‘Winning ain’t gonna make you memorable’: The queens of Drag Race UK Versus The World sharpen their swords

For the first time in ‘Drag Race’ her-story, contestants from different international franchises are competing against each other to be named Queen of the World. They talk to Isobel Lewis about the dangers of returning to reality TV, Reddit rumours and learning British slang

Queens of the world: Clockwise from top left – Jimbo, Blu Hydrangea, Mo Heart, Cheryl Hole, Pangina Heals, Jujubee, Janey Jacké, Lemon, Baga Chipz (BBC)

Baga Chipz is sipping afternoon tea and teaching her international drag queen co-stars British slang. “Do you know what ‘the dog’s b*****ks’ means? Minger? Do you know minger?” Drag Race Thailand star Pangina Heals excitedly raises her hand. “I know this one. It means you’re ugly.”

This high-brow exchange of cultural ideas perfectly sets the tone for RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World, a new spin-off series kicking off on the newly relaunched BBC Three. As the first Drag Race series in which queens from different international versions compete together, it has the giddy, excitable tone of a French class trip (albeit one organised by the LoveOfHuns Instagram page). “They didn’t even know what s***e meant,” Baga says over Zoom, sounding genuinely appalled. “Then next thing you know you’ve got [US queen] Mo Heart walking around the room saying people are s***e.”

If normal Drag Race is “the Olympics of drag”, UK Versus The World is some kind of intergalactic tournament that the rest of us mere mortals are lucky enough to watch for fun. For the first time, contestants from the various international Drag Race franchises are competing against each other to be named “Queen of the World”. We have the UK (Baga Chipz, Blu Hydrangea, Cheryl Hole), US (Jujubee, Mo Heart), Canada (Jimbo, Lemon), the Netherlands (Janey Jacké) and Thailand (Pangina Heals).

Belfast-born Blu describes the group of contestants as “fan favourites” – popular queens who just missed out on the respective crowns on their international versions. Returning to the show meant a chance to not only compete against the crème-de-la-crème of the franchise, but learn from each other. “The Good Book says that iron sharpens iron. So just to be around [the other queens], I feel like I’m a bad b****,” says season 10 star and All Stars 4 finalist Mo (or the artist formerly known as Monique Heart). “I feel like I am the grand dame.”

When the queens entered the Werk Room, they had no idea how the format would play out or who they’d be competing against (although Mo admits to checking out Reddit rumours beforehand, just in case). With so many unknowns floating around, there was at least some sense of “familiarity” for the three UK queens. Not only did they have each other, but they were competing on home turf. Conjuring a spotless simile, self-proclaimed Essex diva Cheryl compares it to “going into your nan’s house – the cups are in this cupboard, the spoons are in there so you just get down to business and make a good cuppa… I think it gave me a lot more confidence because we didn’t have to travel [and] we weren’t going into unfamiliar territory”.

When you’ve already competed on the show, a return comes with expectations of better outfits, honed skills and a determination to prove yourself. “You do a lot of drag after being on Drag Race,” says Jimbo, who’s from London, Ontario. “I was really able to up my makeup game and to start bringing to the surface all of those things that I wanted to show and didn’t necessarily have the skills to do before.” This time round, Cheryl says, they “know how to play the game” – but that comes with its own challenges. As Janey points out, only the UK and US queens have been judged by RuPaul and Visage before. These titans of the drag world have told them how to improve – if they’ve not done it, there’s going to be trouble. The queens from Canada’s Drag Race and Drag Race Holland, in theory, have a chance to impress Ru in person for the first time.

But if those girls have a “clean slate” to start on, Pangina’s is so spotless, it’s a little unnerving. The queen did not compete on Drag Race Thailand, but rather has co-presented the show and sits on the judging panel. For the other contestants, her arrival indicated that this was not going to be an easy ride. “Pangina walked through the door and I was like, ‘This name is so familiar,’” Lemon recalls. “And then I realised, ‘Oh f***, this girl’s the host.’” For Pangina herself, it’s something of a double-edged sword. She doesn’t have an ego about the competition and came in genuinely wanting to get “as much constructive criticism as I can to become a better drag queen”. But there’s also “more pressure, because a lot of people were just saying, ‘If you do badly, you were the host. How dare you have the right to judge anyone?’”

‘Drag Race Thailand’ host Pangina Heals (BBC/World of Wonder/Guy Levy)

About as far away from Pangina’s experience as you can get is Jujubee. Call her what you want: Drag Race royalty, legend, always the bridesmaid but never the bride. When Juju first appeared on the blurry, slightly rickety second season back in 2010, she had no idea that she’d return for two All Stars seasons and UK Versus The World. She’s never placed out of the top three, but she’s never won either. “You would honestly think that I have the upper hand because I’ve done it so many times and there’s a rapport being built between me and Ru and Michelle, right?” she says. “It’s not that. It’s just as scary, it feels like the first time, and Ru has a knack for making sure you have no idea how things are going to go.” She laughs. “I think she likes to play these games on us.”

In theory, all the contestants should be treated the same by the judges. But on the outside world, it’s not such an even playing field. As she tucks a fourth season under her rhinestoned belt, Jujubee has racked up 1.1 million Instagram followers, while someone like Janey has fewer than 100,000. “With Drag Race Holland being in Dutch with subtitles, it’s hard for people to watch a little bit,” she says. “Because we’re a very small country… people are looking at it and thinking, ‘Oh, it’s cute but it’s very small’ or ‘It’s very niche’... so it’s fun to go in full throttle,” she says, with a laugh.

Jujubee is returning for her fourth season of ‘Drag Race' (BBC/World of Wonder/Guy Levy)

Most of the queens have worked together on the live circuit, where they’ve got used to each other’s cultural differences. But making TV is a whole different ball game. How do you teach viewers about your country, while also remaining universal? Which celebrity do you pick to impersonate on Snatch Game, striking the balance between someone that the audience will know and Ru finds funny? And most importantly of all, just how many mid-Noughties X Factor references can Baga Chipz make over the eight episodes? “Obviously, we all want to win and stuff but that ain’t my number one goal when I go on Drag Race,” she says. “I’m very, ‘Let’s make brilliant bloody telly.’ Winning ain’t gonna make you memorable – it’s what you do on the show.”

As the franchises were brought together, so came chances to learn about drag scenes beyond their own. “There is so much going on in these different countries that are so different to us in the UK – laws, restrictions, how you walk down the street – so it’s just so great to hear everybody’s stories,” Cheryl says. “We’ve all gone on different journeys [over] these last however many years we’ve been in this pandemica, but you know what? I am so excited for all these stories to be shared with the world.”

Fortunately, the UK queens are convinced that the British culture translates well to an international, Drag Race-obsessed audience. “People have watched [Drag Race UK] and connected with us, and we walked in and just made friends,” Blu says. “It was a really fun experience and although there were cultural differences, we always meant well with our humour, whether it was a little bit shady or not," says Cheryl. "That always comes across I think – we’re not nasty people, we’re just here to have fun. I think that that’s a big part of the British drag humour.” She laughs. “Yeah, ‘cause we’re here for a good time and a long time.”

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World’ starts Tuesday 1 February at 9pm on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer