Drag Race’s big move to MTV for Season 15 was exciting at first, but it turned sour very quickly. The reason? Another MTV show, The Real Friends of WeHo. The new Real Housewives-inspired reality series has made bitter enemies out of Drag Race fans for a few different reasons. Here’s why viewers are already blaming The Real Friends of WeHo for ruining Season 15 of Drag Race.
MTV announced The Real Friends of WeHo on Jan. 5, the day before the new season of Drag Race premiered on the network. The new reality series follows a familiar concept: Camera crews chronicle the drama within a group of six friends who live in West Hollywood. The cast is helmed by LGBTQ+ celebrities, including singer-dancer Todrick Hall, stylist Brad Goreski, actor Curtis Hamilton, entrepreneur Dorión Renaud, TV host Jaymes Vaughan, and influencer Joey Zauzig.
At first, the show didn’t raise too many eyebrows... until Drag Race fans discovered when the series would air. MTV scheduled the series to run at 9 p.m. ET on Friday nights, directly after new episodes of Drag Race. That timing also confirmed Drag Race episodes would be drastically shorter this season, cut down to one hour (including commercials) from the 90-minute episodes of the past several seasons.
But scheduling issues isn’t the only reason The Real Friends of WeHo has become so controversial...
How Real Friends Of WeHo Messed Up Drag Race Episode Lengths
Not only does The Real Friends of WeHo’s 9 p.m. ET airtime cut Drag Race’s episodes short, but it also drives an hourlong wedge between the show and its behind-the-scenes aftershow, Untucked. Usually, when an episode of Drag Race ends, Untucked will begin right after to give fans more insight into the season’s drama. But MTV’s new schedule has Drag Race leading into The Real Friends of WeHo, and Untucked not airing until 10 p.m. ET when that show is over.
Fans are so upset about the spliced schedule and shortened episodes that a Change.org petition to cut Real Friends of WeHo in order to restore 90-minute episodes quickly racked up tens of thousands of signatures.
The Real Friends Of WeHo Casting Controversy
Scheduling aside, the new series was also hit with controversy right when it was announced due to rumors about the casting. Actor Chris Salvatore tweeted that he was fired from production on “a certain reality show” because three cast members refused to work with him after learning he had an OnlyFans page.
Many fans are convinced Salvatore was talking about Real Friends of WeHo, since his tweet was posted right after the show’s cast announcement; however, nothing is confirmed.
The Todrick Hall Of It All
The show’s main cast has a few connections to the Drag Race universe, and they’re not entirely positive ones. Although Brad Goreski is beloved by fans as a judge on Canada’s Drag Race, frequent Drag Race guest judge and choreographer Todrick Hall isn’t quite as universally liked. Several dancers and collaborators have alleged that Hall never paid them for their work, including Drag Race star Manila Luzon. (Hall denied that he intentionally didn’t pay collaborators in a statement in 2020: “I would never intentionally do some of these things, any of these things that are being said about me.”)
Most recently, Hall incited significant backlash as viewers called out Hall’s nasty comments about fellow contestants during his appearance on Season 3 of Celebrity Big Brother throughout February 2022.
Clearly, Friday nights on MTV are messier than ever. Watch all the drama unfold when new episodes of Drag Race air at 8 p.m. ET, followed by The Real Friends of WeHo at 9 p.m. ET.
