Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every week, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 5 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. We’re at the final four! But with two episodes left, how many queens can we expect in the finale?
5. Kate Butch (last week: 1)—ELIMINATED
As a Redditor pointed out last week, Kate’s track record had so far exactly matched Canada’s Drag Race Season 3 fifth-placer Vivian Vanderpuss’—and they have now ended in the exact same place. Theirs are cautionary tales of staying too under-the-radar for too long; Ru has long said that “safe” is a dirty word on his show, and if you get a reputation for not standing out, it’s hard to shake it. Still, I feel for Kate: she was really enjoyable all season long, and was improving her makeup and looks as she went along. There’s a world in which she’s a Jinkx Monsoon, not a Vivian, but that is not this world. I’ll miss her very much as a competitor in these last couple of episodes.
4. DeDeLicious (last week: 4)
She’s a lip sync survivor, that’s for sure. And yes, technically DeDe is very much a Lip Sync Assassin. But I’m a bit confused as to why she survived this week. DeDe’s performance was not demonstrably better than Kate’s to “This Hell,” and she has been consistently worse in the challenges all season long. I just don’t see what DeDe has done to get into this final four. But make it she has, all while demonstrating the kind of confidence (“Looks like I’m assassinating Kate today!”) that I enjoy from a queen. I don’t think she has any prayer of taking the crown home—I’m not even sure she’ll survive next week’s roast—but I’m excited to see her make her best attempt.
3. Tomara Thomas (last week: 3)
I can’t quite figure out what’s happening with Tomara. Maybe Ru’s praise got her feeling confident, and she took her foot off the gas a bit as a result? Whatever the case, Tomara has been coasting for the past couple of weeks, and it’s left her without much momentum going into the endgame. Being the queen Ru loves to laugh at can get you far in a season—ask Alyssa Edwards or Jonbers Blonde—but it rarely translates to the win without something else more tangible to go along with it. A makeover win this week could’ve solidified Tomara as a threat, but there was no way she was getting a victory with these looks. I’m honestly surprised she stuck with the wigs despite Ru’s warning. But let’s see if she can’t manage a victory in the roast; her sense of humour might be exactly what she needs to score one last RuPeter Badge before the finale.
2. Ginger Johnson (last week: 2)
If a makeover challenge can’t slow Ginger’s roll, I’m not sure anything will. Genuinely, she could have won the last five challenges and it would’ve been deserved. If anything, I’m just surprised in retrospect that Ginger spent a couple weeks gearing up before this hot streak. In my heart of hearts, I really do think this should’ve been another victory for her. I realize that her getting four RuPeter Badges while everyone else would still be at one (or none, in DeDe’s case) would be demoralizing. But come on. This was one of the best makeovers we’ve ever seen in a decade and a half of this franchise! Ginger is simply incredibly good at Drag Race, and while I may have my heart set on another queen, I just can’t see anyone but her winning at season’s end.
1. Michael Marouli (last week: 5)
Congrats to Michael on her second win, and first solo win, of the season! If anyone could spoil Ginger’s ultimate victory, I do think it’s her. And as a Michael stan, I actually hope it’s her. But even as a stan, I can’t really argue she had the best actual makeover this week. I do think what I said in my recap is valid: insofar as the makeover is about empowering your partner, Michael knocked it out of the park. And she did give them identical outfits! It just wasn’t quite as technically impressive as what Ginger pulled off. Still, I’ve thought Michael should have three badges by now, so I’m not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. The question is: can she tie things up by winning the final competitive challenge next week?
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