WARNING: Contestants are listed in order of elimination and there are unmarked spoilers on this page, potentially including spoilers for previous seasons.
Main (RuPaul, hosts and judges)
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under seasons:
Drag Race around the world:
All Stars & Vs. the World
All names, ages, and locations stated are at the time of filming.
Jojo Zaho (10th)
Age: 30
From: Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
"Bite the pillows ladies, mama's a ho and she's going in dry."
- Character Catchphrase: She describes herself as "Faboriginal."
- Don't Shoot the Message: In-universe. The judges were fully onboard with her desire to showcase Aboriginal culture and an anti-racism message in her drag. Unfortunately, there was no denying that her runway looks were unpolished, which lands her in the bottom.
- Genre Mashup: She explains that her No Place Like Home runway is a celebration of her culture, but the actual outfit is a strange, disparate mix of Aboriginal Australian cues and Marie-Antoinette that doesn't land, even despite the important anti-racism banner it includes.
- Punny Name: "Jojo's a ho".
- Really Gets Around: It's in the name. Jojo's a ho. Throughout the episode she makes several thirsty comments, particularly about the pit crew.
- Signature Style: Paints on very stylized stark white highlights which give the impression that she's made of plastic.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: After serving two unpolished looks in the premiere challenge, and then a less energetic performance in the lip-sync than Elektra, she's eliminated, becoming the "Porkchop" of Down Under.
Coco Jumbo (9th)
Age: 29
From: Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
"Oh my good-gay-girlie God you guys, this is what the fuss was about. [laughs] Sorry I lied, Sydney. [tongue pop]"
- Accidental Misnaming: Calls Elektra "Alexis" in her exit interview, the fact that after being told that wasn't her name Coco just refers to her as "that girl" implies that she legitimately doesn't remember her name.
- Apologizes a Lot: Despite her pomp and bravado, she constantly excuses herself while recording vocals for the Girl Group challenge, leading Michelle to supportively but firmly tell her that she has nothing to apologise for.
- Bad Impressionists: Goes with Lizzo for the Snatch Game, but her performance is so flat and low energy (and so un-Lizzo) that it lands her in the bottom two (of six!) against Art.
- Big Beautiful Woman: A gorgeously curvy girl with a megawatt smile. The first thing the other queens have to say about her is just how gorgeous she is.
- Bond One-Liner: Coco eliminates Art, absolutely shocking her competitors and sending many into tears. Her response? "Soz bitch," as she struts to the back of the stage.
- Brutal Honesty: The cattiest of the queens by far; in the series opener, she immediately clocks Elektra's slightly dry wig — and lets her know about it — as well as making a couple of barbed remarks about her fellow queens in her first few confessionals.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Seeing what a hot guy Elektra is out of drag immediately makes Coco regret having made fun of her wig so much.
- Dreadful Musician: Ultimately her singing skills (or lack thereof) are what land her in the bottom two of week 3's Girl Group challenge and she's sent packing by Elektra's fierce dancing skills in the lip-sync.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her entrance looks and two of her runways are purple.
- Significant Name Overlap: The second Coco to compete in the show, after US Season 5's Coco Montrese.
- Perpetual Smiler: Her huge smile is easily her most striking feature.
- The Rival: To Art. Coco reveals that some time before the show, a bar owner told her "you're no Art Simone" and Coco has had a friendly rivalry with her ever since, citing that even though she was eliminated, she still beat Art in a lipsync — and that's a win for her.
- Whole Costume Reference: For her No Place Like Home look, she sports a King Kong-inspired gorilla suit, in tribute to her hometown of Coffs Harbour's "Big Banana", a banana-shaped building in a banana plantation turned amusement park. The Big Banana is one of Australia's so-called "Big Things", a loosely related set of large structures, a mix of some of which are novelty architecture.
Anita Wigl'it (8th + Miss Congeniality)
Age: 31
From: Leigh, Auckland Region, New Zealand
"It's time to Wigl'it!"
- Affectionate Nickname: Wiggles (adorably), courtesy of Kita.
- Benevolent Boss: Anita and fellow Kiwi Kita Mean run a club where Elektra also works, and Anita is easily the jollier of the pair.
- Black Comedy: She dove right into this for her Snatch Game performance as Queen Elizabeth II, (who's also the Queen of New Zealand, it should be noted). After giving Ru a little taste of Her Majesty in the Werk Room by referencing Prince Andrew's Jeffrey Epstein scandal, she drops even darker jokes in the Snatch Game itself, from implying the Queen is a corgi-fucker to insinuating that she ordered the death of Princess Diana. Anita may be all smiles, but she clearly isn't afraid of plunging the darkest of comedic depths. A lot of her jokes veered so far into this that several of her lines were cut from the version that aired on the BBC.When someone turns 100, I send them a letter, but when someone turns 16, Prince Andrew sends them a text!
- Brick Joke: When Kita walks in, she is quickly identified as being part of a duo, to which she replies that it's nice to be doing something without Anita for once, then saying she hopes Anita doesn't walk in. All of the queens then look at the entrance expectantly......the next queen to walk in is not Anita, and the feeling that Anita might turn up starts to feel less likely and the anticipation is long gone. Then Anita walks in.
