10 most heartbreaking 'RuPaul's Drag Race' eliminations ever

We weren’t ready for them to sashay away!

While it’s true that “losing is the new winning” on RuPaul’s Drag Race, that still doesn’t mean that accepting all eliminations is an easy task for the fans! In fact, there were quite a few times when a queen was told to sashay away and viewers were left feeling heartbroken at home.

From the very first cycle of the series to the now-airing season 16, we’ve had to deal with our emotions when certain queens were eliminated on Drag Race — even if, deep down, we totally understood the reasons behind those decisions.

Scroll through to check out the most heartbreaking eliminations on RuPaul’s Drag Race — and keep tuning in for new episodes of season 16 every Friday on MTV.

Ongina (Season 1)

The OG heartbreaking elimination of Drag Race took place in season 1, when Ongina — one of the frontrunners in the competition — was eliminated. While it’s hard to disagree that Ongina lost that lip sync, we still wished that this fabulous queen could’ve made it further on the show.

Pandora Boxx (Season 2)

If you didn’t watch season 2 of Drag Race while it was airing, it might be hard to understand just how much fans fell in love with Pandora Boxx. Unfortunately, this comedy queen consistently fell short from winning a challenge, and was sent home during her very first placement in the bottom.

Yara Sofia (Season 3)

Yara Sofia was slaying the competition throughout season 3 of Drag Race, so much so that she made it to the top 4 along with juggernauts like Raja, Manila Luzon, and Alexis Mateo. Toward the end of the competition, Yara had to lip sync for her life against Alexis Mateo, and she got so emotional that she fell to the floor crying. This was an extremely sad moment not only for Yara, who was exhausted and upset, but also for the fans watching at home.

Latrice Royale (Season 4)

How can anyone say goodbye to a queen like Latrice Royale without missing her immediately? When this beloved Miss Congeniality winner was asked to sashay away in season 4, even Mama Ru was feeling all the emotions from the judging panel. Latrice also left like a class act… and our hearts were broken. Thankfully, this queen has taken over the world since her reality TV debut. But that doesn’t change how sad it was to see her go!

Chi Chi DeVayne (Season 8)

All the fans, judges, and even other queens knew that the world was about to fall in love with Chi Chi DeVayne as she competed on Drag Race season 8. Unfortunately, Chi Chi kept struggling with the runway looks, always feeling like she didn’t have the money to put together a package that lived up to people’s expectations. As she sashayed away in season 8, we really felt for this talented queen who simply couldn’t afford expensive clothes. As the years followed and Chi Chi has passed away, re-watching her elimination feels even tougher!

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (Season 10)

Going into the 10th season of Drag Race, a lot of fans were feeling like Sasha Belle in season 7. We really thought that we had “cracked the code” of this franchise. So imagine our GAG when the most entertaining queen of episode 1, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, became the first-eliminated queen of the season. Not only were we upset, but we were also gooped, gagged, and gathered, which led to Miss Vanjie’s immediate return to season 11.

Nina West (Season 11)

Nina West was a universally beloved queen throughout her run in season 11. Yes, we could understand what the judges meant when they critiqued some of her looks, but damn it, we just really loved Nina, okay?! After a shockingly weak lip sync between Nina and Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Nina was asked to sashay away… but even then, she left the competition with an incredibly positive message about kindness. Hearts? Broken.

Rock M. Sakura (Season 12)

Following her elimination on Drag Race season 12 episode 4, we could literally hear Rock M. Sakura sobbing all the way from the main stage. This queen was completely devastated about going home so early, and so were the fans. Everything about Rock’s drag and personality made us feel like she was gonna go the distance. When that didn’t happen, we were pretty surprised and upset.

Denali (Season 13)

If you watch Drag Race as a creative person with sweet, sensitive soul, you could probably deeply relate to Denali’s commitment to pushing herself and doing her best in season 13. But the show was an intense roller-coaster for this Chicago queen — from losing her premiere lip sync to winning the challenge in episode 3 to falling in the bottom in the very next episode to then receiving confusing critiques for the rest of the show. And then Denali was eliminated during a paired-up challenge where most critiques weren’t even directed at her. Yeah, we really struggled with this elimination!

Mirage (Season 16)

The latest heartbreaking elimination in Drag Race herstory took place in season 16 episode 4. Everything about Mirage made us think that she was going to be one of the lip sync assassins of the season… except that she fell in the bottom two and had to lip sync to the one song that she wasn’t familiar with: “Dark Lady” by Cher. After being told to sashay away, Mirage had a very emotional moment on the main stage, and all we wanted to do was give her a hug.