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21 August 2019

The ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ queens have been revealed

The first ever UK edition of the series arrives on BBC Three this October.

By Steve Brown

With just two months to go until RuPaul’s Drag Race UK hit screens, we finally know the identities of the queens who’ll be battling it out for the first ever British crown.

The 10 drag stars who’ll be sashaying onto BBC Three when the series premieres in October are as follows: Baga Chipz, Blu Hydrangea, Crystal, Cheryl Hole, Divina De Campo, Gothy Kendoll, Sum Ting Wong, Scaredy Kat, The Vivienne, and Vinegar Strokes.

“Each of the UK queens is so unique, so courageous and so special”, says RuPaul, who’ll serve as head judge and host on the series.

“I can’t wait for the UK – and the world – to fall in love with them the same way I did.”

Meet the queens below:

Baga Chipz, 29, London

“Baga Chipz is a pub queen; tart with a heart; Like someone’s auntie I give advice on how to pull fellas and how to get p*ssed.

“I’m not one of these gorgeous beautiful Kate Moss lookalike drag queens. My style is more cabaret, old school, sequin frocks, Shirley Bassey, Danny La Rue, Lily savage kind of drag. I’m common as muck, bagachips from Walthamstow.”

Blu Hydrangea, 23, Belfast

“Blu Hydrangea is like a GCSE art project, high fashion from outer space, a cartoon character – with muppet realness. ‘She is queen of the makeup brush and her strength lies in her mug.

“Not only am I a look queen but I can dance, I can perform, I can do some funny movements to make people laugh.”

Divina De Campo, 35, West Yorkshire

Looks familiar? Divina De Campo was a judge on the BBC singing competition All Together Now.

“My act is a massive variety of different things. You’ll get some opera, Italian aria, some pop tunes, some show tunes, some blue tunes I like sing things that are a bit more challenging or exciting that makes people say ‘Oh my god, I wasn’t expecting that.

“A bit of everything for everybody.’

Crystal, 34, London

“I’m Crystal, I’m 34 and I’m originally from Canada but I have been living in London for the past 10 years as I have a British passport and dual citizenship through my mother, so I’m British!

“Crystal is a gender bending, ‘mess with your brain’ kinda drag queen. She stands for tearing down gender constructs using creativity, looks, and fashion and crazy performances.

“I do aerial circus, I can crack a whip, put cigarettes out on my tongue – it’s a freak show. It’s unexpected. It’s nothing you have ever seen before.”

Sum Ting Wong, 30, Birmingham

“My drag comes from singing. I was a little emo kid at 12 years old and I loved to sing. I can’t be a singer out of drag.

“I am a Chinese male who’s overweight and losing his hair. I’m never gonna make it like that so drag helped me, and the 12 year old me, finally live out my dream of performing and singing.

“That’s the only reason I put all of this on – so I can perform and sing. It’s the best job in the world.”

Sum Ting Wong is the Brummy queen who’s ready to S.L.A.Y the live vocals and reclaim and recycle your problematic jokes. #DragRaceUK pic.twitter.com/lyeAglvQlN

Cheryl Hole, 25, Essex

“My style of drag is that Essex glamour with a touch of showgirl. Everything’s got a bling, a touch of vajazzle but a real girl at heart.

“I like to play up the Essex stereotype and really incorporate that into my drag.”

Gothy Kendoll, 21, Leicester

“My drag is dark, contemporary, striking and unique, and everything that is cool and fresh about UK drag now. The fact that my name is Gothy lets me bring in those darker elements; especially when it comes to wigs and makeup.

“I like to look very different to traditional queens who are more camper, and more performance-based. I also do a lot of different work compared to other queens in the UK.

“I like to DJ, host and throw parties – that’s what I’m good at.”

Vinegar Strokes, 35, London

“I am a straight up comedy queen, I do stand-up comedy, I sing in my own particular style. I’m like Tina Turner meets Lizzo meets Kat Slater.

“I embrace who I am. I’m a working class girl and I like to put that in my act and celebrate that and wear my heart on my sleeve.

“It’s really important to me because we live in an age where so many want to be something else and actually it’s great to celebrate who you are.”

Scaredy Kat, 20, Wiltshire

“I’d say my style of drag is probably very pink, very cute and very feline-esque. It’s very camp, exciting, colourful and bold. Cute, pink and scared – like a nervous flamingo.

“I’m unique and another that makes me unique is that I’m the youngest queen ever on Drag Race.

“At the moment, I do a lot of drag alone in my house but I’ve made quite a lot of videos – music videos, lip-sync videos, arty stuff and pictures, creative things. ‘I want to change that and I need to be on a stage in front of millions of people because the attention just has to be on me right now.”

The Vivienne, 27, Liverpool

“My style is like a scouse wife who has come into money, she moved to LA and blew it all and then she’s had to move back to Liverpool.

“I like to have a really fierce look, but I like to be hilarious on stage so I’m kind of an old school and the new school put together which I think works.

“Comedy is definitely my trump card. My favourite trick in drag is my vocal impersonations so I do everyone from Kim Woodburn, Cilla Black, Donald Trump – you name it, I’ll do it – for the right price!”

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK premieres on BBC Three this October.

Images courtesy of the BBC

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