Bugger me blind! We’ve clapped for the Bing Bang Bong. We’ve Clapped for the Sing Sang Song. Don’t forget that we clapped for the Ding Dang Dong. And, of course, we clapped for the UK Hun. And by Christ, this was an episode to remember! And yes, this song has become permanently etched into my brain (with 99% of the thanks going to Bimini Bon-Boulash).
This week on our Here To Make It Queer podcast we were joined by the legendary Donna Trump. More details at the bottom of the article.
I must say, I was heartbroken to see Ginny Lemon leave the competition. Would I have liked her to fight? Yes. But I have to say, I was entirely shocked she chose to leave the competition her own way. But she will forever be in my heart.
Lean, Mean, Veronica Green Machine
Well… this episode started pretty intense didn’t it? Veronica was getting quite uppity about not being the worst because she wasn’t in the lip-sync but all the other queens were quick to say that she should have been there instead of Ginny.
I have to say, I did agree with the other queens. Veronica’s outfit did save her in the last episode. I mean, yes, it was spectacular. However, her performance was by far the weakest last episode. Both her and Sister Sister should have been in the bottom.
We also saw Veronica get pretty defensive when A’Whora said she should have been in the bottom. I felt a bit awkward when she said “I won the Rats the Rusical challenge… yes, that was 3 episodes ago. What else is new?
The Global Pandemiqué
Before the queens got into the latest challenge there was an emergency announcement. Drag Race UK Season 2 started before the 1st UK lockdown. Unfortunately, the queens were told to pack up their bags and head home for the unforeseeable future as non-essential television needed to be halted.
The BBC gave us a cheeky little Lockdown Special to show what the queens did on their 7 month hiatus. 7 months?! That’s never been heard of before. It must be hard to leave the show behind and wait patiently to find out if you’ll be continuing on or not.
My thoughts on the post-lockdown continuum
- I think it seems a little bit unfair to the queens who were eliminated when the queens who had the 7 month break had opportunities to upgrade their attire. I think the outfits you brought to the competition should be the outfits you continued to use. Otherwise it makes it look like some queens had a magical glow-up while others who were eliminated early may look like they weren’t at the same standard.
- Don’t get me wrong, jazz up your wigs, practice your makeup, try out new Snatch Game characters. There are a lot of things the queens could be doing to enhance themselves. Normally it’s around 1 month of finding out you’re on the show so imagine having 7 extra months to upgrade your attire – that’s a magical gift. (Although, my furlough was shite – imagine being a freelance performer who may get very little support funds – they’re not going to be spending their pennies on new fabric and rhinestones. But I’ll get back to that point later because I have some thoughts.
- The queens know each other at this point – that is a massive bonus! Let’s be honest, the queens will definitely have been in touch with each other during the lockdown. I’d like to think they were all on Zoom practicing their Snatch Game performances. I mean, Tayce and A’Whora managed to make their wild sex-antics even more manageable as Tayce moved in with A’Whora during the old panny-d!
Meet The Queens – Tier 2
I will give the producers major props for letting the queens re-enter the workroom like they did the very first day. I thought it was a nice way to welcome them all back.
A’Whora came back in some genderfluid attire, Bimini entered like she’d just got off a long-haul flight from Alaska and Sister Sister came back with a whole new face and teeth.
“I absolutely love what they’ve done with this face.” – Sister Sister
The grass isn’t always Veronica-Greener
But it wasn’t all sunshine and smiles as the queens noticed there was one individual left behind, Veronica Green. Unfortunately, Veronica had a positive covid test at the time of filming restarting which meant that she couldn’t return to the competition.
But fear not! RuPaul has given Veronica an invitation to return to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3. But enough about the lockdown drama – let’s get back to the episode.
The Brit Moo
The “Brit Crew” were welcome into the workroom but dressed as furries. Then the heads were whipped off and it was a lovely reunion from the first 3 eliminated queens; Joe Black, Cherry Valentine and Asttina Mandella.
