‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World 1×01’ Review
Anyone who follows Ru Paul’s Drag Race will be aware of how much it has grown in recent years leading to spin-off seasons popping up all over the world. As well as the regular American version of the show we also have a UK version, a Canadian version, a Thailand season, a down under (Australia and New Zealand) version, a Spanish version and many more so everyone has been clamouring for the day that we get an international season where queens from all over the world compete against one another to crown the queen of the world. In fact, just over a year ago, I created a fantasy casting of a season like this which had the queens – three of which are actually on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World(!) – competing in a points-based tournament… controversially with no eliminations!
When it was announced that BBC Three would be producing a season of Drag Race consisting of queens from all over the world, the internet was thrown into a frenzy guessing who would be a part of this competition. Essentially this is an international All-Stars style show but is titled Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World and from what I have gathered it will be like Eurovision where the host country changes every competition but the same countries compete with different queens every time. They compete to be crowned queen of the world and the opportunity to record a duet with none other than Ru Paul herself!
There was a big focus throughout this episode on the importance of UK drag culture with the show being introduced by the three UK queens and moments where British slang is explained to the international queens. If this Eurovision style race is true then I look forward to the show being based in the other locations as I love learning about different countries and their behaviours! However, I do have a few issues with the format of this new show. I believe that every franchise of Drag Race should have one representative on the show, which would make sure that every competing nation feels represented. I would have no eliminations and instead integrate a points-based system so that every queen can showcase there a range of talents and looks and I would have the judging panel comprising of Ru Paul (as it is their show), Michelle (as she also judges many of the other franchises of the show) and a rotating guest judge who is a judge on a different season of the show. Can you imagine how fierce a judging panel made up of Ru Paul, Michelle Visage and Brooke Lynn Hytes (who is the judge of Drag Race Canada and competed on the American version on the show during season eleven) would be!
The first queen to enter the race is none other than Baga Chips who was actually one of the queens I wanted to return in my fictional casting! Baga is most well known for competing on Drag Race UK season one where she placed third and became part of the iconic Frock destroyers! Since recording the incredible “Break Up, Bye Bye” on the show the trio of queens have gone on to record an album (which is crammed full of absolutely amazing songs!) and have toured all over the world. Baga has been described as the epitome of British drag where her personality is so infectious and entertaining but her fashion was not quite at the same level but more on that later! The next queen to enter the race was one of her Frock Destroyer sisters Blu Hydrangea who I have been following on Instagram since her season and I cannot wait to see what she showcases on the show as some of her looks have been spectacular. Blu is known for her insane make-up abilities but also her vulgar impression of Marry Berry from the season one snatch game. I thought that Blu’s blue and gold warrior Princess look for the promotion of this season was absolutely incredible. In fact, I would even say it was the best overall look in the lineup of queens! I also really enjoyed her werk room entrance neon look, which was physically branding herself as she was blue from head to toe! It is clear that Blu is a fan of bright and intense colour schemes which is a piece of me in all honesty so I can’t wait to see the rest of her looks in this season. Thirdly we saw the queen of Essex Cheryl Hole enter the werk room which I was really excited about as I don’t think she was able to showcase herself as well as she should have during her season. However, I did think that her promotional look was a bit basic when compared to the other queens but her pink sparkly leotard entrance look was such an improvement! It is clear that Cheryl has had a massive step up since her season with her hair and make-up being an early highlight for me. Not only does Cheryl have the pressure of representing her country and redeeming herself but also her drag sister Kitty Scott Clause did extremely well during the latest drag race UK season which must create at least the tiniest bit of jealousy!
