Warning! SPOILERS for RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 3 episode 1 below!
Mama Ru is back across the pond for RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 3, and this new cast of drag performers is serving it all up to the fans. After featuring pretty diverse casts on Drag Race UK seasons 1 and 2 that included queens from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, season 3 is mostly centered around English queens (with the exception of Victoria Scone, who's from Wales). Alas, the focus on contestants from England feels like a deliberate casting choice resulting from COVID-19 protocols.
In turn, the Drag Race UK season 3 cast is extremely exciting and full of potential. Queens like Krystal Versace and Anubis are shockingly young at just 19 years of age, whereas contestants like Ella Vaday and Veronica Green are bringing many years of experience in the drag scene. Speaking of Veronica, most queens knew she'd be returning, which immediately placed a target behind her back in this competition.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 3 episode 1 featured a runway challenge, which has now become a staple for most Drag Race premiere episodes. The queens had to present two looks: one look inspired by their hometowns and another look referencing things they love. The judges were gagged by the looks presented by Krystal Versace, Victoria Scone, and Scarlett Harlett, but the other queens in the room couldn't really understand why Scarlett had received so much praise. On the other end of the eleganza spectrum were River Medway, Elektra Fence, and Anubis, who all received negative critiques from the Drag Race UK season 3 judges. Nonetheless, the internet went wild for River's fabulously camp presentation of her look, and the judges did spare her from landing in the bottom two.
This week featured two lip syncs: one between the top two queens and one between the bottom two contestants. Krystal and Victoria went head-to-head in their top two lip sync to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". In the end, Krystal outperformed Victoria and earned her first RuPeter badge. On the other hand, Elektra and Anubis faced off in a lip sync for your life to the tune of Little Mix's "Sweet Melody". Elektra served up every split, dip, jump, and twirl that she could possibly pull off, whereas Anubis relied on her campy facial expressions and body movements. Ultimately, RuPaul chose Elektra to stay and Anubis to sashay away.
Last year, Bimini Bon-Boulash made it all the way to the Drag Race UK season 2 finale despite surviving the first lip sync of the season, so not all is lost for Elektra. At this point, however, all eyes will be on Krystal and Victoria after the great first impression they left on the judges. Let the best drag queen win!
RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 3 airs Thursdays at 2 p.m. ET on the WOW Presents Plus streaming service.
Source: World of Wonder