THEGAYUK

Tag: Drag Race

All the latest breaking news on the TV series Drag Race outside of the United States. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Drag Race.

  • Who is the richest RuPaul Drag Star?

    Who is the richest RuPaul Drag Star?

    When it comes to richest… the US gals certainly have the lead over any of the other country franchises… but which queen came out as the richest?

    Well according to one source, Trixie Mattel tops the list of richest Drag Queens, not counting Ru herself. PlatinCasion.co.uk who analysed the ladies’ net worth put Mattel’s at a cool $10m (around £7.3m)

    Who is the most successful Drag Race queen?

    Ahead of the third UK series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, an online casino has analysed the net worth of former RuPaul contestants to discover who has amassed the most wealth since being on the show. The rich list has revealed that Trixie Mattel has been the most successful drag queen after appearing on the show, with a current net worth of $10m (£7.3m), closely followed by Courtney Act and Bianca Del Rio.

    Using the data compiled, the site has predicted that the 2021 UK series winner could make an estimated $1.3m (£950k).

    The rich list has revealed that Trixie Mattel, a contestant on the seventh season of RuPaul Drag Race US and winner of the spin off series ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’, has been the most successful drag queen after appearing on the TV franchise. Since her 2015 RuPaul debut, Mattel has had her own spin off TV series, released an album, toured the world performing and founded her own cosmetics brand, Trixie Cosmetics. 

    The top ten in the ‘Global RuPaul’s Drag Race Rich List’ are:

    1. Trixie Mattel – $10m (£7.3m)

    2. Courtney Act – $5m (£3.6m)

    3. Bianca Del Rio – $4m (£2.9m)

    4. Sharon Needles – $3.8m (£2.7m)

    5. Alaska – $3.4m (£2.4m)

    6. Alyssa Edwards – $3m (£2.1m)

    7. Chad Michaels – $3m (£2.1m)

    8. Violet Chachki – $2.5m (£1.8m)

    9. Sasha Velour – $2.5m (£1.8m)

    10. Jinkx Monsoon – $2.3m (£1.6m)

    Following the rich list findings and research, the site has estimated that the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series three could possibly earn at least $1.3m (£950k) due to opportunities and deals that come after an appearance on the show. Previous winner of the first UK series, The Vivienne, ranked 17th in the global list, with a net worth of $1m (£750k). 

    Philip Wicinski, UK Country Manager at PlatinCasino.co.uk, said,

    “RuPaul’s Drag Race is a global reality show phenomenon, loved by many and with one of the largest fan bases in TV and film history… or should I say ‘herstory’. Since the first US season in 2009 the show has been a platform for drag queens across the globe to perform, make a name for themselves and introduce the art of drag to the masses. It’s been interesting to discover just how successful past contestants have been as a result of competing on the show.

    “Just like the other seasons across the world, the UK show has also been incredibly successful, and lots of people are excited the new series is about to air. This year is going to be one for the books, for so many reasons and we have no doubts our next British queen will be as successful as the ones on the list above. The question now is, who is going to be our 2021 queen?”

  • The highest-paid Drag Race Queens on Instagram ranked

    The highest-paid Drag Race Queens on Instagram ranked

    Ru Paul’s Drag Race is one of the most talked-about TV series of all time and has not just opened doors for other aspiring drag queens, but also for people at home with no connections to the drag world. 

    Apart from the USA, the show has also had versions in the UK, Canada, Netherlands, Chile and Thailand as well as its many spin-offs like ‘All Stars’. According to Google Trends, the search term ‘drag race’ has increased by a score of 67 since the show’s original release in 2009.

    With more international versions in the talks, meaning more catchy songs released and diva lip syncs, OnBuy’s Record Division were keen to find out which original Drag Race winners earn the most on Instagram!

