‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Season 2, Episode 3 recap: Who wore it best?

In theory, a “Who wore it best?” challenge for RuPaul’s Drag Race feels like a natural fit. Pair two competitors, have them design garments made out of the same basic materials and judge whose look is most successful. 

In practise, however, it sucks, because Asttina Mandela is out.

Look, I try not to start at the end in these recaps, because I do like to look at episodes semi-sequentially. (They’re in an order for a reason, after all!) But I just don’t know how we can skip-to-my-Lou through this episode like everything’s fine, when it very much isn’t. The first challenge winner, a terrific dancer with gorgeous looks and a flawless mug, is out third. That kind of turn-around has never happened in a non-All Stars season; the closest comparison we have is Morgan McMichaels (Season 2) and Mayhem Miller (Season 10) going out fifth in their seasons after winning their premieres.

To make matters worse, the other option would have been losing Tia Kofi! Tia, who has been the highlight of the season’s confessionals (or, at minimum, up there with fellow narrating stars Lawrence Chaney and Tayce!). Tia, whose runway banter is top of the class not just in this season, or in Drag Race UK, but across the whole franchise! Losing either Tia or Asttina feels like a nightmare, and yet that’s the choice we face as the two lip sync to Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now.” It’s by far the best lip sync we’ve seen on Drag Race UK so far, giving some hope that maybe, just maybe, Ru will take pity and offer them a double shantay (which means stay). Anything to stop a frontrunner or the season’s narrator from going home this soon.

But no. Asttina is out. And Drag Race UK Season 2 will be worse for not having her around.

The reason I blame the format for this is that it structures the tops and bottoms in such a way that keeps them from being the true best and worst of the week. One queen in each pair “wore it best,” and the other is eligible for elimination. Never mind that Tayce, paired with A’Whora, and Ellie Diamond, paired with Lawrence Chaney, get nothing but raves from the judges despite being on the losing end. Meanwhile, those with lesser garments paired with even worse performers—I’m thinking of both Sister Sister and Veronica Green—skate by, because their partners (Ginny Lemon and Tia, respectively) do worse.

But because Sister and Veronica are safe, and Tayce and Ellie earn the judges’ praise, the only possible lip-syncers are Ginny, Tia and Asttina. Make no mistake: Tia absolutely belongs there, with a cartoonishly mis-styled green garment. This is partially a wound inflicted by her partner, Veronica, who gets first pick of colours and goes with green. Yes, it’s in her name, but as Tia notes, Michelle Visage hates green! Tia doesn’t make things easier for herself by switching her idea halfway through, which sounds clear alarm bells for Veronica. They may be rivals this week, but they’re still friends—best friends, in fact, since that’s Ru’s pairing criteria for the teams —and Veronica wants to see Tia do well.

Veronica’s look isn’t much better. It’s a lined emerald gown that looks a bit limp on the runway. Compared to her excellent Stepford Wife drag last week, this is a major step down. Yet because she’s better than her partner, she skates to safety. I’d probably have put her in the bottom three over Asttina.

Similarly, Sister Sister produces an odd, over-designed pink garment and pairs it with some well-painted but mismatched blue makeup on her face. Yet it’s better than Ginny’s, a pitiful party dress that barely fits her. Here’s where we run into problems: Ginny’s is worse because she uses the challenge to do something sexy and form-fitting, using padding and a breastplate for the first time in her career. This is a big moment for Ginny, who opens up both in the workroom and on the runway about her discomfort with her body and her past struggles to understand her gender identity. She is now proudly non-binary, and tackles Ru’s challenge to go more body-focused in her drag than she usually does.

Unfortunately, the look isn’t great, but Ginny gets points for trying her best. Which I get: I actually appreciate when the judges acknowledge that a contestant rose to the occasion, even if the result misses the mark. (I wish this had happened for other queens pushed out of their comfort zone in the past.) I’m fine with Ginny escaping the bottom two solely based on that. Her outfit is the worst of the week, but at least she really goes for it.

So, in this fantasy world where the judging format doesn’t restrict us, we’re left with a bottom three of Tia, Veronica and either Asttina or Sister. It’s true that Asttina’s is far too simple for a design challenge, and there’s more to Sister’s. But Sister’s look is really busy, and shows a lot of the same issues she demonstrated in her Episode 1 garments. I’d have put her in the bottom back then, and based on a lack of growth, I’d do the same now. Sister’s great in the workroom: She got Cherry to open up last week, and does the same with Ginny this week. She’s an empathetic, open-minded listener, and I appreciate that. But she’s fading into the background, and has delivered on a far lower level than Asttina. If I could keep one of the two for the rest of the season, I’d chose Asttina every time.

