Last week’s episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/10/22/ru-pauls-drag-race-uk-06-x-04-production-review/) saw the queens yet again be grouped together to perform the first ever drag race Halloween-inspired girl group challenge where conveniently the ongoing rivalry of Marmalade and Channel were yet again paired and had to overcome their differences. So far this season we have seen a plethora of group challenges (spoiler alert this week is yet another one) but this challenge in particularly allowed two queens, namely Kiki Snatch and Rilessa Slaves who have been somewhat overlooked so far this season, to really show what they do best with the later winning the entire episode. I personally have been thinking about this a lot and I do think that Kiki should have been given more praise for leading the choreography but equally Rilessa did have a much more impressive runway presentation. On the other end of the competition however it was Zahariah and Lill who had to lipsync to see who would be going home and, despite showcasing their incredible dance-based talents, it was Zahariah who was told to sashay away!
There is a common critique of Drag Race UK that head judge Ru Paul does not understand British culture but in this episode in particular the team made sure to pay homage to iconic British pop culture. The entire episode served as a sort of tribute to the Graham Norton show with the mini challenge with the queens sitting on a chair and sharing their best jokes where if they were not making Ru laugh the chair would tip over ( just like the red car skit Graham does on his show), the guest judge Clair from steps (who we recently saw at Brighton Pride which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/08/10/brighton-pride-day-two-experience-review/) who talked about appearing on the show alongside fellow judge Michelle Visage and an interview-based maxi challenge but more on that later. It is no secret that I really enjoy when every section of the episode are connected as this makes the episode more enjoyable to watch and it is clear the team working on this episode did exactly that. I do have to say however towards the later part of the episode we saw an on-screen graphic announcing the Graham Norton style challenge however his name was missing capital letters which, as an English teacher myself, is a massive mistake! Before the queens could bust out their best jokes however we saw the return of Drag Race US icon and Ru Paul’s personal makeup artist Raven who helped to introduce and facilitate the challenge. This was obviously an unusual format for delivering their best jokes due to being sat in an unusual chair with the potential threat of being tipped over (in fact at one point Rilessa was not even pushed over Ru Paul came over to deliver one of her iconic slaps) and for some unknown reason, lots of the queens decided to focus of the cheesiest cheese based jokes. Kyran Thrax decided to go in a totally different direction with the world-famous “a horse walks into a bar and the barman asks why the long face” only to add an unexpected twist on the joke adding an extra punchline of the horse’s alcoholism ruining their family. It was then the turn of our fellow Jolene’s drag race judge (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/08/13/jolenes-drag-race-week-three/) alum Marmalade who shared an interesting joke about the difference between an old bus stop and a crab with boob implants. The most surprising thing about this performance however was the fact that Marmalade herself clearly found it a lot more funny than the other queens in this competition. I always find it very funny when anyone finds their own jokes funnier than the intended audience so I really enjoyed Marmalade just enjoying what she had done. The eventual winner of the mini challenge however was Kiki Snatch who shared a joke about the difference between Qatar and Abi Daubi in terms of enjoying the iconic tv show the flint stones.
As the winner of the mini-challenge, Kiki is given the reward of being able to decide how the queens are grouped together for the maxi challenge this week. Interestingly, she decided to put herself with the larger group alongside La Voix, Kyran Thrax, Lill and Marmalade. The other group appeared to make a big deal about the fact that Kiki had put herself into a larger group but personally, I don’t really see this as much of an advantage or disadvantage as Graham moderated the discussions so that everyone would have at least one chance to share their stories. Those who have been fortunate to chat with me in real life will be aware that one of my favourite stories to share is the fact that at a very young age, I was interviewed by Britain’s longest-serving breakfast TV host and Scotland’s unofficial grandmother Lorraine Kelly. This was my first sort of experience of the world of showbiz and now that I think about it, it could be a very early influence on why we started our YouTube channel (which you can subscribe to at https://www.youtube.com/@rhysreviews) where we are close to reaching one hundred interviews with creatives from all over the world. Despite all this experience of being both sides of the interview chair, I still don’t think I would be even as natural as the iconic La Voix (who we recently saw at their most recent show in Cardiff which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/04/22/la-voix-red-ambition-production-review/) was in this challenge! From the very moment they sat down on the interviewee sofa, La Voix stole the show with her opening joke “It’s always nice when hanging out with your fans” while gesturing towards her fellow competitors. Throughout the challenge, La Voix was not only cracking their own jokes but also helped others to find the funny moments in their own stories which showed not only how I’m control they were in this format but also how clever they are. One of the more outlandish stories shared in this group was when the Manchester-raised Lill talked about being bitten by a pig (which I didn’t know was actually possible) which led to a plethora of health issues and even stigmata which was equal parts hilarious and equal parts crazy! It was then the turn of our Welsh sister Marmalade who cleverly tied their story to Lill’s wild tale but talking about religion which led to a series of hilarious jokes including saying she is a lot like Jesus as a lot of her friends are prostitutes and she’s never met her real father either which was brilliant.