Ru was quick to say that Ginny was not an option to come back to the competition as she chose to walk. Which seemed funny as RuPaul entered the workroom in a yellow Ginny Lemon mullet. Seriously though, what are these wigs?! Has he had a facelift and he’s using them to hide the staples? Most likely.
The Face-To-Face Vote
RuPaul clearly wanted to build on the post-lockdown drama by getting the queens to vote for which eliminated contestant they would like to see return to the competition. Sounds alright. However, they had to reveal their answers one by one in front of the queens who had just pleaded their cases to return.
I felt bad for Cherry, she’s been working as a nurse throughout the pandemic and she didn’t even get a single vote – the devils. Although I was so glad to see Joe Black return after Ru & Michelle did them dirty in the first episode.
The Maxi Challenge – UK Hun?
It’s that time of year again… the girl groups are back! Yes, following the monumental success of Break Up (Bye Bye) with the Season 1 queens, the girls are here to see if they can also break it into the charts. *Spoiler Alert* They did.
As a welcome back present, Joe Black was made a team captain and for winning last week’s challenge, Lawrence Chaney was the other team captain.
UK Hun? The Performances
I’m going to get straight into the performances because the rehearsals weren’t as memorable as last year. Remember Blu shouting “de-spunk my balls!” or Divina’s intense dog whistle vocals? This year we had Bimini turning into Johnny Rotten so that was fun.
Bananadrama: UK Hun?
Okay, so I thought Sister Sister did the best in this group. Her verse was great, she shone through in her solo performance and I think she looked at ease on stage.
I also thought Joe Black did a good job – the verse was camp and fun. However, I wish he hammed up the old lady tagged to a girl group more. I would have had Joe turn up in an actual old lady outfit with a competition winner sash on. I mean, Lulu performed with Take That back in the 90s so these cross overs do happen.
Ellie’s verse was about being young – I wasn’t that excited. Also, Tia had a fun verse and she looked great in the performance. It’s strange because I could tell what she was saying in the actual
United King Dollz – UK Hun?
Lawrence was erm…. a bit of a Roxxxy Andrews in this performance – it wasn’t a good rap by any stretch but it was camp.
A’Whora had some weird sex-doll American voice throughout the entire verse until the last couple of lines where she went “norfurn as ‘ell”.
Tayce surprised me actually, she had a strong verse, looked the part and delivered the lines nicely. She was definitely one of the tops of the challenge this week.
But all I have to say is this: Bimini 👏🏻 Bon 👏🏻 Boulash 👏🏻 because my god she killed it this week. The other queens were also there, but this was Bimini’s show.
Category is: A Day At The Seaside – Toot or Boot
A lovely homage to seaside living. I enjoy it when Drag Race UK do British-themed runways because I think it helps this season stand out from the American pageantry of “best drag” and “glamazon on the runway” categories.
Bimini Bon-Boulash – Toot
Bimini smashed it out of the park. I thought this kinky nod to the Victorian seaside postcards was heavenly. The colour was exquisite, the head cap was gorgeous and the umbrella was a lovely addition without taking away from the costume. Also, her makeup is beautiful (as per). Bimini looks like a little China doll – obsessed with this whole vibe.
Tayce – Boot
Loved the wig, liked the makeup, tolerated the outfit, hated the cut-off ankles and plain stilettos. It was just a bit underwhelming – a netted bodysuit with a. couple of starfish stuck to it doesn’t excite me. Also, I have such a beef with bodysuits that end and just show ankles and then heels – wear boots, hell, even wear flip flops! I also wasn’t crazy about the fact I could see where her tights ended underneath the jumpsuit – and didn’t Michelle call her out for that in the red body suit?
