and confessionals have often been the place where performers speak to the greater public about social issues that impact queer and trans folks between witty one-liners and other shady remarks. But off the series Coulée has kept that same energy, speaking out not only on social media but also in-person, turning up at marches and rallies. This summer, she joined the Chicago Black Drag Council in igniting a reckoning within the city's Boystown gayborhood particularly around the Black LGBTQ+ communities.

"I love my city so much and the Chicago drag scene is special and powerful," Coulee says. In June she spoke at the city's Drag March for Change and has been supporting the likes of Jo Mama and Lucy Stoole in everything they are doing in the local community. "Specifically with Black queens and the contributions we have made to the community here in Chicago, I think it's really important right now that we stand up and stand firm and own our power and take charge in light of the contributions we have made. Hopefully, that inspires other Black queens in other communities to do the same." And take charge is exactly what Miss Couleé is prepared to do.

For the most ambitious of its contestants (and winners) RuPaul's Drag Race is simply a stepping stone. It is a jumping-off point from which to launch a career in film and television, in fashion and beauty, in acting, or in ... anything really. Or all of those things. 

"I really want to carve a space out for myself as being one of the Drag Race moguls," she says when presented with the legacies of Trixie Mattel, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela, Miss Fame, and more. "I want to do television; I've been working on a pilot this last week that's been a lot of fun. I've also been in talks about development for other tv shows. I also recently came across a collection that I designed in my 20s and — if I do say so myself, — I think it still holds up. I kind of want to go into producing it." But that's not it. The multihyphenate is hoping to release more music, is interested in getting into releasing makeup, and has a "really high energy, concert style, hour-long party" she's tentatively called The Lipstick Ball, that's in the works as well. (Plus, she's already launched an OnlyFans.)

"There's all these things that I'm currently really trying to work on achieving," she says. "So, really, my thing is: look out because Shea Couleé is coming."

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Max Parker and Kris Mochrie met only one time on set, but they've been low-key dating ever since. 

Max Parker and Kris Mochrie were cast as brothers in the long-running British soap opera, Emmerdale, but off-screen the two have an entirely different relationship. The pair caused  a stir with recent Instagram pics showing them together and shirtless, and The Sun Online is now reporting the pair are dating according to an inside source.

“They met on Kris' last day filming and just hit it off,” the source said. “They were cast as brothers and are really alike and have been joking that casting did a great job.”

Parker and Mochrie played brothers Luke and Lee Posner in Emmerdale, the ITV British soap opera that has been running since 1972. Mochrie’s character Lee was a serial rapist who was killed after raping brother Luke’s love interest. Even though they played brothers, the pair only met the last day of filming for Mochrie. It might not have been love at first sight, but the one meeting was enough to know they had something special. The source revealed the “boys kept in touch” and have “spent a lot of time together” since then.

Parker and Mochrie have been posting pics from some of their dates, including matching shirtless pics from when they went for a hike and got caught in the rain.

Mochrie’s casting was itself controversial. The actor, who was cast to play a rapist who used a drug to spike the drink of a victim, was convicted of perverting the course of justice and supplying the date rape drug GHB at a club where a woman later died in real life. An investigation revealed she died of natural causes.

For now, though, Mochrie and Parker are taking things slowly.

“It’s early days but they’re really enjoying themselves and who knows what the future holds.”

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The actor, who played Winston on the controversial Netflix teen drama, talks to Out about what the series is leaving behind.

The fourth and final season of Netflix's teen drama series 13 Reasons Why aired this summer, and although it leaves a controversial and complicated legacy behind it, the show did bring a lot of difficult and hard topics that many young, queer people face to the forefront in ways that are still very seldom seen on television.

One of the show's stars, Deaken Bluman (who plays gay character Winston in the show) sat down with Out to reflect on the series' final batch of episodes, the memories he had from filming, being a part of a show that wasn't afraid to take on rough subjects, and the feedback he heard from queer fans after representing them through an LGBTQ+ character.

So the final season of the series is always bittersweet. Do you have a favorite memory from your days on the 13 Reasons Why set, and how much are you going to miss your time on the show?

Oh, I already miss it. I mean, it was a fun ride. My favorite time was working with Brenda Strong when she was directing. She truly is an actor's director, and she knows the show so well. She puts so much time, effort, thought, and love into everything. It makes it so easy to jump in with her and explore. She is an artist, and it is so much fun to work with artists. 

Throughout the past three years that the show's been on, 13 Reasons Why has never shied away from the hard topics. Do you hope these important conversations about mental health, suicide prevention, HIV/AIDS, and sexual assault continue after the series is done, and what kind of legacy do you hope 13 Reasons Why leaves and has on viewers in the coming years?

Yeah. 13 Reasons Why and Netflix paved the way for new shows to carry the topic further. They did an outstanding job, and I believe it will inspire new creators to take the risk in exploring the truth. 13 Reasons Why helped so many people in the legacy of understanding.

Like you mentioned, it really paved the way for a bunch of other LGBTQ+ shows, and other young teen shows on Netflix. What are you watching now that 13 Reasons Why is done?  

