"ARE YOU KIDDING ME"— RuPaul's Drag Race fans react to Sam surviving elimination over Lana

RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 aired a brand new episode this week on Friday, March 21, 2025, on MTV. The segment saw the remaining queens compete in another mini and maxi challenge that defined their futures on the show while Jerrod Carmichael served as a guest judge.

Sam was paired up with Lana for the storytelling routines as they competed in a Mad Libs-esque mini challenge. As part of the maxi challenge, they had to tell a personal story during the "Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent Monologues." However, a twist entailed that the stories would be based on a topic given to the pairs by another contestant.

Sam and Lana found themselves in the bottom and had to lip-sync to Illusion by Dua Lipa. After the performance, RuPaul declared Sam safe while Lana had to sashay away.

Fans online reacted to Lana's elimination and were critical of the judge for picking Sam over her. One person wrote on X:

"Rupaul how are you going to send lana home after she tore that stage up?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME."

Netizens react to Lana's elimination (Image via X/@kawaiisteff)

"LANA DIDNT LOSE THIS LIP SYNC RU JUST DOESNT LIKE HER," a fan commented.

"Lana won this by a landslide....THIS WAS HER BEST PERFORMANCE," a tweet read.

Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race termed Lana's performance her "best lip sync" of the season:

"Lana going home on her best lip sync performance of the season. They just let her go because they couldn’t let her win a fourth lip sync," a person wrote.

"Lana shouldn't have been in the bottom this week or last week and now she just got sent home for a bad track record Ru when I f*cking catch you ! and f*ck your boring a** challenges , boring a** lipsync songs we've had to sit through and the bo*ty a** judging," a fan commented.

"I hate to say it but Lana objectively won that lip sync," a tweet read.

Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 further said:

"LOVE LOVE LOVE Sam Star but Lana not only ate up that lip-sync but got the runway theme & was better in the challenge so HOW did she go home and don’t bring up track-record cause Crystal ain’t here either," a person wrote.

"Lana assassinated sam in that lipsync & Sam was the worst in the challenge AND her runway was off theme so this is just a rigged crazy mess lana you will always be famous," a fan commented.

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"Thought I'd feel like I'd belong to this world"— Lana shares heartfelt story as part of the maxi challenge in RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 12

In RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 episode 12, the remaining queens paired up for their mini and maxi challenges. Sam and Lana, who were grouped together were given a prompt by one of the other queens as part of the "Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent Monologues" maxi challenge.

Lana's prompt was being lost and she had to narrate a story on the main stage, while Sam had to act it out. When the pair took to the RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 main stage, Lana started her narration. The contestant asked the judges to picture being lost in a maze. She termed it a scary, dark, and uncertain place filled with "twists and turns."

"The maze is this little thing we call the world and that darkness, baby that was my life for 18 years before I found my light. Honestly, I never thought I'd feel like I'd belong to this world," the RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 contestant added.

The cast member opened up about their conservative background and their parents comparing them to their brothers. Meanwhile, Sam's dance was met with critique from the other cast members who termed it "awkward."

Sam and Lana's performance didn't match up to the other pairs' as they found themselves at the bottom. They lipsynced to Dua Lipa's Illusion, following which, Lana was eliminated from the show.

Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 commented on the latest elimination and believed it to be unfair.

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Tune in every Friday to watch new episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 on MTV.