Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every Friday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. How do the new queens fare in their first outing?
12. Anubis — ELIMINATED
We barely got to know Anubis, and now she’s gone from our TV screens. (There does not seem to be a game-within-a-game this season, so we can safely assume she’s out for good.) The 19-year-old Egyptian queen’s looks weren’t bad, per se, and I wish she’d gotten the chance to explain her sea creature gown’s significance to her relationship with her father. But this is a very strong crop of queens, and any small mistake was enough to land in the bottom. Once she got there and faced off against Elektra Fence’s high-energy dance moves, it was inevitable that she’d join Gothy Kendoll and Joe Black as the U.K.’s first boots.
11. Elektra Fence
Colour me very impressed by Elektra’s dancing abilities. I could see her struggling on a more emotional song—she’s lucky “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was the winning queens’ track—but as long as she keeps getting high-energy bangers, I can see her fighting her way out of nearly any lip sync battle. Her idea for the Favourite Things category (her own birthday!) was very clever, and made up for a pretty lackluster miner look for her hometown submission. I came out of this premiere liking Elektra more than I did after the “Meet the Queens” videos, but she’s definitely starting at or near the bottom. Also, as a queen who loves a wide-brimmed black hat, I have to tip it to my fellow hat-wearer Elektra. She joins a proud tradition of queens, including, most recently, Trinity K. Bonet. Good company!
10. Veronica Green
This was a pretty rough re-entry for Veronica, and it has me concerned about her longevity. Neither of her looks was much to write home about: the cotton one was cute, but the gamer one was among my least favourite garments. It was notably un-Veronica, and didn’t so much feel like an evolution of her drag as it did a borrowed costume. Moreover, as I said in my recap, I think Veronica has lost the element of surprise that benefitted her in Season 2. We know what she can do, so what else is there? If the gamer look is any indication, I think she’s got an uphill climb ahead of her. I feel like she may have lost her momentum.
9. River Medway
For the sheer comedy of her statue look presentation, I’d have kept River out of the bottom three this week. It was so funny in such a simple, obvious way, yet it had the judges positively rolling over it. What impressed me was that River could tell the judges liked it, and leaned into it throughout her presentation. Constantly faking out that she might do the statue pose again was a smart response to what was landing well with her audience of four. That shows smart instincts, and makes me think that despite this early low score, River may have a long run.
8. Charity Kase
Charity’s monstrous “Meet the Queens” look was genuinely incredibly impressive. Her entrance outfit, a scary bride look, showed she has a real depth to her makeup skills. Her Lancashire rose look was by far the most intricate of the hometown runways. But to be honest, by the time she came out in a super scary, freak show-inspired favourite things look, I kind of found myself wondering: To what end? Yes, these makeup looks are super detailed, but seeing so many of them in a row (especially two that lean so heavily into spook) led to diminished returns.
Intricate makeup looks are a form of drag that maybe don’t get the respect they deserve on Drag Race, though Yvie Oddly did win on them just a couple of seasons ago. However, as with any kind of drag, variations are needed to keep the theme fresh. I could absolutely see the judges hitting a wall with Charity, and I’m guessing that Scarlett Harlett scoring in the top over Charity is already a sign of fatigue. For me, I’m excited to see how Charity’s presentation develops, but I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a bit cautious about her chances.
7. Ella Vaday
Overall, I thought Ella’s complete presentation in this episode was competent, confident and polished. She delivered three very different looks, from a chesty entrance outfit to a cheeky Dagenham worker runway for the hometown category. I liked her Pride Progress flag look well enough, but I did wonder: This flag is her favourite thing? The favourite things category was way too open to interpretation, but even considering those parameters, this felt like an existing look that Ella bent to fit the category. I’m impressed by Ella, but I do think she’ll need to put her personality forward in future episodes. “Polish” is becoming a bit of a dirty word on Drag Race, and she could easily fall into a Rosé-esque “professional” trap if she’s not careful.