    RankNameInstagram handleCountrySeasonFollowersInstagram earnings per post
    1Bianca Del RiothebiancadelrioUSA62,423,777£7,586.42
    2Violet ChachkivioletchachkiUSA71,908,229£5,972.76
    3Sasha VeloursashavelourUSA91,840,902£5,762.02
    4AquariaageofaquariaUSA101,741,386£5,450.54
    5Bob the Drag QueenbobthedragqueenUSA81,461,753£4,575.29
    6Jinkx MonsoonthejinkxUSA51,252,723£3,921.02
    7Sharon NeedlessharonneedlespghUSA41,116,767£3,495.48
    8Yvie OddlyoddlyyvieUSA111,108,376£3,469.22
    9RajasutanamrullUSA3988,633£3,094.42
    10Jaida Essence HalljaidaehallUSA12808,219£2,529.73
    11BeBe Zahara BenetbebezaharaUSA1523,391£1,638.21
    12The Viviennethevivienne_UK1401,126£1,255.52
    13PriyankathequeenpriyankaCanada1345,318£1,080.85
    14Envy PerumissenvyperuHolland1213,357£667.81
    15Leona WinterleonawinterofficielChile2124,649£390.15
    16Luz VioletaluzvioletadragChile183,658£261.85
    17Angele AnangangeleanangThailand238,654£120.99
    18Natalia Pliacamnatalia_nu1richThailand126,204£82.02

    So, who is making some serious coin from Drag Race?

    CREDIT: kathclick / Bigstock

    Bianca Del Rio is the highest-earning winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, alongside being one of the most recognised names in drag, boasting 2,423,777 Instagram followers. In addition to the $100,000 winning prize of season six in 2014, Bianca stands to earn an incredible potential £7,586.42 per sponsored Instagram post.

    In second place is the winner of USA’s season seven, Violet Chachki – she won $100,000 as her winning prize. Since Drag Race, Violet has amassed a massive 1,908,229 Instagram following which could earn an extra £5,972.76 per sponsored post.

    Following closely behind in third place is Sasha Velour. As the winner of season nine, Sasha won $100,000 and currently has 1,840,902 followers on Instagram – this could earn her a further potential £5,762.02 per sponsored post.

    WARNING: Embargoed for publication until 21:15:01 on 21/11/2019 – Programme Name: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – TX: 21/11/2019 – Episode: FINALE (No. n/a) – Picture Shows: THE UK’S FIRST DRAG RACE SUPERSTAR **STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 21/11/2019 21:15:01** The Vivienne – (C) BBC – Photographer: Leigh Keily

    Taking the 12th spot is our very own The Vivienne, who could make a potential £1,255.52 per post due to her 401,126 Instagram followers. The Vivienne won the UK’s first season back in 2019, beating the incredible Divina De Campo. However, unlike the USA version, UK winners do not receive a grand cash prize and instead win and star in their own digital TV series.

    Lowest Earning Winners of Ru Paul’s Drag Race

    In the last place, but still, a winner baby is Thailand’s season one champion Natalia Pliacam. With over 26,000 Instagram followers, Natalia stands to earn a potential £82.02 per sponsored post – that’s nearly 93 times less than the top-earning Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio! In addition to winning Drag Race Thailand, Natalia also received 500,000 Thai Baht which is the equivalent of £12,159.71.

    Angele Anang, the winner of Thailand’s season two, is the second-lowest earner with a potential £120.99 per post. Since winning in 2019, Angele’s Instagram followings now stands at 38,654.  Angele won a slightly greater prize than Natalia with total winnings (including gift vouchers and jewels) accounting to £21,883.

    Luz Violeta in Chile’s version, The Switch Drag Race (Desafío Mundial), earns her the third spot. Luz won season one and with 83,658 Instagram followers could earn an estimated £261.85 per sponsored post. 

  • 14 people who would make great UK Drag Race judges

    14 people who would make great UK Drag Race judges

    Here are 14 people who we’re keen to see judging.

    Geri Horner (Halliwell)

    Embed from Getty Images

    Let’s be honest, Geri is essentially a gay man trapped in a woman’s body and has been offering the British public some of the most outrageous outfits ever in pop culture. Judging a bunch of drag queens is what Geri was born to do…well, except be a Spice Girl.

    Sharon Osbourne

    CREDIT: Joe Seer / Bigstock

    Every X Factor viewer pines for her and after years of being married to Ozzy Osbourne, she’s probably quite good with advice on how to apply a lot of makeup. Just have to hope Dannii Minogue isn’t asked to guest judge the same week…

    Louis Walsh

    Louis and Sharon
    From Thames / Syco Entertainment The X Factor on ITV

    If we have Sharon, then we need to bring in Louis. The love or loathe panellist with X Factor on ice that, of course, leaves him open to new career ventures. Maybe he could manage the winning Queen?

