RuPaul’s Drag Race UK 'Rucap': Episodes 1 and 2

Jake Yates-Hart 6 October 2021

Image courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

Oh, wow! Lawrence Chaney hasn’t even completed a full year as the reigning UK Drag Race queen, and the beloved competition show is already back for series three.

On 23 September, 12 more queens entered the ‘werk room’, ready to make Drag Race herstory with iconic looks and hilarious one-liners (‘I am topping from here on out, and I haven’t said that in a long time,’ one queen announced).

This series’ roster includes Kitty Scott-Claus; River Medway; Scarlett Harlett; Vanity Milan; Ella Vaday; Choriza May; Victoria Scone; Elektra Fence; Anubis; Krystal Versace; Charity Kase; and series two contestant, Veronica Green.

With two episodes come and gone, it’s time to dive deep into some of the highlights (and lowlights) so far in series three. Beware of spoilers!

Veronica Green returns

Images courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

The first queen we see enter the werk room is Veronica Green, in a Wicked Witch-inspired look.

Originally on series two, the Lancashire queen unfortunately had to withdraw from the competition after testing positive for COVID. Now, she’s back with a vengeance, and it’s exciting to see what she has in store for us this time.

Though staying safe in the premiere, episode two finds Veronica stepping up her game and landing in the top. She managed to maintain an energetic dance performance in the maxi challenge and dazzled the judges on the runway in a tulle gown ready for the red carpet.

If she keeps this energy up, Veronica could very well make it to the end of the competition this time.

River Medway is the meme queen of the series

Images courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

Excitingly, two of Kent’s very own queens walk the runway this series! In the same vein as Tia Kofi’s ‘baroness basic’ status, River Medway has been labelled as the ‘bargain bin queen’ by one of the other contestants.

This is in large part due to her mixed runway reaction in episode one which earned her a low placement, but River could very well prove the other queens wrong.

Still, she had everyone in hysterics with her hilarious interpretation of the Thomas Waghorn statue, complete with a wig styled to look like a traffic cone. As Matt Lucas quipped on the judges panel, she looked, ‘absolutely terr-afic!’

Since her Waghorn moment, which had RuPaul (and us) howling, she’s won the hearts of fans everywhere with her charisma.

Krystal Versace is the front runner

Images courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

Another Kent queen, from Tunbridge Wells, Krystal Versace is the queen to beat this series, earning two wins already, and consistently wowing the judges on the runway.

So far, we’ve seen an ivy-covered leotard inspired by the Garden of England, a gorgeous leopard-print co-ord with glittering black accents and cat ears; and most recently, an emerald green gown that showed off her ‘sex on legs’.

In this week’s mini challenge, RuPaul tasks Krystal with an ‘all tea, no shade’ assessment of the other contestants, which prompted her to poke fun at Victoria Scone’s weight, as she labels her the ‘biggest’ competition.

This sparks an important conversation later, when the two queens discuss their own body image issues. Krystal spoke about how her femininity and slim frame, something that made her insecure, has become an asset in her drag.

Victoria Scone: an instant Drag Race legend

Images courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

As soon as Victoria entered the werk room, with the line, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman Scone,’ it was over. An instant fan favourite. Give her the crown already, Ru!

On a serious note, Victoria is breaking ground as the first ever AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) drag queen in any iteration of the franchise. Not only that, but she’s a top contender to win. She’s campy, hilarious, and her runways are incredible.

The Cardiff queen has already served two distinct looks on the runway that cemented her status in the competition. One of them includes a jaw dropping China pattern body suit with oversized foam finger sandwiches, inspired by her love for afternoon tea.

During the aforementioned conversation with Krystal, this week Victoria opened up about her history with eating disorders in a powerful confessional. Although her dance background affected her self-esteem, Victoria began carving a career path for herself that eventually led her to drag, in which no one told her what she had to look like.

Week two’s maxi challenge: choreography… on stationary bikes?

Video courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

Drag Race is one of the weirdest shows out there - and I mean that in the best way. Each maxi challenge is always a twist or play on something in the real world. But this one sure is, uh, something!

For this week’s main challenge, the queens had to perform in a high energy fitness routine, Dragoton. Strictly Come Dancing legend, Oti Mabuse, choreographed the girls this week. The only problem is the choreography didn’t fit the challenge.

Queens were sweating it out on stationary bikes and jumping on (exercise) balls, but the intermittent dance routines throughout did not fit with the challenge’s sporty theme at all.

The judges seemed to be looking more for personality this week. But considering the queens had to deliver a multitude of unfunny sex jokes, while performing both an exercise and dance routine, it was simply too much and left the overall performances feeling unsatisfactory.

The queens remain at the core of the series

Images courtesy of BBC Three and World of Wonder

DRUK series three had an excellent premiere, but a shaky second episode. In both instances, the cast were truly what made each minute watching so enjoyable.

The queens get on like a house on fire for the most part, and if conflict arises, it is quickly extinguished, and seem more well rounded from the experience. This can’t always be said for the US version, which sometimes drags out the drama to an insanely boring degree.

DRUK was filmed during unprecedented times. The pandemic is still very prevalent, affecting our relationships in such drastic ways, and so I much prefer to watch this queer community - a community made up of people often maligned in the real world - able to enjoy each other’s company rather than constantly shading one another. There’s plenty of time for that later.

What these first two episodes has made me excited for, however, is seeing the queens develop as artists and as people; their amazing (or amazingly bad) runways; and the iconic quotes and memes that are sure to sprout from the show in the coming weeks.

Stream new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK on BBC iPlayer, Thursdays at 7pm.