From the US version of the show, we have two of the all-time biggest fan favourites on this international season. Firstly we saw Mo Heart (formerly known as Monique Heart who competed in season ten and Drag Race All-Stars season four) and it is clear that she has really stepped up her drag as she entered the werk room in a fabulous half-flowery lavender and half-metallic armour look that was absolutely incredible on her! The two contrasting sides of this look worked really well together to create a very fashion-forward look. I am a little confused however as in the meet the queens Mo talked about how she is now going by Mo rather than Monique but Ru Paul, the other queens and the show graphics all referred to her as Monique so I am not sure which is the correct name for her. The next US queen was the seasoned professional Jujubee who in total has competed in four versions of Drag Race, as well as Drag U. She recently appeared on the singing based talent show Queen of the Universe, where she showcase her vocal talents and her experience alone would instil fear if me if I was competing alongside her! However, I thought that both Juju’s promotional and entrance looks did look a bit toned down when stood next to the rest of the queens. We have seen Juju do radical looks especially during All-Stars five so I hope we get to see more of her exciting outfits as the season progresses! Not only is Juju known as a talented singer but also is known for being hilariously funny especially during reading challenges!
We also had two queens who were representing Drag Race Canada. The first of these two was no other than the chaotic clown performer known as Jimbo who rose to fame on the first season of the Canada edition for her infectious personality and spectacle inducing looks. She entered the werk room in a bright red and blue, almost daredevil inspired jumpsuit that was very on-brand for this queen as it paid homage to her clowning career. I think that everyone was excited to hear that Lemon (also from season one of Drag Race Canada) would be returning to the race as since her season she has shown herself to be a very talented and versatile performer. In her season she came in as a purely dance-orientated queen and as the season progressed she showcase her comedic abilities and proved that she is in fact a “self-confessed rapstress.” Most recently, however, Lemon recorded what was probably one of the most iconic anthems alongside Canada season one’s winner Priyanka. If you have TikTok you will be very aware of “Come Through” and especially the rap section that Lemon performs so I was excited to see if she could showcase some of the newly developed skills!
I have to admit that I have not watched every season of Drag Race so there were two queens that I was not too familiar with. Janey Jacké finished in second place on the first-ever season of Drag Race Holland where she wowed everyone with her incredible fashion sense and wide range of talents! She entered the werk room in a totally aqua blue outfit that looked absolutely incredible on her. I am excited to see what Janey can do during this season and I hope as the sole representative of Holland she can offer a great insight into Dutch drag! Pagina Heala is a very interesting inclusion on this season for two reasons. Firstly she is the only queen from Drag Race Thailand, which again is a show I do not know too much about but also she is the first-ever judge from a show to compete in a Drag Race season after they have taken over a show. Pagina never competed on Drag Race Thailand but instead is one of the main judges so it will be exciting to see what type of competitor she is, as well as seeing her range of talents. One of Ru Pauls’ biggest criticisms from fans of the show is that she would not be able to do half the things that she expects from the competing queens, so having a judge in the race will really help Drag Race Thailand to enforce the legitimacy of critiques and challenges. Pagina is already making history by being on the show and her white gown entrance look, complete with a sparkly tiara, was such a great way to start her historic run!
The first maxi challenge of this brand new show was a talent show which so quickly becoming a Drag Race staple on the first episode. I have to admit however I am getting slightly bored of the fact that the majority of ‘talents’ on the show are lip-syncing/singing or dancing. While I totally understand these are absolutely skills that require years of practice to refine, the repetition is starting to grate on me a little. Lemon opens the show lip-syncing to an original song where she showcased her incredible dance moves, including jumping splits off of a large box on the stage. The judges commented on the fact that while very impressive it is something we have seen before (from Jasmine Kennedy/Aja during the talent show on All-Stars three) and to be honest, I have to agree with them! It was incredible to watch and I personally would never be able to do half the stuff that Lemon did but unfortunately it had been done on the show before. I was very impressed by Mo Heart singing live, as I remember her singing in the talent show of All-Stars was not particularly great – it is clear she has been working on this for a long time. The song contained beautiful musical trails and growls that were performed wonderfully by Mo making it a very engaging performance! Janey decided to do something a little bit different where her performance was mostly a dance number that contained a total of five reveals as the number went on. While the mechanics of this is very impressive, I did think that as the reveals went on the outfits did decline in quality and the shock of the reveals wore off fairly quickly. I thought that Baga’s live performance of an original song was so classically British and was so on-brand for her. She took on an almost Pontins blue coat/children’s entertainer character while she strutted across the staging essentially shouting her iconic catchphrase “Much Betta!” This traditional entertainment is a piece of me and I did find myself singing along which is a good sign for a talent show act!
