Nicki Minaj joins Emmy(R) Award-winning "RuPaul's Drag Race" for monumental season 12 premiere Friday, February 28th at 8:00 PM ET/PT on VH1

New York, NY - January 30, 2020 - Global superstar, Nicki Minaj, joins Emmy(R) Award-winning host RuPaul and judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews, to kick off the season 12 premiere of "RuPaul's Drag Race" on Friday, February 28th at 8:00 PM ET/PT on VH1. The new season will feature all 90-minute episodes followed by the Emmy(R) nominated after-show "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" at 9:30 PM ET/PT.

In the epic premiere, the hip hop icon will make a surprise debut on the runway as thirteen new drag queens enter the competition for a chance to win $100,000 and the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar."

The previously announced queens include Aiden Zhane (Acworth, GA), Brita (New York, NY), Crystal Methyd (Springfield, MO), Dahlia Sin (Los Angeles, CA), Gigi Goode (Los Angeles, CA), Heidi N Closet (Ramseur, NC), Jackie Cox (New York, NY), Jaida Essence Hall (Milwaukee, WI), Jan (New York, NY), Nicky Doll (New York, NY), Rock M. Sakura (San Francisco, CA), Sherry Pie (New York, NY), Widow Von'Du (Kansas City, MO).

For more information on "RuPaul's Drag Race" and up-to-date news, go to vh1press.com and follow RuPaul's Drag Race on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for all the latest tea. Join the conversation using #DragRace.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" and "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" are produced by World of Wonder Productions with Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Steven Corfe, Mandy Salangsang and RuPaul Charles serving as Executive Producers. Tim Palazzola serves as Executive Producer for VH1 and Jen Passovoy serves as Producer.

About VH1:

VH1 is a dominant pop culture brand focused on reality content that explores the personal stories of today's popular artists and celebrities including the Emmy(R) award-winning RuPaul's Drag Race and powerhouse franchises, Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew.

About World of Wonder:

For more than two decades, award-winning production company World of Wonder has introduced audiences to new worlds, talent and ideas that have shaped culture. Programming highlights include: Emmy(R) award-winning "RuPaul's Drag Race" (VH1/Logo), "Million Dollar Listing" LA & NY (Bravo), "Dancing Queen" (Netflix), "Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce" (Fuse), and "Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric" (National Geographic); award-winning films and documentaries including "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures," "Menendez: Blood Brothers," "Inside Deep Throat," "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," "I Am Britney Jean," "In Vogue: The Editor's Eye," "Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking," "Monica in Black and White," Emmy-winning "The Last Beekeeper," and Emmy-winning "Out of Iraq." Seven of WOW's films have premiered at the Sundance Film festival including "Becoming Chaz" and "Party Monster." World of Wonder has also created a substantial digital footprint with its YouTube channel WOWPresents (1M+ subs), SVOD digital platform WOW Presents Plus, along with an award-winning blog, The WOW Report. World of Wonder's bi-annual RuPaul's DragCon is the world's largest drag culture convention, welcoming 100,000 attendees across LA and NYC in 2018. Co-founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey authored The World According to Wonder, celebrating decades of production, which can be found online at http://worldofwonder.net/. Randy and Fenton were honored with the IDA Pioneer Award in December 2014, celebrating exceptional achievement, leadership, and vision in the nonfiction and documentary community, named to Variety's Reality Leaders List in 2017, and chosen for the OUT100 list in 2018 for their trailblazing work in the LGBTQ+ community. World of Wonder was also selected for Realscreen's 2018 Global 100 list, which recognizes the top international non-fiction and unscripted production companies working in the industry today. World of Wonder creates out of a historic building/gallery space in the heart of Hollywood.