I'm going back, watching old movies. I'm a big movie watcher. I love the new shows and I love all the Jason Bateman stuff, The Ozarks and The Outsider. I'm having real fun with those. 

The storyline from last season with your character Winston and Monty was quite controversial, especially following Monty's death. Can you talk about what was your reaction when you found out that Monty was dying, especially since "the secretly gay bully" is a trope in TV, and then what was it like playing one of the roles in that really complicated pairing?

I'd have to go back to that. I'd have to kind of go back to answer that. I had a picture, I think I still have it. It's of Timothy. It's on my phone. It's a picture of him leaning back and smiling. He's wearing a blue tank top, and it's just a really good picture. You can Google Timothy Granaderos and find a picture. I was constantly looking at that picture running through the last scene of the season there when Winston says he was a human being. And I felt pain when I heard Monty was dead, as a person, as me, and I almost didn't understand it. It just happened so fast. All of a sudden he was just dead, but there was a past with Winston and Monty that was beautiful, and it came from my own imagination. I don't believe it was just a one-night stand. They ran away with each other. They told jokes. They laughed and made love, and they got free. What became complicated was the sudden death, when Winston couldn't leave it alone. 

Did you hear any feedback about that, or did you hear from fans about that at all?

Yeah, I think TV shows and movies can give you experiences that feels almost as if you're really experiencing it for yourself. 13 Reasons Why was born in darkness, and the darkness is still there with a lot of tough subjects. But I wish for our audience not to feel overwhelmed or sad but rather strength, and strength is needed in order to fight the important fight we all have to fight right now. I wish our audience can feel less lonely in any struggles that they might experience that are related to the show or at least that it will prepare and strengthen them to handle some of life's harder moments. I think when you finish the show, when you finish the season, you can walk away with the experience and closure of these characters' lives through high school and the inspiration to make the world around you a better place.

I was talking to Brandon Flynn a couple of weeks ago and he said the best thing about the show is that it removes the stigma and that you can openly talk about it, even if it's hard, even if it's emotional.

Yeah, definitely. Talking about it and talking with your parents, talking with your close, close friends who are really there to listen to you and understand you. 

On a lighter note, there's been a lot of ships on the show, like with any teen series. Did you have a favorite ship? 

Not to be selfish, but the Winston and Monty one. Yeah, that's was my favorite relationship. 

With this new wave of Netflix shows and streaming shows, there's been a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, and there's a lot more boys kissing boys on screen. What was it like to just be a part of this new movement where high school shows are more diverse? They get to show queer people, people of color. It's so diverse now than it used to be.

It's really wonderful.

Back when I was in high school, shows were super white, super blond, so all these shows now are amazing.

You're so right about the old shows. It was super white and super straight, and it was about the emotional drama. And this, this hits so many topics, and it was such a pleasure to be on this show and to work with this kind of movement. I mean, working with 13 Reasons Why was such a blessing in so many ways. 

I saw online that some fans were a little hesitant about this season after the finale of season three. Do you have any words of encouragement for them to just finish the season just so you can relax their minds and let them know, "Hey, the season wraps up decently"?

Yeah, this season really wraps up beautifully, and I think they're also going to enjoy the performances from the other actors, especially Brandon and what he goes through at the end and how he portrayed that.

It's just like any new show or any show that you don't want it to end. You have to get through a couple of episodes to really, really own the story and get into it for yourself. It always takes a couple episodes to really warm up and then all of a sudden, your mind's in that imaginative cloud and you just get to take the ride. 

How did you feel personally about the series finale, and if there's a future for these characters again in some capacity, would you ever want to come back and, I don't know, maybe do something else with these characters and these actors?

With Winston? Yeah, of course. I mean, my coach who was coaching me during the season told me, 'Right before the show ends you'll feel that you can play Winston through and through,'and he was right. It was the right moment with the prom where I felt a calmness. There wasn't a constant battle between two minds, between Deaken and Winston. He finally let me in, so now that the show is over I have so much more to offer and to give. But I think Winston moved on, and maybe he'll come back and maybe he won't. 

The fourth and final season of 13 Reasons Why is currently streaming on Netflix.

'13 Reasons Why's Deaken Bluman On Controversial Queer Stories

Unfortunately, the transgender stars of Pose were snubbed once again.

Schitt's Creek, RuPaul's Drag Race, We're Here, and Euphoria all garnered Emmy nominations for this year's ceremony.

Schitt's, the feel-good LGBTQ+ comedy, which marked its series finale earlier this year, received nods for all four of its principal cast members — Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and Annie Murphy — in addition to Outstanding Comedy Series. When it was all said and done the show walked away with a whopping 14 noms.

The world of queer nonscripted was also represented among the nominees. This is the fifth year RuPaul was nominated for Outstanding Host for RuPaul's Drag Race; he won the category for the past four years. This year, RuPaul will be competing against Queer Eye hosts Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness.

