A few weeks back you may remember (if you’ve read my other Drag Race UK reviews) that I made a wee little prediction/conspiracy theory. I said that Cheryl Hole (despite being in the bottom for virtually every episode) is being saved until Cheryl Cole came in as a guest judge. There I said she would either lipsync in front of her hero and win – giving her validation or go home in front of her hero which would create a dramatic TV moment. Well, it turns out I was correct. She won the lipsync and got that moment from her idol. If you’ll pardon the pun, this episode is going to be ‘thirsty werk’.
ANYWAY… prediction rant over, let’s talk about the episode. It started casual enough, the queens walked in, saw the lipstick message and had a wee chat about the results. Crystal left a humourous little message on the wall for the queens this week where she called them all witches. But that isn’t where the drama began… The Vivienne told the other girls that she thought Baga was her biggest competition and that certainly got Divina triggered.
The first confrontation of Drag Race UK
It seemed that The Vivienne’s comments really rubbed Divina up the wrong way. In fact, Divina feels like she keeps being underestimated by the competition (specifically The Vivienne). It seems odd because Divina is doing great in the competition but Viv doesn’t see her as much of a threat.
Divina remained visibly upset by The Vivienne and decided to call her out on it again in the werkroom. She confronted in Blu and Cheryl who thought it was odd as they both see Divina as a strong competitor.
The Vivienne and Divina decided to have a little chat where Viv really twisted the knife by saying she thought Divina was much better as a drag queen after seeing her in person in the competition compared to what she’s seen in the outside world.
That’s when Viv said the fateful phrase that had the gay world shook:
“For the past 10 years, I’ve just seen Divina in a red wig and a silver dress.” – The Vivienne
Christ on a bike! Things certainly took a turn with Divina’s retort; “BULLSHIT VIVIENNE!” I felt bad because I’ve seen Divina live and she puts on an amazing show. Yes, the red wigs are her signature, but she’s so much more than a look. Not only that but in the competition, I think she’s mixed it up a fair bit…
But by far, the highlight of this heated exchange was seeing Baga eavesdrop behind a clothing rail while pulling some stellar facial expressions.
The Mini-Challenge
This week’s mini-challenge wasn’t particularly anything skill-based, it was a game of luck. To be honest, it was designed for thirsty gays and perverts to enjoy looking at some attractive men’s bulges.
The challenge was pretty pointless in terms of getting an advantageous boost in the competition. However, I did enjoy Viv taking on the mini-challenge as Kim Woodburn. Other than that, it was odd. But hey, we’re not mad about looking at some guys’ weiners. A No.1 was a bit of snack, am I right?
Every man, woman and me watching this mini-challenge:
HOWEVER, as the lucky guesser in the challenge, Divina scored the most points and bagged herself a Skype call with Drag Race allum, Katya! I’ve gotta be honest, I would have loved to have gotten this prize.
The Maxi Challenge – Thirsty Werk
This week the queens worked on creating their own advert for their own brand of bottled water. I always enjoy the advertising challenges and we’ve seen some great ones over the years… need I remind you of Jinkx’s legendary advert?
The queens got to work and immediately Cheryl started doubting herself. I can’t really blame her, she’s either been in the bottom or safe throughout this whole competition – she needs to start upping her game to compete with the other queens.
Thankfully Blu was there to offer a helping hand and make her feel better. I quite like seeing Blu and Cheryl’s relationship blossom, they seem to have become firm friends in the competition. And that makes Cheryl a happy queen again.
Planning is Thirsty Werk
Back to the challenge, Cheryl decided to come up with a totally original idea of being the ‘Dancing Diva of Essex’… again. 🙄 I get that you love your hometown and what not, but you don’t want to become a one-note performer.
Blu also was having a bit of a dilemma. She wanted to go for another rude character after the success of her Mary Berry challenge – I’m not too mad about that. But Ru felt she shouldn’t become a cliche ‘rude’ queen just because it worked for her once before.
Baga also felt confident in an idea that Ru shat all over. Baga wanted to do a reverse-rejuvination style bottle that makes you older and uglier when you drink it – the idea could have been funny, but I didn’t get it either.
Ru stated that she missed a trick by not making her water be inspired by a “Baga Chipz’. Normally I hate when Ru interjects with a queen’s good ideas but actually I’m glad she changed it this time.
Divina and Vivienne seemed to have pretty cohesive storylines and Ru was happy to let them just get on with it without any bother. However, Ru did come back in to stir the pot and ask Divina about her beef with Viv.
