I’ve been touring with the Season 7 Drag Race contestants for a week and have another week to go. They’ve had some stunning looks and I’ve seen some terrific performances–from funny to elegant to oddball to traditional tear-the-house-down lip-synch dance numbers. More after the jump!

But what I’ve enjoyed most is meeting and hanging out with them. Sometimes reality TV focuses on the train wreck moments. But since I haven’t seen those, I just see them as young, enthusiastic, party-loving (some of them), horny (some of them) queens which I was one of looooooong ago. I felt a little bit like den mother a couple of times. A few of these girls are more experienced, but most of them have never flown to a different city each night performing in large venues like The Mayan theater in LA or the Vic, where Miss Continental is sometimes held, in Chicago. It’s really been exciting. And the audiences are loving the first episode that we screen prior to their performances.