    Joan Collins

    Embed from Getty Images

    A national treasure and the Queen of Soap Opera, Dame Joan Collins’ Dynasty shoulder pads were enough to drive any drag queen wild with desire. Her quintessentially 80’s style would definitely offer some inspiration to the contestants.

    Judge Rinder

    Having his own show on ITV start last year, Robert Rinder is used to being a no-nonsense judge to the masses however, would he be able to handle a drag queen? There’s a high chance they may not take his criticism as easily.

    Janet Street-Porter

    Embed from Getty Images

    The iconic fleet street journo has more than a reputation for speaking her mind on just about anything so let’s so what she thinks of some of the UK’s top drag artists.

    Ed Balls

    Embed from Getty Images

    Having been an advocate of gay rights during his time in Westminster, Ed Balls lost his seat in a bloodbath of an election defeat for Labour. He’s since said he’s considering Strictly Come Dancing but what about he does something with a little more class?

    Tan France

    Queer Eye

    With numerous TV shows, like Queer Eye, under his belt, including his time judging on Next In Fashion, Tan’s unique fashion sensibilities and calming influence would be perfect.

    Lily Allen

    CREDIT: YouTube/Lily Allen

    As with Janet, Lily is someone who rarely misses an opportunity to voice her opinion and when it comes to the gay community, she’s a bit of an icon – having gone as far to record a song called ‘Fag Hag’.

    Boy George

    Embed from Getty Images

    Ok, so if he doesn’t do it, could we at least have a ‘Lip Sync For Your Life’ round including Karma Chameleon? It would be absolute perfection.

    Kim Cattrall

    Sex And The City is nothing without one of our best acting exports, Kim Cattrall. It would be a dream to have her on the panel, especially if she was able to remember some of Samantha’s best put-downs for the show.

    Julian Clary

    Julian Clary

    The original gay stand up has already done Strictly and Celebrity Big Brother as a contestant so perhaps it is time for him to turn his attention to being a judge instead. His hilarious digs had us all laughing the 90’s so perhaps a stint on Drag Race could be the trick for a much-needed career resurrection?

    Barbara Windsor

    Embed from Getty Images

    Now, this would be perfect, a soapstar round. I’m thinking Madge Bishop, Bet Lynch, Pat Butcher but, most importantly Peggy Mitchell played by this national treasure. Our tellies have lacked the fun that Barbara offered to Eastenders since her departure in 2011. Moreover, we’d love to see her up against RuPaul…”GET OUT OF MY MAKE UP STUDIO”

    Sinitta

    Embed from Getty Images

    Simon Cowell’s BFFL who only really has to work for a few weeks in autumn. The X Factor’s no.1 novelty staple could do with actually making it onto the judging panel for once instead of merely being a mentor.

    This article was first published in August 2015 and has been updated.

  • Drag Race star Chi Chi DeVayne has died, 34

    Drag Race star Chi Chi DeVayne has died, 34

    The Drag Race star Chi Chi DeVayne has died according to reports.

    Drag performer Chi Chi DeVayne has reportedly died. She had been in hospital, being treated for pneumonia. She competed on the 8th series of the show.

    It was also reported that she had been treated for kidney failure.

    In 2018 DeVayne was diagnosed with scleroderma, a condition that attacks various internal organs.

    RuPaul, who has left social media, did release a statement through the RuPaul Drag Race Twitter account saying,

    “I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of Chi Chi DeVayne,” he wrote. “I am so grateful that we got to experience her kind and beautiful soul. She will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. May her generous and loving spirit shine down on us all.”

    “On behalf of VH1, World of Wonder and the cast and crew of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I extend my deepest sympathy – from our family to hers,”

    “I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of Chi Chi DeVayne.
    I am so grateful that we got to experience her kind and beautiful soul.
    She will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. May her generous and loving spirit shine down on us all.” –RuPaul (1/2)

    An official statement from DeVayne’s family was posted to her official Instagram account, saying, “His final words to his family and fans “never give up”.

  • Drag Race UK fans have noticed this one HUGE difference between the US and the UK version

    Drag Race UK fans have noticed this one HUGE difference between the US and the UK version

    (C) BBC – Photographer: Leigh Keily

    Eagle-eyed fans spotted a huge difference between the UK and the US version and here’s why that is.