Divina called out that she was just ‘a red wig and a sequin dress’ in some people’s eyes. Viv wasn’t happy because she said she actually said “silver” and not sequin. My my, she’s coming across as quite the Rude Jude this episode.
Time for the Thirsty Werk Adverts
The queens would be creating their adverts in front of green screens under the guidance of Graham Norton. I love Graham and I know he has a great sense of humour and a keen eye for detail so he’s the perfect person to help the girls create their ads.
Blu Hydrangea – Blu Hydration
First up was Blu and although she chose to tone it down – the filth started to come back strong. Who doesn’t want to see a girl pretend to wank off a plastic bottle?!
I thought her creation was kind of funny, However, ‘Blu Hydration‘ is one of the most brilliant names and I have to give her huge props for that alone.
Her ‘glow-up’ moment wasn’t too different but I did like the choice of blue wigs for her bottled water ad. Combined with her name and the name of her bottle, she had a really strong brand identity so well done for that.
I really wanted to give Blu a hug during this challenge. You could tell she was nervous and when other queens started doing their adverts we saw her say to Cheryl how shit she thought she’d done in comparison.
Cheryl Hole – Cheryl Hole’s Dancing Diva Drink
I didn’t love her advert, I didn’t hate her advert, it was just a bit obvious for me. I’ve got to give Cheryl some credit for her positive attitude this week, she seems to be having a laugh more and more (most likely because she knows she’s got a slim chance of winning the whole show so she’s just here for a good time now).
She had some comical moments in her advert and it was very Alyssa Edwards with the dance moves and what not. But the finger had me howling!
Graham was pissing himself, I was howling and the bar I watched the episode in was in floods – this got me so good, bravo Cheryl you secret comedy genius!
The Vivienne – Drippin’
Straight in, straight out, no bother. Viv knew her concept and could visualise exactly what she wanted to do before coming into film – smart move.
She was playing an OTT cliche Liverpudlian washer-woman who yearns for some release. The accent, the rollers in her hair and the casual toss of the baby was brilliant.
Viv’s turn from frumpy housewife to Desperate Scousewife was a great twist. She went for a classic Scouse trope of wanting to be glam whenever and wherever possible. I think she did a great job and her competitors knew it.
Divina De Campo – D.D.Sea
Maybe it was just a way to create drama in the edit but the show made Divina looked crazy and dull here. I thought it was quite easy to follow what was happening in her commercial.
She kept getting a shady ‘what the hell is she doing?!’ sort of edit. We saw Graham looking confused a few times but I thought she was just getting shit done quickly and efficiently.
It did make me laugh that the show tried to give very little context to Divina’s advert which was in itself – thirsty werk.
At some points the show even edited clips of the queens with blank faces or even yawning to get the point across that Divina is ‘in a world we don’t quite understand’.
The Vivienne continued to throw shade in Divina’s direction which made them both look a little crazy this week.
Baga Chipz – Baga Chipz’s Chippy Tea
Last but no least, we had Baga Chipz. As you can imagine, Baga’s advert was nonsensical and crude and I love her for it!
It was pretty strange. Baga had puns, rude jokes and a whole lot of fish-shop humour. Either way, it had the girls in stitches.
But by far the highlight was watching Baga slide battered sausages down her throat like an O.G. Cock Destroyer.
So all the queens have filmed, let’s see how it all turns out! But first, Divina has to claim her prize.
Divina and Katya have a gossip
For winning the mini-challenge, Divina was promised a Skype call with the legend that is Katya.
Within about 4 seconds of speaking to Katya, the call ended and Divina looked a bit puzzled about what was happening. Little did she know this was part of the plan.
Katya was secretly behind the scenes in the studio waiting to give Divina a real surprise in person. I was so happy the show chose to do this and what a perfect pair these two were!
Now, these two have actually worked together before, Divina performed at Katya’s birthday party in America a while back. These two queens were so well suited and they had a chance to talk about the competition, tears and everything else you’d want to discuss.
This was a great gift and having that outside voice certainly seemed to help Divina get her head back in the game.
But there’s more
We also had a really touching moment where Cheryl started talking about partying too hard because of the drag life style. This opened the door for The Vivienne to talk about her past and how she’s dealt with addiction.
Viv opened up about her past with drink and drugs and how she lost friends to it but it didn’t stop her. Thankfully she found the light and she’s now sober as she doesn’t want to see herself go back to a dark place where she would be wasting her life away. But enough about that, it’s time of the runway!
I quite liked Ru’s look this week. She reminded me of the finest brothel-worker in the business. I do think her makeup was quite ‘small’ if that makes sense. It just didn’t look as big and drag like as usual but she did still look nice. The wig is lush too. Also, Cheryl looked really cool and youthful this week and I loved her attire – well done Chezza.