RuPaul's Drag Race was nominated for the past three years in the category of Outstanding Competition Program, in which it won twice, and is up for the win again. Untucked is also nominated for Unstructured Reality Program, where it will compete against We're Here, the HBO series featuring Drag Race alumni Shangela, Bob the Drag Queen, and Eureka O'Hara. Drag Race alum Raven, is also up for his second nomination in the Outstanding Contemporary Makeup For a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program (Non-Prosthetic) category.

The only nomination received for Pose was Billy Porter for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama; this continues the unfortunate trend of a cisgender actor being honored for a show that features predominantly transgender leads and their stories. A bright light, however, is Laverne Cox, who was nominated for Best Guest Actress for the final season Orange Is The New Black.

Zendaya also picked up her first Emmy nomination for Euphoria, the HBO drama about teens, several of them LGBTQ+, navigating sex, drugs, love, and friendship.

Other LGBTQ-inclusive nominees in the major categories includeKilling Eve, Dead to Me, and What We Do in the Shadows. The Television Academy also recognized Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Jim Parsons (Hollywood), Jeremy Pope (Hollywood), Holland Taylor (Hollywood), Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve).

The livestream announcement was hosted by Leslie Jones with some help from Cox, Josh Gad, and Tatiana Maslany. Cox, acknowledging Jones's role as a guest judge on Drag Race last season, referenced a joke the comedian had made on the drag reality competition, “She already done had horses.”

See the full list of nominees below.

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Outstanding variety talk series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carrell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Competition Program
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series of movie
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series of movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

Outstanding limited series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen

Outstanding comedy series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
Schitt's Creek
What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding drama series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
D’Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Julia Garner, Ozark
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Sarah Snook, Succession
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or a movie
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Jean Smart, Watchmen
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or a movie
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr., Watchmen
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood

Television Movie
American Son (Netflix)
Bad Education (HBO)
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Netflix)
El Camino (Netflix)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend (Netflix)

Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)
Drunk History (Comedy Central)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Reality Host
Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, and Tom Colicchio, Top Chef
Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, Making It
RuPaul, Drag Race

Structured Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow (PBS)
Love Is Blind (Netflix)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Shark Tank (ABC)
A Very Brady Renovation (HGTV)

Unstructured Reality Program
Amy Schumer Learns To Cook: Lunch Break And Pasta Night (Food Network)
Cheer (Netflix)
Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked (VH1)
We’re Here (HBO)

Guest Actress, Comedy
Angela Bassett, A Black Lady Sketch Show
Bette Midler, The Politician
Maya Rudolph, The Good Place
Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live
Wanda Sykes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Saturday Night Live

Guest Actor, Comedy
Brad Pitt, Saturday Night Live
Adam Driver, Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live
Dev Patel, Modern Love
Fred Willard, Modern Family

Guest Actress, Drama
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Laverne Cox, Orange Is The New Black
Cherry Jones, Succession
Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us
Cicely Tyson, How To Get Away With Murder
Harriet Walter, Succession

Guest Actor, Drama
Jason Bateman, The Outsider
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us
James Cromwell, Succession
Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian
Andrew Scott, Black Mirror
Martin Short, The Morning Show

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At a time when we sorely need it. 

Megan Rapinoe has conquered soccer, put a petulant president in his place, and now she’s turning her talents to television. Seeing America with Megan Rapinoe, features the outspoken Olympic champion in a free-flowing conversation on HBO with thought leaders like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The 1619 Project creator and New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, and comedian Hasan Minhaj. The show premieres Saturday, August 1, exclusively on HBO.

"It is an honor to host a show with a critical conversation between some of America's most innovative thought leaders," said Megan Rapinoe. "I am so thankful to HBO for providing such a powerful platform for this important dialogue."

AOC thanked Rapinoe for “an incredible discussion” and the opportunity to “discuss our present and future” with such a diverse group of thought leaders.

Joining Rapinoe and AOC in the conversation is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who covers racial injustice for the New York Times and is the creator of The 1619 Project. Rounding out the conversation is writer, comedian, producer, and political commentator Hasan Minhaj. His Patriot Act on Netflix has won two Peabody Awards and two Webby Awards.

At times it seems Rapinoe is as revered for her unabashed support of progressive causes as she is for her many athletic accomplishments. She once famously opined she was not “going to the fucking White House” because of President Trump.

The network expressed its gratitude to Rapinoe for choosing the network as the “home for this conversation” and looked forward to future opportunities, Peter Nelson, executive vice president, HBO Sports, said in a statement.

"Megan is fearless in speaking out on issues,” Nelson said. “Joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Hasan Minhaj, this conversation embraces the challenges we collectively face."

The show premieres Saturday, August 1 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO and can be streamed at HBO Max.

RELATED | Megan Rapinoe Just Made a Powerful Statement Against Donald Trump

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Sure it looks like a new season of 'American Horror Story' but we love it all the same.

Previously no one had this much of the series.

As we plunge into having more RuPaul's Drag Race on television than any year before — we've counted up nine iterations of the show so far— the series is also uploading past seasons that haven't been available for streaming in the US. And while many may have been streaming from other sites like Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, the new deal includes additional seasons.