    Fans of the US version of RuPaul’s Drag Race are used to hearing the names of various sponsors during the show. However, the UK version was devoid of any sponsor names.

    When a contestant wins a challenge or the runway, a sponsor usually backs a gift or a cash prize, however, last night’s show was devoid of a sponsored-back prize.

    In fact, the main prize for the eventual winner of Drag Race UK isn’t even a cash-prize unlike the US version.

    (C) BBC/World of Wonder – Photographer: Guy Levy

    In the US, winners can look forward to a $100,000 payday, however, the winner of the UK version will star in their own “digital tv series” according to Ru, which will be filmed in Hollywood.

    One of the reasons why there are no sponsors mentioned on the show is because the broadcaster of this year’s series is BBC Three and as the BBC aren’t allowed to have sponsors or advertisers attached to their programming.

    Even the small prizes aren’t backed by a company – this week’s catwalk winner won a “RuPeter Badge” rather than a luxury or cash prize.

  • Are these the UK queens ready to star in the first ever UK drag race?

    Not to get you too excited, but it seems that a list of UK drag queens has been released…

    But take this list with a grain of salt, it’s not been confirmed, but it looks so good.

    According to the Twitter user, DragRaceUK_ the following queens are set to take part in the first ever RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, which is due to stream on BBC 3 later this year.

    The list that has been released contains 14 names and contains alternates and reserves according to the Twitter account, which isn’t a verified account.

    Cheryl Hole

    Gothy Kendoll

    Vinegar Strokes

    Sumtingwong

    Divina De Campo

    Scardey Kat

    Crystal Beth

    Bagachipz

    The Vivienne

    Blu Hydranga

    Vicki Vivacious

    Tiakofi

    Mary Mac

    Cookie Monstar

    Even if just some of this group of queens are in the final 10,  it’s sure to be an epic, epic debut season for the UK. The only problem is that it’s on BBC 3 and you will require a TV license to watch the show and there are no plans at this time to stream the show onto Netflix, the orginal home in the UK for Drag Race.

     

    https://twitter.com/DragRaceUK_/status/1118121763819409408

  • TV REVIEW | Rupaul’s Drag Race season 11 episode 8 and 9: Irresistible

    This is a two in one review that I hope you will enjoy.

    Last week Drag Race presented us with Rupaul teaching the queens all about promotion, using her own book Guru as a tool for a fun mini challenge.

    The episode also included a visit from the lovely Jinx Monsoon who coached the girls into the always much anticipated snatch game.

    That segment proved a clear problem some queens always have: when told their strengths and weaknesses – or what may or may not work they never listen. Or they only take it on board when it’s too late. If Ru or a seasoned queen makes it clear they think you’d be better suited to do a character they know you excel at: do it!!

    So Snatch Game itself was … uneven, the ones that were good were good, the ones that were not absolutely bombed!

    Silky won overall. Now her Snatch Game was good but what does Nina West have to do to be noticed? She presented two wonderfully funny characters and completely changed up her look and still she just gets a “well done, byeee!!”

    It must be discouraging to be working so hard and never be seen.

    The runway was a fabulous sequin spectacle with Brooke Lynn Heights pulling a beautiful mega reveal. Sadly as she failed on Snatch Game it didn’t do her much good.

    Then the much talked about lip-sync: Yvie vs Brooke Lynn.

    I know a lot of fans say this was the best lip-sync ever but it wasn’t for me. Yes, it was good but I prefer ones that don’t use acrobatics but instead have real dancing or the ones where the queens are so into the song it seems as if they sing it themselves.

    Still it was good, so good in fact no-one sashayed away.

    This week saw the library open for one of the strangest of Reading challenges. This it seemed as if non of the girls really knew how to really read and were better at clapping back. Silky and her footnote was the strangest one of all. Brooke Lynn was absolutely the best and deserved her win. Future queens better go and watch Paris is Burning to get schooled in reading like a pro!!

    One of the rewards of winning her reading challenge was that Brooke Lynn got to select who teamed up with who for this weeks main challenge. An improv police series called: L.A.D.P.: Los Angeles Drag Patrol. There was some shade involved in her choices, but also a little wisdom. Pairing a more subdued queen with a vocal one can work – and it did for most of them.

