The Week in Drag – Drag Race UK crowns a champion, Pandora Boxx’s Star Trek obsession, when Symone met Shea and lots more

13 Min Read
Lawrence Chaney

Hello, hello, hello and welcome to our latest wrap-up of the latest news from the world of drag! In the latest the Week in Drag, we look back at the family makeover challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race with ru-views from some of your favorite Drag Race alumni.

We’ve also got a new champion on Drag Race UK and we look back on how we got to the fierce final four. Of course, we’ve got updates and videos from our multi-talented queens as well as music and lots of laughs. Let’s bring it to the runway!

On the tenth episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the queens made each other over in their image and delivered some amazing looks during their ‘’Freaky Friday” transformations. Utica got her first challenge win of the season, serving BAPS realness and transforming her partner, Symone, into her drag doppelgänger. Sadly, our ice princess, Denali, had to sashay away. Here’s what our ru-capping queens had to say about the episode (and check out our recap too.)  

Trixie Mattel and season 12’s French delight Nicky Doll discuss the challenge on the latest episode of “The Pit Stop.”

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Season 2 and All-Star season 2’s Tatianna makes choices as she discusses the episode on “Extra Lap Recap” and all we have to say is “thank you.”

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The queens made their own fashions work on their sisters – some better than others – and who better to “toot” and “boot” the looks than Raja and Raven? The pair give us their take on the challenge on “Fashion Photo Ruview.”

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The beautiful Yuhua Hamasaki and the stunning Shuga Cain give us their “Bootleg Opinions” on the runway looks.

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Season 12 sensation Jan shares a message of hope and positivity with the sixth eliminated queen on “Losing is the New Winning.”

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As soon as she strutted into the werk room on ice skates, we knew Denali would be a force to be reckoned with on the show. Sadly, her transformation of Olivia Lux failed to impress the judges and she had to sashay away. She talks about her experience on the show with Michelle Visage on “What’cha Packin’?”

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Denali’s “Medusa meets Britney Spears’ VMA python” look from the Fascinating Fascinators runway in this tutorial. 

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If Denali got to ice skate for her life, she surely would have stayed to slay another day on the show. Watch as she showcases her skill on the ice (and her beauty) as she performs a dazzling routine to “Shackles (Praise You)” by Mary Mary.

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Rosé’s Snatch Game impersonation of Mary, Queen of Scots is the gift that keeps on giving, and here, Mary continues her quest for modern day fame by performing a stand-up comedy set.

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Season 13 standout Symone talks about the makeover challenge, takes us behind the scenes on a photo shoot with she and Shea Couleé giving us a double dose of BAPS fabulousness and chats with the “ivory enchantress,” Utica.

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Last week on Drag Race UK, the remaining four queens roasted each other with the delightful puppet challenge, because everyone loves puppets! Bimini Bon Boulash triumphed in the season’s last mini-challenge and then the dolls flexed their acting muscles as they brought the characters of “Beastenders” to life and strutted the runway in looks paying tribute to the pantomime dames. Tayce and Ellie Diamond lip-synced for their lives and, in a surprise move, Ru kept both queens and we had a top 4 competing in this week’s finale. (Congratulations to our winner, Scotland’s own Lawrence Chaney!)

Bob the Drag Queen and Shuga Cain recap the challenge and critique the runway looks on “Purse First Impressions.”

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Jackie Cox looks at the highs and lows of the “Beastenders” challenge on “Extra Lap Recap.”

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Raja and The Vivienne give us a little history on panto dames and rate the looks on “Fashion Photo Ruview.”

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Yuhua Hamasaki and Drag Race Holland champion Envy Peru give us their thoughts on the out there fashions on “Bootleg Opinions.”

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The top four UK queens – Ellie Diamond, Tayce, Bimini Bom Boulash and Lawrence Chaney – talk to British Vogue and showcase their dream cover girl looks.

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Lawrence Chaney shows us how she created her panto dame look in this Get Ready with Me video.

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Lawrence and fellow Scottish queen Ellie Diamond talk about their post-comedy show falling out and reflect on their time on the show on “Drag Race Yearbook”.

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Tayce and Bimini Bom Boulash talk about the series’ most iconic moments, the lip sync for your life songs and dole out the superlatives to their fellow queens.

