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23 September 2021 10:25 AM

Raven’s James Mackenzie confirms he won’t be on Drag Race UK S3 and we just can’t

The host of the CBBC show, Raven, tweeted on Thursday (23 September) that he hadn't been asked to be a guest judge on the show.

By Alastair James

Words: Alastair James; pictures: BBC

It’s #DragRaceUK day! At long last (or maybe not as season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was only on several months ago!) the UK version of the show is back, and the 12 new queens are raring to go.

As ever, RuPaul will be there to pick out the UK’s next drag superstar, along with right-hand woman Michelle Visage and fellow judges Alan Carr and Graham Norton. They will be joined by a variety of special guest judges including Lulu, Emma Bunton, and Kathy Burke.

However, there’s one person who appears to have been overlooked for a guest judge spot…

“Honestly this NEEDS to happen”

James Mackenzie, who some may remember fondly as The Raven from the popular CBBC show Raven, will not be appearing in a guest judge spot on Drag Race UK!

The children’s adventure game show originally ran on CBBC from 2002 to 2010 and featured McKenzie as the mysterious and magical Raven (who could transform into the bird he shared his name with) who led a group of children or “warriors” through a series of challenges to crown the Ultimate Warrior, with competitors being eliminated along the way.

Sound familiar?

Joining in the hype ahead of the debut of the new Drag Race UK series on Thursday (23 September) James McKenzie posted a gif of himself throwing some boxes up in the air and walking off with the tweet: “#DragRaceUK starts tonight on  @bbcthree still no guest judge slot though for this Raven”.

He finished it off with #letthechallengebegin, which harks back to one of his former character’s catchphrases. It wouldn’t sound out of place on Drag Race…

Fans of The Raven rallied around McKenzie supporting the idea of him being a guest judge in the future. One person tweeted: “raven for guest judge on series 4!” and another tweeting: “Honestly this NEEDS to happen.”

Honestly, we can’t think of many people better qualified to be judging Drag Race UK contestants and we’d love to see this crossover happen.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series three premieres on BBC Three on the BBC iPlayer on Thursday 23 September at 7pm BST.

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