    The challenge itself was fun for the most with Silky and Brooke Lynn shining (it was not surprising Nina felt some kind of way giving Brooke Lynn the part she had wanted to do herself. She ended up being barely featured in the scene at all!!) But the absolute star was A’Keria Davenport who finally felt ready to let go. She was funny and an absolute twerk star!

    The real winner, to me, though was RuPaul. The delivery of her connecting secretary scenes were hilarious – especially when she was “speaking cat”.

    So, talking about cats: sad to say Plastique Tiara and Miss Vanjie were … not there – they looked great and their thing could have been funny, if they had prepared a little more. Also two cats fighting over milk. Did no-one even think about fighting over Milk? As in the former contestant? It could have made the joke a lot better.

    Then the runway, this week category is the Facekini. Though the show says it’s based on Ru’s iconic wearing of the facial garment, the original for this look is course Leigh Bowery, which is mentioned by Nina West who wears an outfit inspired by him. Sadly, though her look is one of the best, she doesn’t get singled out and just ends up “safe”.

    Absolute winner is A’Keria who also slays the runway, a well deserved win.

    Over to one of the most cozy and cheerful Untuckeds ever. The girls were at their calmest: talking like friends and just being happy an friendly with each other. It’s good to have episodes like this once in a while.

    The bottom two was right: both Vanjie and Plastique were just not on point in both the challenge and the runway. Vanjie was clearly ready to slay a lip-sync, having prepared herself every week and easily beat Plastique.

    From all kinds of whispers it is clear we do not have to mourn the loss of our Asian Queen for long, her popularity might spur her on to All stars 5. If you can’t wait that long, take a look at what she did next here:

  • TV REVIEW | Drag Race Season 11 Episode 7 Back, Back, Back again!!

    TV REVIEW | Drag Race Season 11 Episode 7 Back, Back, Back again!!

    Yes!! There she was at last: the much quoted much mentioned Alyssa Edwards returned to Drag Race this week and breathed some much-needed life in this year’s slightly confusing season.

    The episode started with the queens feeling a bit low and irritated with each other. RuPaul seemed intent on changing this rut this week, staging a potato-sack race (with boobs) that put a bit of a smile on the queen’s faces (especially the winners as the best queens got rather a lot of money!!)

    The challenge itself, though, brought everyone back to earth: Farm to Runway. The queens got the almost impossible challenge of turning farm food and fabric into actual fashion worthy challenges.

    A lot of the queens seem happy with the challenge, ready to show their creative selves.

    This week the episode was very much Plastique Tiara’s chance to shine, and she did!! Her emotional talk with RuPaul about her upbringing and sad relationship with her family was heartbreaking, resulting in the first documented workroom hug from Ru. Then we were later introduced to her lighter more carefree side with the arrival of her drag-mother: Alyssa. The change in attitude from Plastique was amazing, and resulted in getting her first big win!! Well done.

    It seemed Alyssa had a positive influence on everyone with her catwalk training, fun motivational speeches and choreography. It was the first time all queens seemed at ease and smiling.
    The show is stressful and emotional, and having a person step in with a positive attitude who knows what you’ve been through helps a lot. Alyssa is a great teacher and it was clear she cares for her new drag sisters (and daughters) a lot.

    Sadly nothing could help poor Ra’Jah. The queen clearly felt undervalued in the show, longing for praise and help, but also pushing away everyone who reached out. Over the weeks it was sad to see a clearly talented artist fall victim to their (in Ru’s words) “Inner saboteur”.

    What was also sad was hearing her tell Akeria about knowing she was having a breakdown but no-one was helping her, no one had ever told her she was loved. The jealousy she displayed towards Plastique came from a place of hurt. It was good to see a young queen like Plastique sensing this and comforting the angry Ra’Jah instead of fighting.

    She explained this later:

    https://twitter.com/plastiquetiara/status/1116715770128498693

    https://twitter.com/plastiquetiara/status/1116715771382697984

    Hopefully Ra’Jah will find her inner peace so her true talent can shine one day. A lot of queens got the chance to redeem themselves during an All Star season, I hope she can have that too.

    Judging from her after show interviews she has already started working on her problems.
    But we’ll see at the reunion.

    With Ra’Jah gone focus is now shifting to the differences between Yvie Oddly, Silky and Miss Vanjie. This could be getting interesting!! Stay tuned!!