- Cool Aunt: Inverted. Instead of being cool, Anita describes herself as your drunk aunt at Christmas who's a little embarrassing.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Her Queen Elizabeth II Snatch Game performance was so far beyond everyone else that on the runway Ru calls her up first and immediately declares her the "hands-down" winner.
- Disappeared Dad: Anita moved to New Zealand with her mum as a kid, leaving her dad behind in England. The last thing he said to her was before she left was "please don't turn out to be gay", and since then her only contact with her father has been through email. Still, despite the complicated relationship, Anita only has kind things to say about her father and still loves him a great deal.
- Gag Nose: Her large, aquiline nose is the subject of a lot of jokes, and the very first thing Etcetera has to say about her is that not even contouring can make it look smaller.
- Genki Girl: There's not a second on screen where Anita doesn't have a huge smile on her face and by her own admission she has no off switch.
- Graceful Loser: Has one of the classiest exits on any show in the franchise, smiling the whole time as she thanks Ru for the opportunity, expresses gratitude for how enjoyable her time on the show was, and sincerely wishes the other queens good luck. Fans turned out to be infinitely more bitter that she was eliminated mid-season (after decisively winning Snatch Game) than she was.
- Hidden Depths: Anita is an enlisted sailor in the Royal New Zealand Navy and plays the trumpet in the navy band.
- Nice Girl: After her shock early exit, Anita and her fans were delighted when she was deservedly named this series' Miss Congeniality. With Kita's crowning as the series' overall winner, it was a double win for the Kiwi duo.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Anita is the Nice of the three Kiwis. She's constantly bubbly and smiling and has yet to involve herself in any kind of drama. Even when she does read people, her delivery is so friendly that it's hard not to feel like she's letting them in on the joke.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Ru (and Rhys... and some fans) find Anita's constant smiling and intensely energetic personality to be a little terrifying. For what it's worth, she sees it too
- Perpetual Smiler: Anita's confessionals are a joy to behold as she's so upbeat and literally cannot stop smiling and grinning cheerfully. Kita implies she may be a case of Stepford Smiler due to her past.
- Platonic Life-Partners: In a Drag Race first, Kita and Anita are a duo. They are not only genuinely best friends but they're also business partners as the owners of the Caluzzi Drag Cabaret in Auckland. The two have worked together for over ten years and it clearly shows in their interactions, with special nicknames for each other and how fondly they speak of each others' families.
- Punny Name: Say her name quickly — "I need to wiggle it".
- Shocking Elimination: In-universe. No one expected to see Anita go so soon after doing as well in the competition as she had. Her elimination hit the queens the hard, and they send her off with cheers and applause while a few of them try not to cry.
- Statuesque Stunner: In the Babewatch mini-challenge Anita wears flats and yet is still eye-level to all of the queens wearing heels.
- Sticky Fingers: Anita handles her elimination exceedingly well for the most part but it does prompt her to shamelessly loot whatever she can carry out of the Werk Room.
- Vulgar Humour: Her speciality — whether making making lewd remarks whilst impersonating the Queen, or rapping about her "dry-ass pussy", Anita will go there.
- Younger Than They Look: As she says herself, she's "31 but looks at least 40!"
Etcetera Etcetera (7th)
Age: 22
From: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
"[trills] You can't kill a cockroach..."
- Alpha Bitch: In an iteration of Drag Race that's been dubbed the cattiest ever, she's amongst the queens who are very quick to make a snide comment and seems to particularly love dogging on Elektra.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Acknowledges that she is the youngest of the queens at 22, and thus she doesn't expect the older, more experienced queens to take her seriously.
- Black Comedy: For Snatch Game, she goes with Lindy Chamberlain of "A dingo ate my baby!" infamy.note . The other queens whisper in the Werk Room that Lindy actually lost her baby, questioning how someone could find comedy in that situation. Even Ru acknowledges the darkness, with a simple "We're all going to hell" quip. But to Etcetera's credit, she manages to make it funny — at least enough to be safe and not be one of the six queens to land in the bottom that week.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Out of drag, Etcetera seems to only wear very large, boxy shirts with colorful designs on them paired with cowgirl boots.
- Creepy Cockroach: Her promo/entrance look references the start of her drag career, where she would often dress as a cockroach as she felt they represent survival and the subversive.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: A firm believer of this if the conversation about Scarlet's racist past is any indication. Etcetera states that there's a difference between growing up in an environment where casual racism is dropped in conversation and thinking it's okay to do blackface, yellowface, and so on, multiple times, for money.
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance:
- In the Werk Room, Etcetera comments that she thinks everyone did an "amazing job" and that they performed the best Snatch Game...ever. Anita's performance notwithstanding, Ru's opinion is that it was....interesting, and she places six queens in the bottom that episode.