A’Whora – Toot
Loved this. It reminded me a lot of Moschino shows – the trashcan purse I’m sure I’ve seen in one of their collections. The giant wooden chippy fork was great. The sauce on the chips was nice and the newspaper dress reminded me of Moschino’s bouquet look with John Galliano’s newspaper print. If there was one thing I would change it would be removing the ketchup bottle off her head – it wasn’t needed. The sauce dripping was enough but the bottle slightly cheapened the look in my opinion. Overall though, this was beaut.
Lawrence Chaney – Toot
This was a very safe toot because I thought the idea was camp. The dress fit her nicely but it wasn’t the most groundbreaking outfits I’ve ever seen. The life-preserver headpiece was a fun idea and I loved the matching little ones on her shoes. The message on the butt was fun too. Nice but not the most exciting.
Ellie Diamond – Boot
Ellie’s concept was hilarious but the execution left a lot to be desired. I will give her credit for the prosthetic beak but I wish it was bigger to give the seagull more life. Also, seagulls are made of feathers – not fancy dress fur. The webbed heels were a fun idea and so was the bikini. The execution let this look down.
Tia Kofi – Boot
This was… not good. I liked the cherry fascinator. But the ice cream itself made Tia look massive. The cone was also unflattering – it just felt like a fancy dress costume. Her makeup was very pretty so credit for that. But yeah, you could have done so much more with an ice cream as your concept.
Sister Sister – Boot
I actually don’t think this outfit was a bad, just by comparison I preferred A’Whora’s attire. There were elements I liked though. The saucy chips were fun and I love the seagull swooping over her head to snatch a chip. The sauce part of the skirt didn’t do it for me though. It wasn’t a bad outfit by any stretch though – I just had a favourite of the two.
Joe Black – Toot
What a way to make your presence known after already being eliminated! Joe Black smashed this theme and I thought this outfit was genius. Firstly, I loved that Joe made his drag persona work in a theme – it didn’t feel like a random costume, it felt like Joe Black at the seaside caught in a storm and I thoroughly appreciated that. *FUN FACT ALERT* Remember how Ru and Michelle hated Joe’s Hometown look? Well, this was Joe’s original hometown look but production told them that it was “too similar to another theme”. This irks me a bit because they slagged off his other outfit because this was similar to another theme. So living in a seaside town disadvantaged him when they had a seaside theme later in the season. 🙄
Dear RuPaul, UK Hun?
The critiques were going relatively as expected then out of nowhere RuPaul lost his proverbial shit.
Christ on a bike! Ru was pretty bloody angry about Joe wearing a H&M dress. Why? Because they needed a reason to put Joe in the bottom again so they wouldn’t have to get rid of any contestants who were still in the competition. That’s literally the only reason.
The judges said they enjoyed Joe’s verse and they loved his runway presentation. So they really put him in the bottom because of a store-bought dress. That was literally it. Let’s not forget that Ellie has been wearing the same wigs and silhouette all season. She literally came out in a mini skirt and a long-sleeved sweater – I’d hardly call that a fashion moment.
The Results
First of all, Bimini should have got a solo win. When Breakup (Bye Bye) happened, it seemed legit that the Frock Destroyers all won because it was excellent. This performance, however, had Bimini as the clear standout of the group. Lawrence wasn’t great and his lyrics were a bit naff. A’Whora had this weird American sex voice through most of the verse then just randomly turned into a filthy northern dinner lady towards the end and Tayce was alright I guess. But Bimini, oh Bimini – she smashed it.
The Lipsync
It was Joe Black and Tia Kofi in the bottom this week. Honestly, I thought it should have been Tia and Ellie but hey, that’s just the way they judge.
There were jumps, struts, a lot of exaggerated facial expressions and nearly a collision. But it was Tia who was victorious and we had to bid farewell to Joe Black once more.
Here To Make It Queer‘s RuCap Podcast
This week we were joined by the legendary queen, Donna Trump. Honestly, it was so much fun to record this episode and we got a lot of insight from her.
Dear BBC – if you’re reading this article, I implore you to get Donna Trump on Drag Race UK! It is a societal need that I think we can all get behind.
