RuPaul's Drag Race season 3

The third season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on January 24, 2011, and ended its run on May 2 of the same year. Thirteen drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a headlining spot on the Absolut Tour, a lifetime supply of Kryolan makeup, and a cash prize of $75,000.

This season had Michelle Visage replacing Merle Ginsberg at the judge's table and Billy Brasfield (better known as Billy B), Mike Ruiz, and Jeffrey Moran filling in for Santino Rice's absence during several episodes. Billy B, celebrity makeup artist and star of the HGTV mini-series Hometown Renovation, appeared as a judge in five episodes. Whereas Mike Ruiz only judged for two episodes, and Jeffrey Moran for one, Moran only appeared for promotional reasons. Due to Billy B's continued appearances, he and Rice are now considered to have been alternate judges for the same seat at the judges table, both appearing side-by-side in the reunion special to announce Yara Sofia as the season's Miss Congeniality.

Other changes made included the introduction of a wildcard contestant from the past season, Shangela; an episode with no elimination; and a contestant, Carmen Carrera, being brought back into the competition after having been eliminated a few episodes prior. A new pit crew was also introduced consisting of Jason Carter and Shawn Morales.

The theme song playing during the runway every episode was changed to "Champion" while the song playing during the credits is "Main Event", both from RuPaul's album Champion. As with the previous season, each week's episode was followed by a behind-the-scenes show, RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked. On December 6, 2011, Amazon.com released this season on DVD via their CreateSpace program.

The winner of the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race was Raja, with Manila Luzon being the runner-up.

Contestants


Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.

Notes:

Lip syncs
Legend: {{legend|#D4AF37|The contestant won the Lip Sync for the Crown and was declared the winner of the season.}} {{legend|lightblue|The contestant was eliminated after their first time in the bottom.}} {{legend|lightgreen|The contestant was eliminated after their second time in the bottom.}} {{legend|lightpink|The contestant was eliminated after their third time in the bottom.}}

Guest judges
Listed in chronological order:


 * Bruce Vilanch, comedy writer, songwriter, and actor
 * Mike Ruiz, photographer, director, and reality television personality
 * Vanessa Williams, actress, singer, and former Miss America
 * Lily Tomlin, actress and comedian
 * Alessandra Torresani, actress
 * La Toya Jackson, singer
 * Susan Powter, motivational speaker and fitness guru
 * Chloë Sevigny, actress and model
 * Debbie Matenopoulos, television host
 * Aisha Tyler, comedian and actress
 * Amber Rose, model
 * Eliza Dushku, actress
 * Sara Rue, actress
 * Rita Rudner, comedian
 * Arden Myrin, comedian
 * Cheryl Tiegs, model
 * Johnny Weir, professional figure skater
 * Jeffrey Moran, Absolut Vodka marketing/branding executive
 * Jody Watley, R&B/pop singer
 * Carmen Electra, actress
 * Wayne Brady, actor, comedian, and singer
 * Fantasia Barrino, singer, actress, and author
 * Margaret Cho, actress and comedian
 * Sharon Osbourne, television host and reality television personality
 * Gigi Levangie, novelist and host of Logo's The Arrangement

Ratings
1Based upon point/share system for Nielsen ratings. The first number represents the percentage of households within the population viewing the program (known as points). The second number (known as shares) is how many households were expected to view the program, within the population. For example, Episode 8 has a point/share of "0.3/1". This means .3% of households viewed the program from the expected 1%, showing .7% of the show's audience were watching a different program.

Raja's win leaked
Halfway through the seasons airing, blogger Perez Hilton revealed Raja as the winner to the public, causing an uproar from fans. It also led to the show's crowning format being changed, with the finale taped with three different outcomes declaring each finalist as "the winner", with only RuPaul knowing who really wins and the true outcome being announced on the day of the final in attempt to conceal the winner's identity and prevent any spoilers from taking place. This took place from the following season-onwards.