Alas, we do not live in this fantasy world. Sister and Veronica are safe, and Ginny is given a get-out-of-lip-syncing-free card for stepping up to Ru’s challenge. Asttina and Tia lip sync, and while the former dances the house down, the latter shows the personality Ru is so fond of. Asttina sashays away, in a massive shock boot.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 is spoiled for choice when it comes to stars. You’ve got Ellie, the young, very modern makeup queen who has thrilled the judges every week. You’ve got A’Whora and Tayce, two big, forthright personalities with the added bonus of some sexual tension. You’ve got Bimini Bon Boulash, who has rebounded out of that week one lip sync to deliver repeatedly since. You’ve got Lawrence Chaney, an absolute star who gets her first win this week, out-designing judge favourite Ellie. And you’ve still got Tia, who can hopefully rally back from this performance and start delivering on the runway.

But you’ve no longer got Asttina, nor do you have Cherry Valentine or Joe Black. Together, the three may make up one of the strongest first-out trios the show has ever seen. I can’t remember the show ever making such tough cuts at the start. In other seasons, I could’ve seen all three of these queens going the distance. But that’s just how good this cast is. Ru’s making tough calls, and while they may be frustrating, the alternate result would often be just as painful. (Imagine if we had lost Bimini, Tayce and Tia so far!)

Next week is going to be a crucial episode in terms of the trajectory of this competition. Whoever goes could be another painful bandage rip, or it could be a genuinely gutting decision. I’m gonna be keeping my fingers crossed for my favourites.

Untucking our final thoughts

✨Up and Down: Speaking of my favourites, I’m very glad Tayce gets a lot of praise this week despite being in the lower group. Lawrence obviously vaults back to the top of the charts off of her win. Tia’s in danger if she can’t get things together on the runway. And I do think the lack of editing focus on Sister Sister bodes ill for her longevity.

✨Just to reiterate, I do believe the lip sync is strong enough to have merited a double shantay—and I very rarely argue for double shantays. I think the only ones I’ve called for in the past several seasons were Brooke Lynn Hytes and Yvie Oddly in Season 11 (“Sorry Not Sorry”) and Priyanka and Kiara in Canada’s Drag Race (“I Drove All Night”). This would be a very early double-save, so I get it—but still. 

✨If you want to understand what I mean when I say Tia has some of the best runway banter in franchise herstory, this is what I’m talking about:
MICHELLE: “So this look, Tia. What do you think I’m gonna say?”
TIA: “I think you’re gonna say ‘it’s stunning and you should’ve been in the top, a sensational garment,’ and in fact you wanna wear it yourself because it’s so well-constructed.”

✨Lots of talk about A’Whora and Tayce’s “chemistry” this week, as Ru gently puts it. Veronica even hints at it in a confessional, saying it’s not surprising they pick each other as partners since they “have paired up… in life.” (With a wink!) Lawrence goes full-bore, telling Ru they have “sexual tension.” Tayce shoots back at Lawrence in her own conversation with Ru: “Lawrence Chaney wouldn’t know sexual if it slapped her across the chops.” That one fully shakes the room! 

✨A’Whora and Veronica really get into it in mini-Untucked, as A’Whora bemoans not winning the fashion challenge, and Veronica holds her feet to the fire for spending more time on Tayce’s look. When it comes time to consider who could be going home, A’Whora says Veronica’s best friend Tia doesn’t deserve to be in the competition. That only infuriates Veronica more. The quiet theatre girl promises at the start of the episode to keep using her voice, and boy does she!

✨I am a sucker for a good name yodel on Drag Race; that’s a little recurring thing Ru says before someone walks the runway. (On Drag Race’s current American season, Utica has “Syracuse. Schenectady. Utica,” a descendent of “London. Paris. Milan” and “LaGuardia. Newark. Kennedy.”) Ru’s for Tia—“The question remains: Tia Kofi?”—is a very good yodel.

✨The limbo mini-challenge is very fun, just silly enough to be super entertaining. Colour me impressed by both Tayce and Veronica that they can get that low! Bodes well for lip syncs, I’d say.

✨Model Jourdan Dunn looks nothing short of stunning on the judging dais, and does a great job as well. She’s honest, sharp and emotional, even crying upon Asttina’s elimination. Same, Jourdan.

✨“As the casting agent, I do own 10 percent of that badge.” Tia wants her cut of Veronica’s win last week!

✨“The cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity and the GUMPTION!” God, I love Tayce.

Every Friday at 4 p.m. EST, join Xtra’s Kiki with Kevin live on Facebook, where he’ll be talking  about RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2. And hold on to your crumpets, because Kevin will be spilling the tea!

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will be available to stream Thursday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and OUTtv in Canada, as well as on BBC Three and the BBC’s iPlayer in the United Kingdom. Additionally, episodes are available the same day on Crave in Canada, and Fridays the week following at 8 p.m. EST on Logo in the U.S. For other countries, check World of Wonder’s streaming guide.