RuPaul's Drag Race may have moved to a new channel, but that hasn't made it any less compelling so far, because there's already a cliffhanger to speculate over. And speculation has certainly run rampant, especially about if Cynthia Lee Fontaine is the 14th queen on Drag Race. We won't know for certain until Episode 2, but all signs point to "yes," as far as I'm concerned. In the final few moments of the Season 9 premiere, it was Ru-vealed that, even though none of the original 13 girls had been eliminated in Episode 1, it wasn't safe to rest on their laurels. In fact, another queen would be joining their ranks, and it would be a familiar face. Or rather, a familiar rear end, pair of boots, and wig, because that's all we saw of whoever it is as she marched her way into the competition, the camera following her from behind.
The identity of the returning queen will be revealed on Mar. 31, when Episode 2 airs. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it's Miss Cynthia Lee Fontaine, and I'll tell you why. First of all, I'd expect it to be someone memorable who didn't make it very far in the competition. Someone who had more to show and was eliminated before her time. Someone to whom RuPaul wants to give a second chance. This would match up pretty closely with Cynthia Lee Fontaine, who was eliminated just three episodes into Season 8 after losing a lip sync to fellow contestant Robbie Turner.
But even with such little screen time, the Puerto Rican queen and Texas resident still managed to win her first mini challenge — as well as Miss Congeniality for her season.
But things weren't only fun and games for the quirky contestant. She was upbeat and positive on the show — do you want to see her cucu? — but Fontaine revealed after her elimination that she was suffering from Stage One liver cancer. It would be quite the inspirational story to see Fontaine return and try again with a clean slate as well as a clean bill of health.
And there's one more piece of evidence that's been swirling in the rumor mill for five months now. Reddit user SapphireJolie noticed something interesting in the background of a podcast recorded while NPR was on the set of Drag Race Season 9. As all the Season 9 queens are chiming in about how beautiful someone is, SapphireJolie picked out a voice saying, "AY QUE BONITA!," which means "Oh, how beautiful" in Spanish — Fontaine's first language. If she was on set, it certainly does suggest that she's the returnee, because I can't think of another reason why she would be there.
So while I can't even really think of a queen that I wouldn't be overjoyed to see return for Season 9, I am allowing myself to get a little excited about the possibility of more time with Cynthia Lee Fontaine. She was most definitely gone too soon and has way more of her cucu to show us. I hope she gets that opportunity.
