RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is finally on our screens and, just like that, my skin is clear, my crops are thriving and my bussy is douched.
To celebrate the arrival of the long-awaited UK season, I thought we should strut down memory lane and take a look at some of the most shocking moments in Drag Race herstory™ – I’m talking jaw wide open, watermelon Cruiser on the floor, expletives being shouted at the television type moments. Why? Because we can’t help but stan the drama – no tea, no shade, no pink lemonade.
It’d also be a fab idea to go back and rewatch the entire back catalogue of RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars on Stan to get your bussy tingling for more.
But first, let’s discuss the most wig-snatching moments. So go and grab your kitten heels and pussy wigs, girls, and let’s dive straight in.
10. MIMI IMFURST
I mean, you really have to admire Mimi Imfurst, arguably the most disliked RuGirl of all time (oop). The workroom in season 3 (and All Stars 1, briefly) permeated drama whenever Mimi was in the room, primarily due to Miss Thing having some pretty grandiose perceptions of herself. (Cue Jinkx‘s ‘Delusion, convince yourself’.) But whether you loved her or loathed her, you can’t deny that Mimi made for some gagworthy television moments.
After all, without Mimi we wouldn’t have Shangela‘s iconic sugar daddy speech.
Nor would RuPaul have famously uttered “drag is not a contact sport”, following Mimi’s bold decision to pick India Ferrah in front of the judge’s panel. (I reckon I watch this lip-sync once a week, because I’m a messy bitch who lives for the drama.)
9. PEARL BEING PEARL
The Great War of Pearl and RuPaul on season 7 – in which Pearl accused Ru of saying she didn’t have a personality and Ru retaliated by saying that he was trying to light a fire under Pearl’s ass – will go down as one of the greatest showdowns in television. Convince me otherwise.
Pearl’s probably one of the only queens to have stood up to Ru like that in front of the camera. That awkward silence between the pair – when it looked like neither fighter was going to budge – made my wig fly harder than a Boeing 747.
8. MS. BELLI
Willam is arguably the OG rule-breaker of Drag Race. This was substantiated by her disqualification in episode 8 of season 4. For an in-depth discussion about Willam’s infamous disqualification check out this jam-packed interview conducted by Joseph Shepherd. Have your tea at the ready, sis.
7. MIRROR, MIRROR
Alyssa Edwards‘ redemption and Phi Phi O’Hara‘s downfall in All Stars 2 is one of the most perfectly executed narrative arcs in television.
An absolute highlight has to be the girls returning to the workroom following Alyssa’s elimination. Phi Phi begins to talk a whole heap of smack about Alyssa, before the lights behind the workroom mirror light up to reveal the eliminated queens – including Alyssa herself – behind the mirror, listening in. Face crack of the season.
Check out the subsequent confrontation below. To the show’s producers, I say, God bless you.
6. SURVIVE, YOU DID NOT
Dax Exclamationpoint and Laila McQueen‘s double elimination in season 8 was legendary, primarily because they both, well, sucked.
When the lip-sync song was revealed as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, the gravity of the situation became evident almost immediately. “If you’re ever going to lip-sync a song, this is the song to do,” Ru muttered under her breath. When the song began and both queens drastically underperformed, the writing was on the wall.
The elimination also gave the queens a much-needed reminder that Ru wasn’t here to fuck around – this is drag Olympics after all, henny.
I will never get over Dax’s excuse: “I don’t really do disco, it’s just not my genre.” DAX, SWEETIE, “I WILL SURVIVE” IS EVERY PERFORMER’S GENRE. MY GOD.
5. LIFE’S NOT FAIR
Fact 1: Naomi Smalls didn’t come to play on All Stars 4. Fact 2: When Naomi eliminated clear crown-favourite Manila Luzon, the internet just about shut down.
In my humble opinion, hate definitely shouldn’t have been directed at Naomi – after all, she was playing her game, and rightly so – but more so at the competition structure itself for forcing queens to eliminate each other (this is a personal qualm I have with All Stars, but more on that another time). As the queen said herself, “life’s not fair.”
4. YOU’RE A WINNER BABY, AND SO ARE YOU
SAME, TRINITY, SAME. Trinity the Tuck‘s face represents the entire Drag Race community when she was crowned winner of All Stars 4 alongside Monét X Change in the show’s first ever tie. I mean, how bloody underwhelming. It was just as disappointing as the time I was catfished back in 2014.
3. ADORE DELA-NOpe
Adore Delano was, and still is, one of the most popular queens to have ever been on the show, which is why Adore’s walk-out in episode 2 of All Stars 2 continues to feel like a dagger in the chests of many. Adore just couldn’t acclimatise to the competition world once more after coming back from touring, and becoming close friends with, judge Michelle Visage.
2. BYE BYE BEN
BenDeLaCreme‘s self-elimination was a lot more shocking than Adore’s because, well, you know…. she was the shoe-in to win the entire thing. TBH, I still see Ben’s self-elimination as a cop-out – like, you knew what you were signing up for, right? Either way, Trixie Mattel, the ultimate All Stars 3 winner, is surely thanking her lucky stars to this day.
1. THAT DAMN MASK
As an unapologetic Valentina stan who well and truly lives in the same fantasy that she does, I have never fully recovered from The Great Valentina Elimination Of 2017. Valentina had a pretty damn-perfect track record heading into the 9th episode but, when the world realised she didn’t know the words to Ariana Grande‘s “Greedy” at the beginning of the lip-sync, I swear you could hear the sound of a million hearts breaking across Oceania. Season 9 was never the same, and I wasn’t able to listen to “Greedy” for 2 years.
Make sure to check out the new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK on Fridays at 8AM as well as the entire back catalogue of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Stan for non-stop weave-snatching. All other obligations have left the group chat.
