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 this week’s roast challenge victory, we’re as certain as ever about who will be taking home the crown this season.
5. Pixie Polite (last week: 3)—ELIMINATED
I always feel for queens who think, even briefly, that they’ve made the top four, only for the show to yank it away from them. It sucked for Trinity K. Bonet in All Stars 6, and it sucks for Pixie here. Jonbers Blonde and Black Peppa got a free pass out of last week, and the result is that Pixie, who outperformed both in the acting challenge, is finishing behind both of them.
However, based on what happened this week, there’s no denying that Pixie deserved to go home. She herself acknowledged her jokes weren’t going well during her set (though I do think the editing was a bit harsh), her “Westwood-inspired ‘God Save the Queen moment’” runway was underwhelming, and she got defeated soundly in the lip sync. Even without tripping, she was just outmatched by Peppa. I know a lot of fans were eager to see Pixie go, but I’ve appreciated her work in the competition. She was never going to break up our nigh-invincible top two, but she kept it up even as the odds were stacked against her.
4. Black Peppa (last week: 4)
It’s rare to see a queen who has underperformed relative to pre-season expectations the way Peppa has. Aja circa Season 9 comes to mind, but she got a major redemption arc out of her All Stars 3 stint. Maybe such a future lies ahead for Peppa, but in this particular competition, she’s got no win equity heading into the finale. She’s had to lip sync four times, and unlike in cases past where a queen was constantly thrown into the bottom two (Tayce being the most prominent example in UK Season 2), I can’t quibble with Peppa’s placements. More to the point, Peppa herself can’t quibble with them, because almost every time she’s landed in the bottom, she’s come into the challenge expecting to fail.
Where Peppa has succeeded is on the runway, and that can’t be underestimated. Her Pretty in Punk look this week was a jaw-dropper. If, like Starlet so infamously said weeks ago, the runway were truly “half the mark,” we’d be in a different place with her. As it stands, while I’m excited to see her verse and performance for the Rumix, I don’t think even a showstopping performance would change the game for her. I hope she comes back and smashes the competition in a future season, though—she’s clearly a remarkable queen. (Also, wanted to give a quick shoutout to her recent collaborations with Season 13 queen Utica. Gorgeous!)
3. Jonbers Blonde (last week: 5)
Jonbers started this week’s episode with a jubilant, almost defiant cry of, “I can still win this!” And for a second during the challenge, I thought she might have a chance. Her performance as a drunk politician was great, using a bit of characterization to make sure even her less-effective jokes would land well. And there were a lot of great jokes, too! “I’m so Northern Irish that my gender reveal was a bomb scare” was perhaps my favourite line of the night. Considering what personal affection Ru has seemed to express for JB all season long, I thought that maybe, just maybe, a final challenge win could give her momentum heading into the finale. Then Ru went and gave the win to Danny Beard instead.
So no, unfortunately, I don’t think Jonbers can win this, and I don’t think it’s any insult to her to admit that quite obvious fact. This race has long been down to two queens, and if Ru wasn’t willing to give J. Blonde this week, it means he’s not interested in a dark horse candidate for the crown. A spot in the finale will have to be Jonbers’s consolation prize.
2. Cheddar Gorgeous (last week: 1)
Cheddar’s one moment of weakness in the competition came at exactly the wrong time, as she faltered in the final challenge of the season. I take her point about why placing her last in the performance order was a recipe for disaster, but the two queens who went before her hadn’t done particularly well. The audience was primed to laugh, and if Cheddar’s set was genuinely good, she would’ve likely skated to a high-scoring placement. Unfortunately, she just lacked jokes, and she committed the cardinal sin of Ru- and Michelle-judged comedy challenges: she went too intellectual.
The crucial thing about Cheddar’s misstep was that it was edited as a misstep. Contrast that to, say, Danny’s Cilla Black during Snatch Game, which could’ve easily scored low. The fact that the show just waved her through without comment was an indication of their investment in Danny. Meanwhile, Cheddar got hit hard by the judges right before the finale. I still think Cheddar is the only other possible winner of this season, and an absolute collapse by Danny in the finale could open the door to her. But absent a major upset, I think we’ll look back at this episode as the moment when the crown fell just out of Cheddar’s reach.
1. Danny Beard (last week: 2)
With her win this week, Danny becomes one of the few queens in Drag Race franchise herstory to make it to the finale without placing anywhere below “SAFE.” This actually used to be a much rarer feat: for a long time, Bianca Del Rio was the only queen to accomplish it. But she was joined in 2020 by Scarlett BoBo from Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 and Envy Peru from Drag Race Holland Season 1. And just last season on Drag Race UK, both Kitty Scott-Claus and Ella Vaday accomplished this feat. However, they were ultimately beaten out for the crown by Krystal Versace—a fate I do not think will befall Danny.
This is not like other seasons of Drag Race UK, where a queen with a less impressive track record or minimal fan support won out at the end. Danny is not just Ru’s clear favourite, but also has the single best report card of the season, and has enjoyed fan support all season long. I have absolutely no qualms about predicting Danny as the U.K.’s Next Drag Superstar. If she loses, it will be a major upset—and would all but guarantee her future crowning on an All Stars or vs. The World season. But I don’t think Ru is going to want to wait; I think now is Danny Beard’s time.
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