You may already know but Prime Video has had the first five seasons of the show for some time. Last year, Hulu also announced that it was getting the first six seasosn of the show, two seasons of All Stars and quite a number of seasons from Untucked. In addition, quite the library of clips from the show are available on YouTube. Now, CBS All Access is stepping into the fray with the first 10 seasons of Drag Race, and three of All Stars. They have not uploaded Untucked. 

The episodes come as a result of a plan to turn All Access into a "super-service." Alongside Drag Race, the service will be receiving SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Laguna Beach, and more.

For those hoping to stream later episodes, they can be accessed on VH1's site. The expectation is that once the seasons are no longer available on VH1, they will become available on CBS All Access. It's kind of funny how no one has picked up Drag U, don't you think?!

RELATED | Shea Couleé Is Ready To Take Over Now

No more boom, boom, ciao for you.

And another one bites the dust.

La Casa De Papel is a bit of a phenomenon. Known as Money Heist in English speaking countries, the Netflix show started off with a pretty meek reception, but slowly as truly good television does, season after season it developed a global, devoted audience who sometimes even halted production as they crowded sets. But now, it's coming to an end.

Today, the show has announced that its fifth and final season will be its end. The ten-episode installment will begin filming in August — and likely season four — be a truly global endeavor shooting in Spain, Denmark, and Portugal.

"We've spent almost a year thinking about how to break up the brand," show creator and executive producer Alex Pina said in a statement. "How to put the Professor on the ropes. How to get into situations that are irreversible for many characters. The result is the fifth part of La Casa de Papel. The war reaches its most extreme and savage levels, but it is also the most epic and exciting season." Sounds like chaos, and that's exactly what we want to see. 

For the unaware, the series revolves around major money heists, the complicated that it takes to pull them off, the interpersonal conflict that arises as they happen, and how the criminals avoid prison. That sounds really simplistic but ... just watch the show!

There are many returning characters including The Professor, Tokyo, Lisbon, Berlin, Rio, Denver, Stockholm, Arturo, Helsinki, Bogota, Marseille, Manila, Coronel Tamayo, Palermo, Inspector Sierra, and more. Of those characters, there are a few LGBTQ+ storylines.

You will remember that Palermo (you know, Mr. Boom Boom, Ciao himself) is in love with Berlin — they are best friends and Berlin is straight, though he once gave Palermo a passionate kiss to see if it did anything for him. Sadly it did not. Helsinki is also gay and is in love with Palermo. You know, the classic story of one gay man being in love with another gay man who strings him along while he's in love with someone who is unattainable — and in this case straight.

In addition, there's Manila, who is the cast's only trans person. While the representation is nice, the show was slammed for casting a cisgender actor to play the role. 

The show will add two new actors to the ensemble cast in Miguel Angel Silvestre and Patrick Criado. Production will begin August 3rd. The first four seasons of Money Heist are available on Netflix now.

RELATED | Netflix's 'Money Heist' Slammed for Casting Cis Actor in Trans Role

This isn't his first time in the spotlight.

With RuPaul's Drag Race, you come for the drag and stay for the personality of the contestants that you fall in love with. But along the way, producers always sweeten the deal (for both the contestants and the audience) with a group of muscled, usually oil-slicked Adonises known as the Pit Crew — or as they've become known in the U.K., the Brit Crew.

Every iteration of the show has recruited a group of men — even the Vegas show — to play as both helpers and eye candy for the drag performers. They bring in props, add additional hands for mini-challenges, and even twerk on occasion. But while the Pit Crew has shown racial diversity, there hasn't been much when it comes to body type. That has changed with the debut season of Canada's Drag Race.

Though Canada's Pit Crew was initially introduced as a small group, in recent episodes of the show it expanded. In episode four, a full ten members of the Pit Crew arrive to help the queens play a matching game. The group, which truly spanned the spectrum in terms of skin tone, made history as model and activist Mina Gerges became the first Pit Crew member of size.

Here we talk to Gerges about his appearance on the show and his Calvin Klein campaign he had earlier this year.

How did you get cast onto the Pit Crew?

The casting process was definitely nerve-wracking. Walking into a room full of guys who look like your typical Pit Crew with me being the only one with a bigger body and no six-pack, was definitely intimidating. I had to go to the washroom and give myself a pep talk and remind myself that I’m not any less attractive just because I’m bigger and don’t have a six-pack. Once I got over those insecurities in my head I felt really empowered to take up that space and show that my body wasn’t any less worthy of being celebrated. 

After I finished the audition, I felt really proud of myself, because I developed an eating disorder when I was 19 years old because I wanted to look like these guys in the audition room with me. Especially in the gay community when muscled bodies are put on a pedestal over all other body types. While I had moments of self-doubt, I genuinely didn’t feel like I was any less beautiful or worthy just because my body was bigger.

Did you know at the time that you were the first plus-sized member of the crew? Did that factor into you wanting to do it?