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Rock M. Sakura is back with another video where she follows a fellow queen’s makeup tutorial. This time around, she serves up Gottmik’s signature white-faced look.

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Pandora Boxx is not only an entertaining (and hilarious) queen, she’s also a great writer and a huge fan of Star Trek. She wrote an enlightening article about how important the show has been to her. She recalled, “Late one night (I’ve always been a bit of a night owl) I discovered a show called Star Trek. I was entranced by not only traveling through space but that the people were all different but a cohesive crew. I mean aside from Dr. McCoy’s repeated rants about Spock’s “green blood,” the Enterprise crew didn’t seem to care who was different. Even though there were no queer characters (at least out), I felt that this was something I could relate to so much.” Take a moment and read the whole piece on the Star Trek website.

The assertively entertaining Heidi N Closet discusses confidence on the latest episode of “Gap Chat.”

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Aja is the latest guest in the hot seat for an in-depth interview with Joseph Shepherd on the latest “Exposed.” They talk about why they walked away from drag and their latest projects, including some amazing music.

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If you need more drag content in your life, World of Wonder has got you covered. This week, they announced a new reality competition series coming to their streaming platform WOW Presents Plus titled Painted with Raven. As its name suggests, the series will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race legend and Emmy-Award-winning makeup artist Raven, who sets out to find the next makeup superstar from a glittering group of artists across America. MUAs from across the country will compete – remotely, from the comfort of their own homes – in a series of fierce challenges and weekly face-offs that will snatch wigs and inspire makeup enthusiasts everywhere. The artist that emerges on top at the end of the season will be crowned the winner and receive a cash prize of $25,000.

“Makeup is something I’ve always been very passionate about,” says Raven. “It is what’s ultimately started me on my drag career. I’m so happy to be hosting something I absolutely love to celebrate…a reality competition about FIERCE MAKEUP!” The show is currently casting and will debut on WOW Presents Plus later this year. Interested contestants can apply online at worldofwonder.com/makeupcasting

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Trixie Mattel, in an effort to ensure my wallet remains empty, has launched a new makeup collection. Her new, 80s themed Back to the Fuchsia collection features lip color, glitter and a beautiful violet hued blush palette.

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If you’ve always wanted to compete on Drag Race, you can showcase your charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent from your phone. East Side Games and World of Wonder have teamed up for “RuPaul’s Drag Race – The Mobile Game”, coming to iOS and Android later this year.  

The free-to-win mobile game will take players inside iconic moments from the series, making them a part of the show – including designing in the Werk Room, runway challenges, RuMail and pep talks from Mama Ru. Fan-favorite queens will also make limited-time appearances, with a special chance for players to kiki with them all. Be the first to know about the new game by signing up at http://www.dragracethegame.com/.

Play along with Willam as she puts the “Beatdown” on some internet movie hunters who find a classic Willam film, a Lady Gaga concertgoer with crazy shoes, a terrifying shark video and a Frock Destroyer who gets blown away on stage.

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It’s like the drag version of the Universal Studios Tour! Willam takes us on a tour of her studio – from her wigs to her shoes and everything in between.

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I do love a good Willam unboxing video and this one is no exception. Watch as she opens packages from elf, Kate Sommerville skin care and the Boulet Bothers and gives us a peek at some naughty adult toys.

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Our wig wizadress Jaymes Mansfield has a pair of treats for us this week. First off, she creates a fantastic puppet version of Cristina La Veneno from the HBO Max series that is at the top of my viewing queue.

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This Jaymes wig makeover is the one that I want. Watch as the turns the most tragic costume store Sandy from Grease wig into a creation worthy of being on goddess Olivia Newton John’s head.

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Jonny McGovern and Lady Red Couture are back to make us all feel a little less educated on our drag her-story as two more super fans test their knowledge on the latest episode of “Drag Fan.”

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The radiant Violet Chachki pays tribute to Gwen Verdon and gives us a sexy, sizzling video of her take on a Damn Yankees classic with “Whatever Violet Wants.”    

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And that’s all for this week. I leave you. With this de-lovely video from Dink and Deedle (a/k/a Jinkx Monsoon and Michael Abbott), performing “Here’s To Love” from the film “Down with Love”. Until we meet again, stay safe, stay healthy, wear a mask and say LOVE!

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