6. Vanity Milan
I’m pretty blown away that Vanity has only been doing drag for a year. Only Valentina before her managed such a high quality presentation despite minimal prior experience. Granted, Vanity said she has her husband working on looks, but if this episode is any indication, she picked a husband with quite a talent for design. I absolutely loved the Jamaican flag hometown outfit, and her Estonian swallow as her favourite thing looked gorgeous as well. My guess is that the presentation may have been a bit too serious for the judges to land in the top—it does seem like they were more naturally drawn to whimsy this week. (Even Krystal Versace’s high-fashion looks had a wink to them.) Still, a very good first impression from Vanity.
5. Choriza May
Choriza won me over in that mini-challenge—she nailed nearly every prompt, and was a blast to watch while doing it. Honestly, everything about her is fun: her confessionals are entertaining, her looks (especially her hand-painted suit for her “art” favourite things runway) are delightful and her banter with the other queens is a highlight. On pure first impression, I’d have put Choriza in the top over Scarlett. But even without that high placement, I do think Choriza’s overall impact was enough to earn her a top ranking.
4. Kitty Scott-Claus
I am keeping one eye on Kitty at all times. I think she’s got real potential to win this entire competition, especially considering the kinds of British queens that Ru has shown a preference for in the past. Ru enjoys a good dance number, and appreciates fashion, but it’s the personality girls who really strike his fancy: The Vivienne, Baga Chipz, Lawrence Chaney and so on. Kitty fits the mold as a queen who’s always got a joke ready to go, though so far she’s demonstrating that more in her confessionals. I very much enjoyed her ABBA-inspired favourite things look, and she gets major credit from me for naming a specific band she loves, rather than just the concept of music. She may not have been tops this week, but I’m guessing we’ll see Kitty among the winners soon.
3. Scarlett Harlett
Do an ’80s reference on the runway, and there’s a good chance Ru is going to love it. He all but admitted his preference for looks that reference the decade in this episode. I didn’t love Scarlett’s looks as much as the judges—though I was impressed by the Queen Elizabeth I makeup in the Pearly presentation—but I get why she found herself in the top. She embraced the sense of fun that makes Drag Race UK great, and edged out several more serious runway presentations. But Scarlett better watch out: mini-Untucked showed that some of the other dolls already have their claws out for her.
2. Victoria Scone
Pre-lip sync, I’d have said Victoria was headed for the win. The episode was largely focused on her and her history-making presence this season, and both her looks were dynamite. As judge Graham Norton noted, she went for left-of-centre ideas in both her garments—particularly the afternoon tea favourite things look—and really nailed them. Had she either fit the emotion of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” better, or more effectively camped it up, I think she would’ve won the week. Alas, she fell a bit short, even missing a couple words, which gave her competitor the chance to seize the win.
I’m not sure who my favourite is yet this season, but I’d say it’s likely between Victoria, Vanity and Kitty. My two previous favourite picks in the U.S. went on to win the crown (Symone and Kylie Sonique Love), but my track record with international seasons is less impressive. Can one of those three defy the curse I placed on Tayce and Asttina Mandella last season and go all the way?
1. Krystal Versace
I admire how impressive Krystal’s makeup skills are at just 19. She’s got a really strong sense of herself and her drag at a very young age. And I do think she deserved her top placement this week but I will admit to being, in general, not fond of the young fashion queen archetype on Drag Race. I came around to Violet Chachki eventually in Season 7, but a recent rewatch of Season 10 had me less high on Aquaria’s win than I had been when her race to the crown first aired. Ru has previously demonstrated a penchant for rewarding young queens early and often, and the show has often protected them from lip-syncing for their lives when they’d otherwise deserve a bottom placement.
Comparing queens isn’t exactly fair to them: Krystal deserves as much praise as she earns, notwithstanding how much she reminds me of previous queens. And to her credit, she has already won a lip sync—albeit because she was in the top, not in the bottom. So while I’m cautious, I’m interested to see how Krystal does in this competition. She’s off to a great start in a challenge fitting her strengths; now comes the part where she’ll need to show us the other tricks up her sleeve.
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