When I was asked during the audition why I wanted to be part of the Pit Crew, I said that the Pit Crew has men whose bodies are deemed attractive and celebrated in our community. The Pit Crew is seen as the epitome of what’s desirable, the body that every gay man should aspire to have at any cost. It’s the toxic beauty standard that’s sadly ingrained in our community. But me having stretch marks, fat on my body, and love handles don’t make me any less attractive. And I think it’s so incredibly important to show that beauty doesn’t look like one certain size and that it comes in many shapes and sizes. 

I always think about what kind of bodies and messages I needed to see as a young gay kid who desperately hated his body in pursuit of that gay beauty ideal. It hurt me so much growing up, and I wanted to do something about it as I grew up and learned to be confident in my skin. So, I didn’t know that I’d be the first plus-sized member of the Pit Crew, but I knew I needed to be there so that the young gay kids watching the show can see a bigger body and stretch marks and learn to be kinder to themselves. 

Are you a longtime fan of Drag Race? What do you think about Canada's version so far?

 The first season of Drag Race I watched was season 6, I fell in love with Bianca and Adore and fell in love with the show ever since. I love Canada’s version, I think Canadian talent has always been overlooked and it’s incredible to see so many queens who we cheered on at our local clubs get all the recognition they deserve. 

Your work in advocacy is generally around identity, right? Can you talk about its importance?

 I grew up in Egypt, a country where it’s illegal to be in the LGBT community. As an immigrant, members of the Arab community don’t accept me because I’m gay. I’ve always struggled to find my place in this world. When you’re away from your home country but know it wouldn’t be safe for you to live there, and you want to be in touch with your heritage but your own community erases you — it makes you feel like your identity isn’t valid and your life isn’t worth living. I grew up being so conflicted by my identity, my religion, my sexuality, my gender expression. I had to unlearn a lot of the filth I was taught to feel about who I am just so I can look at myself in the mirror.  Now, I’m a proud gay gender-fluid person, and everything I do in my work today is to reclaim my culture and my heritage from the homophobia and bigotry that’s engrained in it. I feel empowered to use my privilege to fight for those back home who still don’t have a voice, who still face violence just for existing. 

You've had a really big year in that you also did a campaign with Calvin Klein this year, right? What was that like?

Working with Calvin Klein was incredible. I’ve worked really hard to redefine male beauty standards that made me hate my body growing up. And to this day, the queer Arab community gets no representation in fashion or in pop culture, and I really want to change that. Working with an iconic brand like Calvin Klein gave me an opportunity to do both of these things: to bring unprecedented visibility to the queer Arab community, and to show that bigger guys deserve a place in the fashion industry and can book a global Calvin Klein campaign!!! 

RELATED | Pabllo Vittar, Chella Man, More Front Calvin Klein Pride Campaign

"My, what a guy, that Gaston!"

If you didn't get enough of Luke Evans in the role of Beauty and the Beast's Gaston, you're in look. The actor and singer is picking up the role for a six-episode spinoff, set to air on Disney+

Titled The Little Town, the show will follow the adventures of Gaston and his pal LeFou according to Variety. Josh Gad will return as LeFou. The pair of actors first took on the roles for the 2017 live-remake of the Disney movie and then reprised them for the network's much-watched sing-a-long.

According to People, the live-action film was the biggest movie released in 2017 with more than $1.26 billion in global ticket sales. It surged in popularity again in the U.S. last month as drive-in theaters played it, bringing in an estimated $467,000. Disney executives are no doubt hoping to draw from that well again. 

"We feel so lucky to have this talented group of people creating a story about two much loved and much-hated characters, but that's the excitement," Evans told Collider. "There are a lot of questions about where we will start, what will we tell, who are these people, when you visit them where will they be? So it's going to be a really fun experience. Me and Josh are literally vibrating with excitement to shoot it."

The show is in "fully-fledged" development currently with the second and third episodes already written. As for plot, Evans would only say that "No human being is one layer. There are many, many chapters to our lives, and they all inform the character and who we are."

Sounds like a villain's origin story and if Maleficent is any indication, we love to see it! If nothing else, maybe they will be able to explore LeFou's sexuality. In a first for Disney, in 2017 they introduced an onscreen male love interest for the chracter. Maybe Gad, who says he was the one who came up with the idea, can convince them to do a little more of that.

RELATED | Luke Evans and His Boyfriend Went Instagram Official

Things are about to get a little spooky.

After giving the world the first look at his new Netflix show Ratched, Ryan Murphy has released the first trailer for the show. And all we can ask for is mercy.

The suspenseful drama series is set in 1947 and tells the story of nurse Mildred Ratched. An asylum nurse, Ratched (played by Sarah Paulson) lands a job at a leading psychiatric hospital where she takes part in "new and unsettling experiments." The show functions as the origin tale of Ratched who has a pretty iconic and unforgettable storyline in One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest.

The series casts Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs, Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket, Sharon Stone as Lenore Osgood, Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Richard Hanover, Finn Wittrock as Edmund Tolleson, Charlie Carver as Huck, Alice Englert as Dolly, Amanda Plummer as Louise, Corey Stoll as Charles Wainwright, Sophie Okonedo as Charlotte Wells, Brandon Flynn as Henry Osgood and Vincent D’Onofrio as Gov. George Wilburn. 

