RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE UK: SERIES 2, EPISODE 1 | WE’VE BEEN WATCHING
Jamie Rees tunes into the launch of the second season of the transatlantic transplant of the show that put drag firmly in the primetime slot.
Oh, to be back in the Werk Room! This time last year we were revelling in the UK’s first ever Drag Race, when Corona was merely a drink enjoyed in a bar with friends while discussing the shade and shimmer of this hit drag contest’s UK inception.
To be fair, you could have called the inaugural UK version of RuPaul’s search for the UK’s next drag superstar England’s Drag Race, with all bar one of the girls coming from the one home country: Blu Hydrangea, from Belfast, the honourable exception. This year, however, it’s a three nations affair, with participants from England, Scotland and Wales. And without a smidge of bias, the Celtic ladies are a formidable trio.
Where to start? Well, I’ll go safe, with the six sirens who RuPaul designated so at the end of episode one. Again, Welsh bias aside, it was a surprise to see Tayce [pictured] from Newport in the safe category. She gave us a simple yet stunning hero-inspired Naomi Campbell in her first catwalk look, and a gorgeous, feathered Welsh dragon dress to represent her home for the maxi challenge at the show’s finale. The judges were impressed, if not wowed, by her opening gambit, which has seen her through comfortably to the second week. We can’t wait to see what the Newport girl brings next.
Joining her in the UnTuck Lounge were A’Whora, Cherry Valentine, Ginny Lemon (channelling Sue Pollard at every turn – yes, I do want a slice), Tia Koffi and my dark horse and soft spot for the competition, geek-turned-goddess Veronica Green. There will be raised, tinted eyebrows at RuPaul’s selection here, not least when you look at the tops and bottoms of the bunch.
Bringing up the rear, and showing a little too much rump, was Bimini Bon-Boulash, wearing… not a lot. Also bent over in the bottom were experienced queen Joe Black and Liverpool’s Sister Sister, not quite living up to the quality of her Liverbird counterpart, series 1’s The Vivienne. Career cabaret queen Joe was the big surprise here, already universally called out as a serious contender by the other girls earlier in the episode.
Riding high at the top were a threesome of two Scottish lassies, Ellie Diamond and Lawrence Chaney, and glamour queen Asttina Mandella. Distinctly unlikeable to my eye, the top spot this week went – predictably for RuPaul, I thought – to the cocky yet perfectly tucked queen from East London, Asttina Mandella. She looked stunning on the catwalk in her Naomi Campbell heroes look, but displayed a little too much confidence in the VTs for my liking. To bring some shade of my own, I’ll look forward to her having a pedestal-falling moment or two on her journey to a potential top three finish at the end of the series.
So, to the most titillating part of any Drag Race episode: the Sashay- and Shante-deciding Lip Sync of the bottom two. On paper, experienced Joe Black would walk it, especially with Bimini being undone on the catwalk by a rogue dangle of duct tape through a crack in her outfit. And walk it Joe did, whilst Bimini ran rings around her – literally throwing herself around the Main Stage to secure a Shante from RuPaul. It was a penalty shootout-winning performance from the Norwich football queen, who deservedly stayed in the competition while a somewhat lethargic Joe Black was sent Sashaying home.
Surprises from the off, then, for the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. What can we expect over the next few weeks? Well, if the first episode is anything to go by, and to coin a phrase of one of the legends from series one, this lot already look “much betta!”
If you missed this opening episode, watch it on BBC iPlayer here.
words JAMIE REES