There are very few things in this world that leave me speechless. My whole career revolves around the idea of finding ways to effectively describe things but I’m at a total loss of words when thinking about how to talk about Jimbo’s talent show act. She graced the stage were a wonderfully camp ghost outfit (that was essentially a sheet with some face paint and preceded to give birth to a stack of ham which she then threw at the judges and herself. Despite how absolutely strange this performance was, it was very entertaining and did link into Jimbo’s passion for clowning which was great! I don’t think that we had a chance on Drag Race to see the true extent of Cheryl Hole’s performance abilities, so for her to have the chance to show this during the talent show was fantastic! Not only did she look absolutely stunning in a jewelled leotard with a matching fringe jacket but her dancing is incredibly complete with a classic Cheryl death drop! Pagina also lip-synced to an original song but managed to infuse high energy dance moves with a sprinkling comedy which was very entertaining and would have been incredible to see live in a club. The queen I was most surprised with during this talent show however would have to be Blu which was a cheerleading inspired number that started with three body puppets held up with poles. This act infused her classic crude humour (including a joke about blowing the judges) with high energy movements which perfectly captured her brand.
The first-ever Runway category of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World was “I’m a Winner Baby” where the queens had essentially had to interpret a winner theme to fit their looks. For the first time ever I have to admit that I didn’t like Ru Paul’s outfit this week! Her pink ribbed top clashed with her butterfly leggings and I don’t understand what the intention of pairing these two pieces of clothing together was. I usually think that Ru is always stunning on the runway but this week’s look was very disappointing! I thought that Lemon looked incredibly beautiful in her yellow/gold pageant gown with huge hair! Mo Heart walked the runway in a massive, over-the-top emerald green outfit infused with key African influences. It is clear that Mo has worked extremely hard this season to make sure her fashion is a key focal point and if these two looks are anything to go by then her effort was more than worth it! On the other hand, we have Baga Chips who said she was going to also be focussing on her fashion but this first runway was very disappointing. She was supposed to be a homage to Oscar but instead looked vivacious. Not only was dressing as a trophy a strange choice but her outfit was very lacklustre and in all honesty, was the worst outfit in the line-up of queens. From the worst look on the runway to the best! I thought that Jimbo’s black and white, clown inspired club kids look was absolutely out of this world! The look fitted her body perfectly and was so wonderfully over-the-top which is prime Jimbo. I also really loved Blu’s BDSM/sport/rock and roll neon look which was so vibrant and fitted her character perfectly! However, this unusual hybrid of themes did not fit with the category of “winner” and so I can understand why the judges did not like this look as much as I did.
The elimination format for Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World relies solely on a lip-sync between the top two queens of the week. The two queens battle against each other and whoever is declared the winner of the performance then chooses who will be leaving the competition. At the top of this opening episode were rightfully Jimbo and Pagina, who showcased entertaining talents and amazing runway looks! The winner of this battle had to choose between Lemon and Janey to see who would go home and unfortunately, Pagina won and declared that Lemon would be going home! I was so shocked that Lemon was going home this early in this season as yes, some queens have done dangerously high jump splits before but pretty much every queen has lip-synced. On top of that their runway outfit was miles better than some of the other queens specifically Baga’s! Not only did Pagina get the satisfaction of sending Lemon home but also is gifted her first-ever gold Ru Peter badge.
Overall, this was an exciting first episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World that showcased the growth and development of many fan favourite queens. The talent show allowed us to get to know the queens further while the entrance looks and runway category allowed us to see what style of drag the queens want to be known for. However, the confusing structure and weird sketches made the episode hard to watch at times and Ru Pauls outfit was very disappointing!
