Few things are certain in life, but RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race“) winning the Emmy for Best Reality Host seems to be one of them. The influential superstar has dominated this category five years in a row (2016-20), and is now the odds-on front-runner to snatch trophy #6 at the 2021 Emmys. Last year’s fifth victory, presented by a disembodied arm because of Covid-19, was notable in that RuPaul broke the category record of four wins previously set by “Survivor” emcee Jeff Probst (2008-11).
The recent 13th season of “Drag Race” broke ground by being one of the first TV shows to film during the coronavirus pandemic, under the strictest of safety protocols. RuPaul and the judges were separated by plastic barriers throughout the season, while the contestants lived in their own social bubble, separate from the crew. One by one, Ru eliminated the queens each week until he named the winner during the in-person grand finale: Symone. The runner-up was Kandy Muse and third/fourth placers were Gottmik and Rosé. Read our minute-by-minute live blog to see how it all went down.
According to Gold Derby predictions, the person RuPaul has to watch out for the most in this year’s host category is Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”). The comedian is in second place to win for her Netflix bake-off series, after previously being nominated for the past two years.
Then there are the “Queer Eye” guys — Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk and Jonathan Van Ness — who are hoping for their first collective win for hosting their inspirational show that’s won Best Structured Reality Program three years in a row. They were first nominated in the host race last year.
In fourth place are “Top Chef” ringleaders Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, who notably had the biggest gap between nominations in the category’s history, being recognized first in 2009 but then not again until 2020.
The fifth nominee is predicted to be Leslie Jones for ABC’s remake of “Supermarket Sweep.” The funny-woman previously contended at the Emmys for starring on “Saturday Night Live” (2017 and ’18) and for writing the “SNL” song “The Upper East Side” (2019).
Other potential host nominees are the “Shark Tank” stars, Tiffany Haddish (“Kids Say the Darndest Things”), Jane Lynch (“Weakest Link”), Jimmy Kimmel (“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”), Phil Keoghan (“The Amazing Race”) and Nick Cannon (“The Masked Singer”).
Of course, RuPaul is also a producer on the VH1 series, so if it wins Best Competition Program again, as it did in 2018, ’19 and ’20, he’ll add yet another trophy to his ever-growing mantel. “Drag Race” is the favorite to win the series prize, per our odds, with “The Masked Singer” and “The Voice” nipping at its heels.
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