As a Murphy show it has the unmistakable luxe, cinematic quality that we've come to know and love. The mix of that sort of high-glam visual with the darkness of the content will no doubt bring some to think of American Horror Story.  Murphy is joined as an executive producer by Paulson, Ian Brennan, Alexis Martin Woodall, Aleen Keshishian, Jacob Epstein, Jennifer Salt, Margaret Riley, Michael Douglas, Robert Mitas and Tim Minear.

One matchmaking mom is looking to find the present of a perfect man for her single gay son while is home for the holidays.

Lifetime is putting a big present under the LGBTQ+ Christmas tree this season with a holiday movie featuring a same-sex romance as the lead. The Christmas Set-Up tells the heartwarming tale of a matchmaking mom intent on finding the right man for her successful single son over the holidays, and it’s part of the network’s emphasis on greater LGBTQ+ representation in its programming.

“We are thrilled to continue our legacy of creating a holiday destination that is welcoming to all at Lifetime,” Amy Winter, EVP and head of programming at Lifetime and LMN, said in a statement. “With more new movies than any one cable network for streamer, I couldn’t be prouder of the incredible talent joining us in front of, and behind the camera, on these new holiday movies.”

The Christmas Set-Up revolves around Hugo, a corporate lawyer from New York, who returns home for the holidays with his best friend, Madelyn. While there, his matchmaking mom, Kate, decides it’s time for her single son to settle down with the right man. Unbeknownst to Hugo, she plans for her son to run into his old secret crush from high school who is also home for the holidays. Patrick has returned from Silicon Valley, and the two successful professionals start rekindling their old friendship. Following a time-tested plotline for straight couples in similar situations, their relationship deepens and the pair find themselves falling in love.

Then just as mom appears to have successfully matched her son with Patrick, Hugo receives word from New York that he’s been tabbed for a big promotion, but it requires a move to London. Now the love-torn lawyer must decide what is more important to him. Is it the material wealth and further professional success, or is it something closer to home with Patrick and family?

With The Christmas Set-Up, Lifetime beats out the Hallmark Channel in announcing a holiday movie featuring a same-sex romance as the main plotline. Hallmark had announced in June they were in “active negotiations” to include an LGBTQ+ themed piece in its famed holiday lineup of syrupy Christmas romance movies, but there has been no further word from the network on the matter since that time, however.

The Christmas Set-Up was one of 30 new movies Lifetime announced will air during its annual "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" holiday block.

RELATED | Hallmark Channel Will Include LGBTQ+ Stories for 2020 Holiday

It is the ride that never ends.

Yes, Shea Couleé  just began her reign but it looks like RuPaul's Drag Race is already planning for her successor. According to tweets from a former competitor on the show, the franchise has already secured its cast for All Stars season six, who will be shipped off for quarantine filming soon. 

Jaremi Carey may have stepped back from drag and his most famous drag persona Phi Phi O'Hara, but that doesn't mean he's not in the loop. When a fan said they would love to see Carey as O'Hara back on the show for a second season of All Stars, he made that pretty clear.

"I doubt he would do it because of how he's been treated but I would kill to see Jaremi on another All Stars once they start letting All Stars 2 queens back on here in a few years," the fan wrote. Jujubee, who competed on All Stars season five notably competed on All Stars season one and Latrice Royale who was on All Stars season one also competed on All Stars season four. No other All Stars contestants have come back.

"I'll NEVER do All Stars EVER," Carey wrote in response. "They don't deserve me. But I know the cast of 6 ........ and ..... well ....." Well what sir?! Well, what? It's worth noting that after competing on All Stars season two  Carey didn't even attend the reunion as a result of how he was handled on the show with the editing. Carey's portrayal brought out one of the nastiest sides of the fandom. That hate wasn't worth "a lousy few hundred bucks an episode," Carey said.

While Carey claims to know the full list of all of the queens he also stopped short of revealing it publicly. "I am not going to ruin it for the girls," he wrote. "They want it." That said, according to him, production is soon underway. This all sort of makes sense as the show has become an annual event in recent years.

"It's casted they leave soon," he wrote. Who else is going to be watching Instagram feeds to see who stops posting new content for the next two months?

RELATED | 'Drag Race' Is Getting a New Version — That Makes 9 Total

Amazon has officially ordered Abbi Jacobson's series based on the women's professional baseball league that also inspired the beloved 1992 film.

The women of A League of Their Own will take the field again in a series on Amazon Prime.

Amazon has officially ordered the series, which has been in the works for several months, Variety reports. Bisexual actress Abbi Jacobson is co-creator, executive producer, and a star of the series about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, leading to hope that the show will be queer-inclusive, unlike the 1992 film, which is nonetheless beloved by queer women. The series description sounds promising.

