Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every weekend, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 4 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. With so many RuPeter Badges flying around, win records matter less, while narrative matters more than ever.
10. Copper Topp (last week: 8)—ELIMINATED
The writing was on the wall the second Copper was voted as the queen who fades most into the background. She tried her best to argue against that perception, but the other queens didn’t back down when questioned. And then, in a challenge that’s supposed to be about two partners both shining, she was decidedly overshadowed by Cheddar Gorgeous. No arguing against this elimination, although I do think she was slightly screwed by Ru suddenly deciding not to judge in teams.
9. Jonbers Blonde (last week: 10)
If Ru had stuck to teams, there’s no doubt that Jonbers would’ve gone home, which is why I have her below her partner. We saw her lip syncing style last week, and I think she would have fared even worse against Black Peppa. Moreover, while I agree her look wasn’t as bad as Peppa’s, I do think not knowing how to style herself was a big mistake. Anyone could have seen that her garment called for darker hair. I’m just not very impressed with Jonbers’s output so far in the competition, and of the two queens without badges, I think she’s the more likely to go home at this stage.
8. Black Peppa (last week: 5)
Yes, she fell into the bottom two, but the lip sync she pulled out quickly shook off any stench of failure. Peppa, as her fellow queens noted, just has such star quality, and it comes through in everything she does: her runway banter, her lip syncs and so on. I had no doubt that she would win against Copper before the performance even began, and she made sure there would be no doubts when it ended, either. A tough week for Peppa that somehow turned into a good one once again.
7. Pixie Polite (last week: 7)
Crucially for Pixie, she got time this week to open up about her breakup with Tia Kofi, which gave her some much-needed spotlight in an episode not about her. I try to look for those kinds of moments, because it’s almost always a sign that the editors are investing in a queen. Think about how many episodes Symone was ultimately safe in where she still got major showcase pieces in the workroom. I’m not sure Pixie is anywhere near that level, and I do have doubts about her actual output in the challenges. But I do think she’s going to be with us for a while.
6. Danny Beard (last week: 6)
Like Pixie, Danny is getting story focus in the episodes she’s not a winner in, which is tremendously important. Unlike Pixie, that’s actually drawing some backlash from the other queens, as they voted her the scene-stealer. This isn’t All Stars, so it’s not like the queens can do much about it. My guess instead is that Ru eventually says something similar to Danny that he did to Tia once upon a time: shining in the smaller moments is great, but you need to bring that to the challenges. And as I said in the recap, I do think Danny will deliver when that time comes.
5. Sminty Drop (last week: 9)
Hard to know exactly where to put Sminty here. Theoretically, she just missed out on the win, but it does seem like it was her error in not hiding her panty line that cost them that victory. Moreover, her edit in this episode made her out to be a flighty, panicky mess, while Le Fil was the calming presence next to her. Sminty’s track record has been pretty good—two HIGHs and a LOW—but she’s yet to really break out. And I do worry about her in an improv challenge, considering she’s not the quickest on her feet. She could be a surprising boot if she doesn’t up her lip syncing skills from the girl groups challenge.
4. Cheddar Gorgeous (last week: 4)
Once again, despite not being the queen in the spotlight this week, Cheddar managed to come out of the episode smelling like a rose. All the praise for her runway look not only made Copper’s look worse, but it also removed any sense that Cheddar was legitimately up for elimination. That’s for good reason, too: Cheddar’s was, well, gorgeous, and showed a real finesse with materials that even some of the top-scoring queens lacked. I’d still have gone with Le Fil if judging were individual, but Cheddar would’ve been right behind him.
3. Le Fil (last week: 1)
Once again, as a Le Fillion, I am here to argue that he should’ve been the winner of the week if he were judged solo. Unlike last week, however, it’s not that I thought Le Fil was the best of the good group—it’s that he did really well under slightly incorrect criteria. He needed to make sure Sminty’s look could match up to his, and the exposed panty was just enough of a mistake to tip the scales. Still, I’m feeling good about Le Fil in this competition. The next test will be if he can do comedy—especially improv. The Naomi Campbell look last week gives me hope, but that’s planned humour—thinking on your feet is much harder.
2. Baby (last week: 3)
That kind of comedy is something I’m also worried Baby will struggle with, to be honest. While she’s proven to be a determined, focused queen, she’s someone who wears her emotions on her sleeve. She couldn’t hide her disappointment at her fellow queens’ performances last week, for instance. I can see her getting easily flustered if things don’t go how she expects. However, if Baby can ace an improv task, I think she’ll be in amazing shape to go far this season. She’s got a win under her belt, she’s shown she’s a strong designer and in the only challenge where she technically scored “LOW,” she got such rave reviews that it was still a triumph. I’m cautiously optimistic about Baby in this race to the crown.
1. Dakota Schiffer (last week: 2)
The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with Dakota. She landed in the bottom straight away, and could’ve easily been our first boot. But she gave a focused, determined lip sync performance, saved herself and then led her team to victory in the girl groups task. Then this week, she used her chance to work with Baby to come out of her shell, and turned out a look that was both cute in its own right and worked perfectly with her partner’s. She’s had at least one shining moment in every episode so far, and she’s proven to be a highly rootable queen. I’m quickly becoming a Dakota stan!
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