RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – the queens of season three ru-vealed

Words: Jamie Tabberer; pictures: BBC

RuPaul and BBC Three have ru-vealed the set of drag queens taking part RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season three.

The show returns to BBC iPlayer this September, with RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Noton and Alan Carr once again on judging duties.

The cast list includes Veronica Green, who made headlines earlier this year after pulling out of SE2 midway through after testing positive for Covid-19.

“I’m hoping that as I’m not a newbie, the second time around will give me an advantage,” says VG of her grand return. “I’m having the time of my life all over again. I love it!”

The hotly anticipated queens of series three are:

Victoria Scone – 27, Cardiff

“If you come to a Victoria Scone show, you’re going to get all of the divas. A bit of Barbara, a bit of Donna Summer. My drag is high campery, utter nonsense. I am not portraying a real woman. Victoria is a caricature of a woman!”

Veronica Green – 35, Rochdale, Lancashire

“You may recognise me from season two, but if you don’t – where have you been?! I was flying high, and really enjoying competing in series 2, but the pandemic interrupted filming, and unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid-19 just as filming resumed, so I couldn’t return. It was a big blow, BUT thankfully I received an open invitation from Mama Ru to come back for series three – and I wasn’t gonna turn that down!”

Vanity Milan – 29, South London

“I’m sophisticated, sexy and savage. I’m not a diva. I’m not a hun. I’m serving unapologetic blackness. Vanity is REAL. I am REAL. I grew up in Mitcham, South London where it’s very REAL. I’ve lived in London 29 years, born and bred – South ‘til the death! And my drag is very South London. The recipe to be Vanity Milan is sugar, spice and everything nice. She is just a humble, performing drag queen serving high octane performances with extra spicy flavour. Vanity loves the art of drag and everybody that loves it. That’s Vanity Milan!”

Scarlett Harlett – 26, East London

“Scarlett is a beautiful woman, with movie star looks. She’s a glamorous diva and when she talks she’s a proper mouthy, cheeky cockney. She’s like Danny Dyer in drag! I’m really proud of my roots and I embrace my working class and cockney heritage in my drag. I was born and raised in East London, I am EastEnders personified! I’m real, I’m the best thing to come out the Isle of Dogs since… Henry VIII! I don’t think there’s been anyone like me before, East London queens have been on the show before, but not like this. I’m the real thing!”

River Medway – 23, Kent

“I’ve been getting into drag since I was about 15. Then when I turned 18 I started going to clubs and parties in drag just for fun. I loved it, so as a trained performer, I decided to do drag professionally. I’m 23 now, and I’ve been doing drag properly and gigging for just over two years. I love Hannah Montana.. I’ve always been obsessed with her and now when I think about it I loved the transformation. By day, she was a schoolgirl, living a completely normal life, and then by night she’s a popstar, with wigs, make up and outfits. That’s drag! And that’s how I feel in drag.”

Krystal Versace – 19, Kent

“I’ve been doing drag professionally for almost two years since I was 17. I started dabbling with makeup when I was about 13. It was all trial and error really. At the time, boys wearing make-up was becoming a big thing. I practiced so much, and perfected my art, and drag just felt like the natural next step. My first time in drag was so overwhelming because it was the first time I’d been around other queens, but I just felt like I’d fallen into something so magical. I knew that I needed to keep doing drag for the rest of my life!”

Kitty Scott-Claus – 29, Birmingham

“When people come to a Kitty Scott-Claus show, you can expect to have the best night of your life. It’s like the BEST hen do – and everybody’s the bride! It’s everybody’s birthday! It’s everybody’s special day! You’ll have a busty blonde bubbly night and it will be fabulous… filled with all the prosexy in the world! It will be fabulous.”

Ella Vaday – 32, Dagenham

“I’ve done theatre and dancing my whole life, but Ella has only been part of my life for just over two years. When I first started drag I did it in complete secrecy. I didn’t tell my friends. I started my Instagram account hoping to find a following of people who didn’t know me, but just appreciated me as a drag artist. I’ve quickly built up a following, and my drag really took off during the lockdown last year, when I went from around 6,000 followers to 30k.”

Elektra Fence – 29, Burnley, Lancashire

“I’ve been doing drag since 2014, excluding a three year hiatus working as a dancee. I called myself Elektra Fence because I’m full of energy and millions of people have seen me be stupid, when a film of me went viral. A friend filmed me as I accidentally electrocuted myself on an electric fence. I thought it wasn’t working ! I don’t recommend it, as it blew me off my feet and it really, really hurt!”

Charity Kase – 24, Lancashire

“I’ve got a reputation for really outlandish crazy looks. I like to play on the darkness in beauty, break beauty stereotypes and create a fantasy from another dimension. My name comes from my ability to craft stuff on a very low budget and transform the grotesque to glamorous and maybe be both at the same time! Charity Kase is my way of expressing my inner emotions and escaping from the mundane, boring, bland grey world that we live in. I try to transport people from reality into a world where the impossible is made possible, with makeup, crystals, and a hell of a lot of hot glue.”

Choriza May – 30, Newcastle

“Hola, I’m Choriza May ! I’m Spanish living in Newcastle, and so I am Newcastle’s spiciest, meatiest and silliest sausage. As an immigrant queen, I’m someone with a slightly different background to the other queens in the competition, but my drag was born in the UK. There are millions of European immigrants in the UK, and I’m so happy to be representing them as drag queen of the immigrants!”

Anubis – 19, Brighton

“I’d say my greatest strength is my voice. I have a four octave range and I know how to hold a room and perform. That’s always been something I’ve loved. I’ve been a singer since I was thirteen and I’ve done a lot of backing vocals for big stars. As a backing singer, I was never really in the spotlight until I fully started drag, but now here I am! […] Not to brag or anything, but I do have quite a wide skill set. I’ve got the vocals, I got the dance
moves, I got the comedy… so I really think I’m a bit of a threat!”

 

The Attitude September Style Issue is out now.

Subscribe in print and get your first three issues for just £1 each, or digitally for just over £1.50 per issue.