The smaller group of the two contained Actavia, Charra Tee, Chanel O’Connor and Rilessa Slaves. This performance began with the host Graham Norton talking about drinking culture which is obviously important for everyone but especially those who work in the nightclub sector and in particular performers. Actavia took on this question as she told the story of drinking too much, missing her last train home, and losing her suitcase and phone which is something that I personally have also done so I found this story extremely relatable. I do have to say that despite how relatable this story it was clear that towards the end of the story, Actavia started rambling and Vida my stumbled over some of their words which is obviously not the best as the queens are being judged on their ability to keep the audience focussed. The focus then turned to Chanel who shared a story of going home with a guy only to discover that the guy was an extremely obsessive science fiction fan with a collection of alien figurines and pictures of Sigourney Weaver which would have been a red flag but Chanel still got exactly what she wanted that night. Charra also shared a story with Graham as she talked about being booked for an event where she was advertised as a dancing diva which she cleverly talked about how if the viewers saw last week’s episode of Drag Race would know that, she absolutely is not! This led to a message of always reading the fine print as no refunds were available for this show!
The runway category for this week’s episode was “How’s your headpiece” which is something I would love to have taken part in. I have wanted to do a look paying homage to the greatest sweets to ever exist the blue and pink sour cola bottles and I think I would have used this theme to do with that! Marmalade instantly wowed both the audience and judges the very first moment she stepped onto the stage in a gorgeous silver outfit with the most fabulous sparkly fringe details. She had created a dramatic, pointy headpiece that helped to create a sense of futuristic element to the look which also looked amazing.
I have to say that Lill’s Life and Death runway presentation was my favourite look she had showcased this entire season! She wore the most gal outputs velvet dress with gold centipedes scattered across her body which was very on brand for her but also looked fantastic on her. To hit the category Lill showcased this unique gold, heart-shaped headpiece which helped to showcase her incredible makeup skills wonderfully! Having seen La Voix perform live on two separate occasions, I have seen them showcase a collection of classically glamorous looks and dress section of this look was much more of that style of drag but with a vibrant, colourful, carnival-inspired twist. It was the headpiece of this look however that was a highlight for me (which obviously is the intention of this runway category) with this immense feather headpiece was absolutely stunning!
It has been clear throughout this season that Kyran Thrax has a very unique perspective on drag as every week they opted to go in a completely different direction to the other queens and yet always look absolutely amazing. Going for a much more alien/futuristic style presentation, Kyran showcased a unique skin-toned catsuit that had 3D recreations of her face scattered all over which was totally different to everything else we saw on this runway.
My favourite look in this episode however came from the Irish-raised Charra Tea who channeled a broken gumball machine in a head-to-toe red latex outfit. The headpiece was also the highlight of this look as Charra showcased a broken glass sphere with the cracks creating a natural frame for her face which was brilliant. Not only did this outfit look amazing but it also touched into a confessional quote in the first season where she talked about how art attack was such a big inspiration for her persona and this look clearly demonstrated that! I think it made total sense when it was announced that La Voix was the overall winner of this episode as she seemed totally unfazed in the interview challenge and her runway was absolutely stunning! On the other end of the conception however, it was announced that Acatavia and Kiki would be at the bottom this week and so instantly the audience knew they were in for an incredible performance as they are both incredible dancers. This is why I thought it was a very convenient twist when it was revealed the bottom two lip-sync song would be “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie with both queens giving a very high-energy performance with Actavia pulling out a reveal and Kiki busting out her death drop. This was one of my favourite lip-sync battles this season with the two performers doing everything they could to stay in the competition and I think it came down to track record rather than just the lip-sync performance. It was announced that Actavia would be staying in the competition which sadly means that Kiki had to sashay away!
Overall, this was a rather unique episode with a challenge we have never really seen before. While I understand the real-world application of this challenge with the queens almost guaranteed to do a series of interviews after the show but I do think it was difficult for the queens to stand out in yet another grouped challenge. The runway category was really enjoyable and is something that I personally would enjoy taking part in with a very competitive bottom-two lip sync. I would rate this episode 4 out of 5 stars!
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