“Twenty-eight years ago, Penny Marshall told us a story about women playing professional baseball that up until then had been largely overlooked,” Jacobson and Will Graham, her co-creator and fellow executive producer, said in a joint statement. “We grew up obsessed with the film, like everyone else. Three years ago, we approached Sony with the idea of telling a new, still overlooked set of those stories. With the help of an enormously talented team of collaborators, an amazing cast, and the devoted support of Amazon to this project, we feel beyond lucky and excited to get to bring these characters to life. It took grit, fire, authenticity, wild imagination and a crackling sense of humor for these players to achieve their dreams. We’re hoping to bring audiences a story with all of those qualities.”

Additionally, lesbian filmmaker Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader) directed and executive produced the pilot, and queer actress Roberta Colindrez of Vida fame is one of the stars. Variety’s story promises that the hour-long series will “explore race and sexuality.”

Besides Jacobson and Colindrez, the show’s cast includes Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, and Priscilla Delgado. Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant, and Melanie Field will be recurring guest stars. It’s produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television in association with Field Trip Productions.

The 1992 film, directed by Penny Marshall, starred Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, and Tom Hanks. It told a fictionalized story of the real-life league formed during World War II to maintain interest in baseball when many male players had left to serve in the military. Jacobson has said Davis gave her blessing to the series, as did Marshall, who died in 2018.

“There’s no crying in baseball, or at Prime Video,” Vernon Sanders, co-head of television for Amazon Studios, said in a statement, riffing on a famous line uttered by Hanks in the film. “Will and Abbi have taken a classic movie, reimagining it for a new generation with new characters and their own fresh, modern vision on a timeless story of big dreams, friendship, love, and, of course, baseball. We’re so excited to partner with Sony to bring this emotional, exciting new series to our Prime Video customers around the world.”

“Abbi and Will have done a masterful job of reimagining this timeless classic,” added Jeff Frost, president of Sony Pictures Television. “We are very thankful to our partners at Amazon for bringing this incredibly relevant and important story to audiences around the globe.”

Many hope the show will find a way to work in Terry Donahue's personal life which included a decades long relationship with Pat Henschel. That love story was recently told in a Netflix documentary.

No premiere date has been announced.

RELATED | Watch Trailer for Netflix's New Doc About 65+ Year Lesbian Couple

'League of Their Own' To Become Amazon Prime TV Series

Who is ready to go back to Creekwood High?

After debuting with its first season earlier this year, Love, Victor, the Love, Simon spinoff, has picked up a second season. And a while cheer went up from the Creekwood High auditorium.

Following Salazar, a new student at Creekwood, the series is an interesting tale of sexuality. Within it Salazar tries to find himself, particularly as it pertains to who and what he does and doesn't like, and how that fits within his conservative family. This all takes place a year after Love, Simon, and includes some interaction between the two lead characters. 

After debuting on Hulu — it was originally slated for Disney+ — the series became the platform's most-watched original drama the week of its release in June. 

Salazar is played by actor Michael Cimino, who is straight. He said he based his portrayal on conversations he had with a gay cousin. 

"I talked to my cousin, who is gay," he told People Magazine. "He told me things that really hurt him and helped him [when he was coming out.] It was very special for both of us."

Ahead of the renewal, Cimino was named as one of Variety's Power of Young Hollywood honorees for his work in the series. There the 20-year-old reflected on the positive feedback he has been getting.

“It’s been great seeing all this positive recognition for the show and how it’s affected people. It’s an honor to represent the LGBTQ community,” he said. “I want to be the person that represents their struggle, their story, their ethnicity, whatever it may be, and to represent them accurately by depicting them in a way that’s true to life.” And while we certainly understand the intent, maybe queer people can represent our own stories and struggles in a way that's true to life? 

There is no date announced for the release of the second season. Becky Albertalli, who wrote the book that inspired all of this praised the news.

"This is all thanks to the amazing support y'all have shown to the series," she wrote to Twitter. "I could not be more proud and grateful!!!"

RELATED | 'Love, Simon' Is Going to College In a New Sequel

We definitely needed this one explained.

The debut season of Canada's Drag Race has been quite the ride! And while we will get into the particulars soon enough, there was a moment during the show's most recent episode that honestly can't go unaddressed. Let's talk about some full coverage foundation!

On last week's episode of Canada's Drag Race— last week if you're watching it according to the Canadian schedule, as the episodes on Logo are slightly behind — the queens were asked to bring "Canadian Tux-shedo: Denim on Denim on Denim" to the Main Stage runway. And while the looks were pretty decent for the most part, there was one that judges zeroed in on.

For her look, Ilona Verley — whose position on the show is significant as she is the first trans queen on Canada's Drag Race — chose to wear an all-denim look complete with chaps. 

"I'm showing the judges all the best assets," she says in the confessional. "My face, my ass, and my kitty." Before disappearing off the runway she gives the judges one last look over her shoulder and slaps said ass. Later on in the judging, the judges zeroed in on just that.

