RuPaul's Drag Race UK

Contents

Host

RuPaul

Co-hosts

RuPaul (not S4E7)
Michelle Visage (all episodes)
Alan Carr and Graham Norton (alternating episodes)

Broadcast

World of Wonder for BBC II!, 2 October 2019 to present

Synopsis

A UK version of the international hit series. According to the BBC's press release:

Ten drag queens compete in a number of individual and team challenges, culminating in a weekly "Maxi Challenge" that might involve a performance, a photo shoot or a runway walk-off.
The drag artists will be gradually whittled down until one is left standing as the champion.

We've advised to expect all sorts of celebrity guest stars.

If you can help us to expand this entry, please provide as much information as possible, using the feedback form below.

Champions

  • 2019: The Vivenne
  • 2021 (winter): Lawrence Chaney
  • 2021 (autumn): Krystal Versacce
  • 2022: Danny Beard

Trivia

When the first series was first made available, it was online only via BBC Three. The show was repeated on Friday night BBC1 from the start of 2020. Series two was mid-series when the pandemic hit; social distancing affected episode five onwards, with Queens on Lockdown showing what the queens got up to during the filming break. Series three's repeats aired on Mondays after the news, except for episode four, which was delayed by half an hour to accommodate a postponed Have I Got News for You, and episode six, which was delayed by an hour to accommodate a climate debate. BBC Three resumed terrestrial broadcasting in February 2022, in time for the fourth series, which broadcast it at 9:00 on Thursdays, with BBC1 carrying it after the following day's news.

BBC Three have also carried the Canadian and Australian takes on the format; the final of series three of the former, and the last two episodes of series two of the latter, were bumped due to emergency schedules as a result of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and aired eleven, ten and three days late.

The second episode of the fourth series was dedicated to series two contestant Cherry Valentine, who had passed away in the week preceding it aged 28.

Dakota Schiffer, the UK's first Drag Race contestant to be played by a trans woman, unwittingly became the first drag queen from any RuPaul-fronted series of the franchise to be told to sashay away by Michelle Visage rather than RuPaul, as he had to shoot off in the middle of her final episode due to "circumstances beyond anyone's control". Whatever that means.

Two queens, Divina di Campo and Veronica Green, had previously appeared on All Together Now; di Campo as one of 'The 100' and Green as a contestant. Choriza May had previously been a contestant on Celebability, while Danny Beard had shown up on Celebrity Karaoke Club.

Web links

BBC programme site

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