  • TV REVIEW | Rupaul’s Drag Race season 11 episode 6: Drag Olympics

    This week the theme was “sport” and the Olympics. Not words you expect to hear in Drag Race, but the Sport was Jane Fonda based and the Olympics turned out to be in fact “The Olympics of Drag”, so any worry soon disappeared.

    For the mini-challenge, we were introduced to a drag friend of Ru’s: Love Connie, who led the queens through a vigorous and funny retro aerobics challenge. For those of you who don’t know: Connie is a rather famous queen, having starred in movies like Legally Blonde. She was also hilarious.

    Winners of the challenge were Plastique Tiara and A’Keria C. Davenport who were told to select teams for the Drag Olympics. At the end of the selections, the queens were split evenly into two teams: those who could move and those who … couldn’t …

    Over to rehearsals of an intricate choreography based on the history of ballroom culture. This is where storylines came into play.

    Yvie Oddly who pushes through the pain because her time is limited: her illness will progress over the years and she knows she may very well end up in a wheelchair (though she knows that still won’t stop her performing.)

    There was also the Scarlet Envy story: most of the queens are looking down on her and seemed gleeful about her struggling with dancing.

    Vanjie is starting to feel depressed and is a lot more subdued. Fighting through tears she explains she feels she isn’t presenting her best self and letting Rupaul down.

    We also saw Plastique Tiara a bit more involved in it all, in Untucked she was actually part of a fight.

    Silky accused her of looking down on her and other queens. This because Ariel Versace left some wigs and hair at her (Plastique’s) station which Silky and others took. Plastique knew it was meant for her but said it didn’t matter as the other queens needed it more. Silky saw that as an insult and claimed Plastique couldn’t know the hair was for her. Ariel confirmed on Twitter that yes is was for Plastique.

    Okay, the Olympics themselves were fabulous with the teams dancing to remixes of Drag Race quotes past. The only cloud over this was poor Yvie’s ankle rolling, still, it was a joy to see Brook Lynn swoop in to carry her so she could take part in the finale.

    The Runway this week was all about gold. Most memorable being Yvie, who used her injury to her advantage.

    The team featuring the best dancers naturally won, with team leader A’keria winning overall.

    Then a sad moment where the losing team all deciding to throw Scarlet under the bus, which saw her end up in the bottom two at a disadvantage.

    Second-bottom two entree was once again Ra’Jah, who miraculously survived again despite Scarlet’s lip-sync being more original and entertaining. This result caused quite the stir on the internet.

    So that’s it for this belated review, hopefully back to normal next week!!

  • TV REVIEW | Rupaul’s Drag Race season 11 episode 5: BEAST!!

    Okay … this episode was a little confusing as … it wasn’t really about anything.

    via GIPHY

    Yes, there was a ball – a Monsterball even. But something felt off.

    Much as I love Drag Race, this year it seems hard to connect to the show. It isn’t Ru’s fault: he is doing wonderful. He really seems to have found his groove back, harking back to his excited self from earlier series. More involved and actually part of the judging team.

    No, the error seems to lay in the editing which seems intend on focusing on things that don’t matter much and contestants who seem to care more about making good TV and talking heads instead of actually BEING ON DRAG RACE!!

    This time last year I knew the contestants and felt part of it all. This year it seems we are only allowed to know a select few. A few weeks ago I was rooting for A’keria Davenport but she’s so rarely featured I had completely forgotten about her until she was included in a talking head this week. Same for Plastique Tiara and some others.

    It’s really distracting having to go “who’s that? Oh yes …” even five weeks in. Despite it working with fourteen last year, maybe having fifteen queens is just too many, as it’s harder to connect with all of them. Having the narrative revolve around only a few of them doesn’t help either.

    So what happened this week? Well, mainly a surprising amount of Alyssa Edwards references which made many people (including me) expect she would appear in this episode. She didn’t, though Trixie Mattel did. The All Stars winner led the contestants through a mini challenge. The challenge was turning yourself into a doll that could befriend Ru’s new Rupaul doll. Meaning that for once it truly was Rupaul’s best friend race. Ra’Ja won.

