Drag

Drag Race UK fans praise ‘best ever episode’ as queen puts herself first in shock elimination

Lairy Poppins (BBC)

Drag Race UK continues to prove that nothing is more unpredictable, chaotic and entertaining than a British drag queen, as the fourth season served up another gag-worthy episode this week (20 October).

Featuring the famed reading challenge, a Rusical themed after Mary Poppins and maybe the most *important* elimination yet, the series ratchets up the tension as RuPaul searches for the UK’s next drag superstar.

Hannah Waddingham was this week’s guest judge – and listen, we know she wasn’t competing, but she deserved this week’s RuPeter badge.

Slicked back hair? Check. A gorge dusty rose latex gown? Check. An infectious kindness towards the queens rarely seen on the show? Check! Condragulations my dear, you are the winner of this week’s challenge.

Before the maxi-challenge is revealed as a Rusical – the queens get out their library cards and glasses, because it’s reading time. Based on the great tradition from Paris is Burning, reading involves creatively insulting someone, normally in a friendly(ish) manner.

Some of this episode’s best reads included:

Baby: “Dakota Schiffer – you are blonde, you are beautiful, you have legs almost as long as you make conversations feel.”

Dakota Schiffer: “Black Peppa – I’d ask if your barbecue was cancelled, but with that grill, no one’s coming.”

Black Peppa: “Danny Beard – I know you love marmite, but stop using it as your foundation colour.”

Pixie Polite: “J Blonde – you are so old, your first gig was chasing the snakes out of Ireland.”

Pixie Polite: “Baby? I’m pro choice.”

Danny Beard: “Dakota – it’s nice that Drag Race has embraced trans icons. And now it’s nice that people can see a bit of trans mediocrity.”

Danny Beard: “Pixie Polite – you are famous from shagging Tia Kofi off the telly. What a shame that charisma isn’t sexually transmittable.”

Jonbers Blonde: “Cheddar is so old, she was the first queen to throw a brick at stone… henge.”

Pixie Polite wins the challenge (after her narrowly losing last week’s maxi-challenge to Danny Beard, and we’ll come to that later) and is granted the gift of casting Lairy Poppins: The Unauthorised Rusical.

Historically, deciding roles in the Drag Race multiverse has led to only two things; the shade/rattle sound effect or the person with the power forgetting to assign themselves a part they actually want.

This episode is no different. There’s a bust-up over the role of the french cockroach between Cheddar and Dakota, the latter of whom does not want the role she ends up with, and after casting is closed, Pixie later decides she wants to swap parts with Danny.

Danny, by the way, takes this in her stride, saying that she could easily do either. This is icon behaviour.

After a vocal rehearsal with Michelle Visage and vocal coach Dane Chalfin, then choreo with (swoon) Giovanni Pernice, the queens get ready for their off-off-off broadway debut.

In the rehearsal Pixie stumbles over her vocals, Baby and Dakota need to up their energy and Danny struggles with the choreo; going into the show, it looks like it’s all to play for.

But when it came to the big moment, fans hailed this UK Rusical as one of the best ever featured on the show, some even calling it the best ever Drag Race UK episodes.

Fans praised the entire cast’s performance and commented that it should have resulted in one of the show’s rare non-elimination episodes.

After a phenomenal, musical-themed runway, the judges declare that even though no-one was “Super-cali-fragi-listic-expi-ali-atrocious” – very funny, Michelle – they will be splitting hairs to decide placements.

Danny snags her second win in a row, with Pixie once again placing high. The bottom two is Baby and Dakota – but not before Hannah Waddingham has an incredibly sweet moment with the former.

“Hi, Baby.” Hannah says: “I want you to feel really good about yourself, because I feel like you don’t feel it, at the moment.”

Baby discloses how hard she’s finding it being on Drag Race UK, and that her mental health is suffering.

“I’ve been struggling a lot, mentally, being here. I have anxiety and I’m really trying to dig myself out of it but I’m having a bit of a tought time,” she replied.

Dakota and Baby lip-sync to “No Way” from Six: The Musical in a phenomenal lipsync. Props to Dakota for making us all think she was pulling a Ginny Lemon and heading for the back door.

Before RuPaul can announce her decision – which fans are insisting should have been a double shantay – Baby makes an announcement: “I’m extremely grateful for being here. But I think I need to go home and take care of myself.”

It’s one of the most touching Drag Race UK moments in recent memory, and topped off perfectly by Baby telling Dakota: “And I did eat you up in that lip-sync, I know.”

Fans have reacted overwhelmingly positively, praising Baby’s decision to look after herself first.

Next week on Drag Race UK, the queens are playing the Snatch Game – and we can’t wait.

It seems though, that prize for winning has been slightly rejigged following prime minister Liz Truss’s resignation. Can it be true?

Drag Race UK airs on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer Thursdays at 9pm.

 

 

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