Blu Hydrangea shares eye-watering costs for Drag Race UK vs The World
Blu shares she spent nearly ten times as much the second time around.
The Queen of the World, Blu Hydrangea, has broken down what it cost her to compete on Drag Race UK and Drag Race UK vs The World.
The Northern Ireland queen, 26, first competed in the very first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race in the UK.
Following this, Blu returned (and won) the first international season – Drag Race UK vs The World.
On Sunday (23 October) Blu broke down how much she’d spent preparing for her first turn in the werkroom.
Accompanying this was the caption: “A small price to make your dreams come true.”
Blu clarifies this is a “rough estimate”. She also makes it clear she’s not including Snatch Game, any challenges, or her suitcases in the total.
“In the final total, I’m only going to count what I actually had to buy for Drag Race and not what I reused.”
Blu details working in part-time retail and picking up extra jobs to avoid loans and debt.
Beginning with her promo look and ending with her finale outfit Blu goes through her season one looks.
Finally, Blu shares she bought stuff for eight new outfits and seven new wigs having had a lot of stuff already.
“So this is my final total,” she says as the estimated total pops up as £2,500. “Would you spend all this money on drag?” she asks.
Part two followed on Wednesday (27 October). Once again Blue broke down her looks across Drag Race UK vs The World and admits the cost “is substantially more”.
But she adds, “I was one of the cheaper girls there.”
Starting with her promo look for the season which Blu reveals was made in America so was “pricey” to fly over she counts up 15 new outfits and 12 new wigs.
In total, she spent £22,500 on the international season, £20,000 more than on Drag Race UK season one.
Blu says, “I didn’t go broke, I didn’t take out a loan. I was happy to spend the money and you know what? Any chance to buy new drag, I’m there.”
Then she adds, “You don’t need to go broke during Drag Race if you have smart concepts and throw your personality into it, that’s all that matters.”
Talking to Attitude after the videos Blu shared her advice for other queens wanting to do Drag Race.
“The show truly isn’t just about the looks, when preparing for Drag Race it’s important to take sewing lessons, dance lessons, practice speaking in front of audiences, and making jokes!
“You also have to be in a good mental headspace to take the show on, it’s an intense process made easier by the amazing production team & queens.”
On whether there’s pressure for queens to spend lots to compete she tells Attitude, “The only pressure is the one you put on yourself!”
She explains calling in as many favours as she could and doing what she could herself for her first time on Drag Race.
“I relied heavily on my concepts as I thought if the idea is strong then it doesn’t matter if it’s been made using cheaper materials – and I stand by that. Not everything has to be stoned and feathered!”
Blu is not the only Drag Race UK queen to address the subject of the costs involved in taking part in the show.
Speaking to Attitude last October, Veronica Green of Drag Race UK seasons two and three said that the series’s fans had created hard-to-meet expectations for competitors.
“Everybody expects us to come out looking like a million dollars, some of us come from very hard working-class backgrounds and what that means in this country is we literally can barely afford to pay our rent. And I’m not the only one.
Also, she said the show is now skewing towards “elitism”.
Additionally, she said: “I understand it’s a competition but when you’ve got queens that are so creative and so passionate, they are being priced out of being able to even walk through the werk room doors because of the way they look. Appearances seem to count for an awful lot.”