    Then the Maxi Challenge: the Monsters Ball. Now I’m always a fan of the ball episodes, but I prefer them later in the series when we can really focus on the final 5/6 queens getting ready for their big moment. When the one queen that can’t sew has a wobbly bur regains themselves. And then Rupaul returns reminding them: ya … erm … you also have to do a song …

    This week there was no song and because we had to feature 33 looks in one episode we hardly saw any workroom activity. Though we did get a huge amount of Silky chanting something about a runway and some more insight into the “Branjie” (Vanjie and Brook Lynn) relationship.
    It’s a shame as the queens conversations often make the show even more than the challenges and fashion.

    In Untucked Nina West once more showed why she is this years Latrice or Chad when talking about LGBT rights history and why we need to learn from the past. I would have loved to see this conversation in the main show.

    Then over to the runway. So 33 looks … a bit much and after a while it’s hard to remember all of it, making guessing who will be in the bottom difficult. In the end the Brook Lynn won while Shuga Cain and Ariel Versace ended up in the bottom two. Poor Ariel lost as she fell halfway through.

    A bit of a lesser episode compared to the earlier ones, hopefully next week will be better. Maybe Alyssa Edwards will turn up!!

  • TV REVEW | RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11, episode 4: The Future Is Female

    TV REVEW | RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11, episode 4: The Future Is Female

    This week saw a very different Drag Race, as the show got political.

    Drag has always been political in a way: as it is a mirror towards society and it’s expectations. It is a political act just to exist as a drag queen and many a queen has fought back against those in power in her shows. Ru herself has often used Drag Race and her own position to urge people to vote, be involved and make change happen.

    But Trump the Rusical marks the first time the politics were addressed heads on. This shows how problematic society has become. Knowing hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ have risen 226% in areas where Trump held rallies you just can’t remain silent anymore.

    Most of the episode spoke about living in a world where you can be attacked for being who you are. Nina West described her life on a campus where she was abused and threatened. She grew up in a deeply conservative and political environment and was terrorized in college when she ran for student government, once people knew she was gay. She also linked her story to the tragic case of Matthew Shepard which happened at the same time. It was a time when LGBTQ+ tolerance was at a low, where it sadly seems to be heading again now.

    A timely as well as a cautionary tale.

    Then Mercedes Iman spoke out, regretting not doing so last week. She talked about having to fight hate and stereotypes from many sides (being a gay drag queen as well as a black immigrant and Muslim). She wants to show the world that Muslims are not terrorists, despite living in fear on a daily basis. It is good to see her finding herself.

    It would have been great to hear the voice of Plastique Tiara as well in this, as growing up gay in a conservative Vietnamese household raised by her grandmother would give her a unique perspective as well. Sadly she never featured in the episode at all.

    Of course Silky had another surprise up her sleeve: she is a registered republican. Not because she is republican but to fight the power from the inside!! “Re-movement of the districts… Get smarter than them, register as a Republican.” In Untucked Silky also showed a different side of herself when she comforted Vanjie who had a semi panic attack thinking she’d be in the Lip sync.

    Meanwhile Yvie Oddly revealed she suffers from a connective tissue disorder that causes all of her joints to be hyper-flexible and therefore prone to dislocation in physically demanding situations.

    “I have a disease called Ehlers–Danlos syndrome type 3. I don’t produce a whole lot of collagen, so I have extra skin everywhere…. but it’s not going to hold me back in this competition!” She added.

    So after a new kind of mini challenge (newsreading in the style of Rachel Maddow) and a brutal choreography training with Deadpool ballet dancer Yanis Marshall (where Ra’ja found out boosting about dance training isn’t very wise when it was decades ago) it was over to the musical itself.

    Based on Grease it told the tale of the women of Trump who, with a little help from Oprah, find out that being your own person is better than being a dictators possession. It ended with an ode to womanhood and a call for more women to run for office.

    All the queens did very well with a few standouts including Yvie and Nina but in the end Silky’s Oprah was singled out as a winner.

    Talking points were Michelle Visage’s clear dislike of guest judge Joel McHale and the growing relationship between Vanjie and Brookelyn. Vanjie still seems to want to play it down, though.

    It was sad seeing Mercedes leave the show just as she found her voice, it would have been great to see her stay just a little longer as she has already proved herself to be iconic.

    Hope to see you back one day Opulence Queen!!

    RuPaul’s Drag Race is available to stream on Netflix