"I think that your mug is painted so gorgeously," judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman says. The comment was surprising given the reputation he's built for himself but came as a part of a larger, backhanded compliment. "However, when I see that booty and a little turnaround, a little full coverage foundation may have helped you out." Later on, once the queens had left the stage Brooke Lynn Hytes resurfaced the critique. 

"She definitely should have put some makeup on that ass," she said. 

On screen the comment seemed to come out of left field. From what we could see there was no issue with Veerley's butt, which led many to assume that the pair were bodyshaming her, referring to either the size of it or cellulite. But Hytes took to Twitter to clear things up.

"Hi everybody I just wanted to jump on here real quick and address some comments I made tonight on the runway about Ilona Verley's bum and putting some foundation on it. This was not meant as bodyshaming whatsoever, it's just that from where we were sitting on the judges' panel we could see red bumps and stuff that come from shaving that we all get — I know I get them constantly on my chest, on my face, and my legs. That's why whenever I feature a part of my skin that's bare, onstage or on the runway, I always make sure that its covered up with foundation just to ensure its extra extra flawless."  The former Drag Race competitor went on to say that the panel had "no problem" with the size or shape of the butt and clarified that you can't cover up cellulite with makeup. 

The incident kicked up a lot of chatter online, mostly in support of Verley. She took to Twitter to thank everyone for the support, and clarify what the judges saw.

"He was going off about razor burn which I didn't even have, it was just the [reflection] off the glitter [Priyanka] helped me rub on my butt," she wrote, referring to Bowyer-Chapman. What's better? Like any other enterprising queen, she's making merch out of it. 

RELATED | Mina Gerges Is Bringing Body Diversity to 'Drag Race's Pit Crew

The actress announced her departure earlier this year with few details.

When Ruby Rose abruptly announced in May that she was leaving her dream job of playing the first lesbian superhero in the lead role on CW’s Batwoman after only one season, rumors swirled as to the reason. Now in a new interview, Rose opens up and reveals that while injuries weighed heavily in her decision, it was a reevaluation of her life goals during the pandemic-induced filming hiatus that allowed her to reevaluate her goals in life.

"You know, you have time in quarantine and sort of isolation to just think about a lot of different things and what you want to achieve in life and what you want to do,” Rose told Entertainment Weekly.

There was considerable outcry on social media when Rose, who is genderfluid and a lesbian, was cast in the role. The Orange is the New Black actor was met with tweets from some who seemed unaware she was queer. There was further outcry when Rose seemed to push off the sexuality of the role as insignificant. Rose addressed the complaints last September when she told Buzzfeed’s AM to DMshe didn’t really care about the backlash because she “worked really hard to get that role." But then she quit leaving many to wonder why.

“Being the lead of a superhero show is tough,” Rose told Entertainment Weekly. “Being the lead in anything is tough. But I think, in that particular instance, it was a lot more difficult because I was still recovering from my surgery."

Rose underwent emergency surgery last year to repair two herniated discs that threatened to paralyze her due to an on set stunt injury. At the time, she spoke of “chronic pain” and the inability to feel her arms.

Despite the severity of the injuries and surgery, Rose was back on the set working in less than two weeks, which she admits in retrospect “maybe wasn’t the best idea” since most people “take about a month or three before they return to work.”

Rose tells Entertainment Weekly she is more than happy with Javicia Leslie taking over her former role on the series, saying “she seems fantastic” and that she was “proud and so happy” when she learned the news. Leslie will be the first Black actress to play the iconic role.

“I'm just really stoked and I'm definitely going to watch the next season as well and see how it all comes together,” Rose said.

RELATED | Bi Actress Javicia Leslie Cast As the First Black Batwoman

Watch the opening of the first episode right here

Are you ready kids?!

As we all know by now, on August 21 RuPaul's Drag Race will return — well that is if you're not already watching the Canadian version that's currently airing. But now, instead of a competition that pits the queens against one another for a title (whether earnestly as in Drag Race and All Stars, or as a bit of a joke as with the holiday specials) the queens are working together to make an impression on the Vegas strip. Well sort of.

In a new preview of the show's first episode, there seems to be a little conflict in the ranks.

"What we are doing with RuPaul's Drag Race: Live is we are bringing the television to the stage," Asia O'Hara explains in the new clip. And it's true, the Vegas show was set up as a live episode of the much-watched series with O'Hara as the RuPaul stand-in — and she did a pretty amazing job. But as with anything, there's drama involved. 

The new clip alludes to some tension backstage between the performers. There are tears (that could have honestly been caused by something unrelated), and even a glimpse of Derrick Barry and his triad. We honestly love to see it! There's tears. And then of course there's that kiss.

Teased prominently in the initial trailer, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo and Kameron Michaels share a kiss — and we aren't talking about some peck, it's a nice one. Given Vanjie's penchant for a kai kai, there are questions of whether this could be another budding Drag Race romance. But more than likely, it was some sort of "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" dare. But who knows. 

RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue will premiere on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm on VH1 featuring Vanjie, Barry, Michaels, O'Hara, and Yvie Oddly.

RELATED | Here's the Pit Crew From 'RuPaul's Drag Race: Live' In Vegas