Category is: Rainy Day Eleganza
The queens had to don their best rainy day attire and I think they all did a pretty good job.
Divina De Campo – Toot
I really liked this. Divina looked super camp and fun, very ‘Singing in the Rain‘ and I wasn’t mad about it for one minute. The corset over the raincoat was a fun idea too to give her look a modern twist, well done.
Cheryl Hole – Toot
Cheryl looked great this week. I loved the metallic silver jacket, corset and boots combo. I’ve got to say though, I hate that the pants don’t match the material of everything else. Yes, she said it was originally supposed to have a longer skirt but that should have been prepped and fixed before going on the show. I do love the outfit still but the pants are a big distraction. Also, her hair and makeup look lush on her.
Baga Chipz – Boot
I do love Baga and this outfit makes me laugh but let’s be honest, it’s a bit of a mess. The jumpsuit itself I don’t dislike, the sequinned coat over the top isn’t too tragic, she shoes are pretty bog standard. The headpiece does make me laugh, that’s pretty darn Baga if you ask me. I’m not crazy about the hair and makeup but I don’t hate it. It was just weak compared to the others.
The Vivienne – Toot
I love this outfit, the cloudy rain hat was effective, the wet-look wig and blue makeup were divine and the puffy dark grey dress was spectacular. I wish the dress looked a little bit more ‘wet’ but overall I think she did a great job.
Blu Hydrangea – Toot
Blu, you look lush. The colours were great, the outfit was really modern and contemporary. The dripping makeup was such a fun detail too. I wish one of her eyebrows dripped like the eye and the lip did just to complete the face. To quote another famous Irishman, “you look like a popstar”.
Time to watch the Thirsty Werk Ads
Divina De Campo
It wasn’t the funniest advert in the world, but she had a strong concept and she threw in a lot of fun infomercial gimmicks into the mix.
It was cheesy, it was camp, it was about mermaids and pollution – bonus points for a political message. I don’t think it was a winning performance but it was a good performance. Well done my dear.
Cheryl Hole
I wasn’t mad keen on Cheryl’s. She didn’t do a bad job necessarily, it just wasn’t funny. It reminded me a lot of Alyssa Edwards’ energy drink advert she did on All Stars 2.
The little finger bit still made me laugh because it was so wobbly and that just made it even funnier.
Baga Chipz
It was just as mental as you can imagine. The advert was pretty much what we saw in the rehearsal with Graham. It was trashy and I live for it.
I did it find it funny, but I thought it would be funnier to be honest. Maybe I’m just holding Baga to too high of a comedy standard.
The advert was a funny concept but it felt a bit improvised and I think that potentially cost her the top spot for this week.
The Vivienne
This is how you come prepared for a challenge. The Vivienne came in with a concept, with a visual and with a character and knocked it out of the park.
Her turn from mucky old housewife to Desperate Scousewife was a brilliant touch and it sold her water perfectly.
Blu Hydrangea
Blu had some good advertising cliches with the black and white fading into colour and the ‘new me’ reveal.
However, I think her advert was a bit thin which was a shame because she had the best branding in my eyes.
I wish she just had a bit more content to her advert, it felt a bit too plain in comparison to the other queens.
The Verdict
The Vivienne won this week’s challenge and I wasn’t surprised. Divina was safe leaving the other girls in the bottom three. Baga managed to escape the lipsync once more which left Blu and Cheryl in the bottom.
The queens lip-synced to a Cheryl Cole song – obviously. I said it would be a fix, didn’t I? But that doesn’t bother me too much, it was the fact they chose a remix of the song to give Cheryl more opportunity to dance which got me. In the end, we said goodbye to the lovely Blu which was sad. But boy did she make me laugh on the way out. When Cheryl said she couldn’t wait to see her in Belfast and Blu said “if we book you” that had me gagged!
How has that affected the scores?
Was I right or was I right? Cheryl had her ‘RuDemption’ moment in front of her hero and we sadly said goodbye to the lovely Blu. Either way, it was a fun episode and I’m very intrigued by the next! Also, how juicy was that little moment between Cheryl and Michelle – ooooooh the drama!
Winner: The Vivienne – 5 Points
Top: Divina De Campo – 3 Points
Bottom: Baga Chipz– 0 Points
Lipsyncing: Cheryl Hole – -1 Point
Eliminated: Blu Hydrangea– -3 Points
At the end of the episode, Tom finished with -3 points and I walked away with 7 points also. That drops Tom’s total to 23 points and I’ve now stormed ahead with 33 points.