- Episode 5 shows that Etcetera is also unaware of how shady she is. The other queens are legitimately shocked that she doesn't think of herself as shady, despite her being one of the cattiest queens in any Drag Race series.
- Never My Fault: Kita believes this of Etcetera and points out that she doesn't want to take responsibility for her own outfits' shortcomings and overall poor performance, so tries to critique Kita as a means of deflection.
- Sexy Whatever Outfit: For her No Place Like Home runway in episode 1, she dresses as Australia's capital and financial hub Canberra, in a grey gown that's detailed so as to resemble the city's grid layout including the Parliamentary Triangle district over her crotch.
- Urine Trouble: The theme of her Yeast Spread commercial was simply "Piss”, and her unrelenting crass bathroom humour puts her in the bottom, again, ultimately leading to her elimination.
Maxi Shield (6th)
Age: 46
From: Ballina, New South Wales, Australia
"What the bloody hell's going on around here??"
- All of the Other Reindeer: Subverted. Maxi gets picked last for the Girl Group dancing challenge, and in the confessional that follows, she's fake-crying before admitting that she honestly doesn't care.
- Big Beautiful Woman: The series' other plus-size queen, alongside Coco Jumbo, and equally gorgeous.
- Big Fun: Maxi's a real sweetheart, approaching all tasks with gusto, never complaining, just getting on with it, and never indulging in any cattiness or trolling.
- The Bogan: Thoroughly embraced via her ciggie smoking, shell-suit clad Magda Szubanski (a beloved Aussie comedian of Kath & Kim fame) Snatch Game performance. She evens adds orange colouration around her fingers, a common feature of chain-smokers.
- Cool Aunt: Her drag character is based around the classic fun-loving auntie, who gossips all day long, wears too much jewellery, and chain-smokes Pine Lights.
- Fish People: For her No Place Like Home runway, she dresses as a big sexy prawn (shrimp, for our North American friends) in celebration of the "Big Prawn" sculpture (also one of Australia's "Big Things", as per Coco's look) in her hometown of Ballina.
- Genre Savvy: Maxi did what fans have spent years crying and begging queens to do — she took a sewing class the second she signed up for Drag Race and fucking learned how to sew. And it worked out brilliantly for her as she turned out a surprisingly high-fashion punk look as a nod to English designer Vivienne Westwood which fitted perfectly and was constructed from a notoriously difficult material — laundry bags.
- I Can't Dance: Outright admits it, and her choreography for the Girl Group challenge leans heavily on this for comedic effect.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her promo look features a plunging neckline with metres of cavernous, gaping cleavage.
- Out of Focus: Even in such a small cast, her positive attitude and lack of conflict with the other girls leave her without much of a storyline.
- Strong Family Resemblance: For the Family Resemblance makeover challenge of episode 6, her partnered rugby player — especially after he shaves his beard — looks very similar to her, being a cute, short, rotund little bear. However, whilst their runway looks, consisting of marching turbans and babydoll dresses in complementary colours, are very cute, Maxi lands in the bottom and is sadly eliminated after Scarlet absolutely slays Kylie’s ‘Better the Devil You Know’
- Whole Costume Reference: For the Finest Sheila in the Bush challenge of episode 5, she sports a beautiful Victorian Gorgeous Period Dress, complete with a big gaiety-girl wig, in reference to the celebrated Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, which chronicles the ill-fated outing to the bush undertaken by a group of young Australian girls enrolled at an exclusive finishing school.
Elektra Shock (5th)
Age: 28
From: Auckland, Auckland Region, New Zealand
"I was a model before the accident."
- All of the Other Reindeer: For reasons unclear, perhaps aside from a lack of polish in her looks, Elektra receives constant and often unwarranted criticism from her fellow queens (particularly the waspish duo of Scarlet and Etcetera) and also the judges on occasion, though luckily she's well prepared to stand up for herself. This reaches fever pitch in episode 4 of a season dubbed the cattiest so far, where the constant mean-spirited baiting she's on the receiving end of, which goes beyond the usual shade, can become uncomfortable to watch.
- Bait-and-Switch: Loves to do this.
- Whilst prepping for the Girl Groups challenge in the Werk Room, she suddenly barks, "I won the mini-challenge, I can do what I like!", her teammates all peel away in horror, and Scarlet's rival team (and the viewers) are shocked that the seemingly mild-mannered Elektra could pull such a diva move. However, the whole thing is just a gag and Elektra and her team collapse into laughter — which proves to be a great psych-out against their rivals.
- After the Talent Show, she finds herself in the bottom two versus her boss and good mate Kita, and as the The Veronicas' absolute banger of a tune "Untouched" begins, she initially looks like she's about to pull a Ginny Lemon, dejectedly walking to the back of the stage, apparently giving up. However, about half way back down the runway, she whips round — cheekily quipping "psych" in confessional — and joins in with gusto, though it's not quite enough to match Kita's immobile (due to her giant boots) but slick performance and she's asked to sashay away.
- Chilly Reception: She's on the receiving end of one of these via the bitchy Aussie girls, mostly because they have no idea who she is, who then go on to read her entrance look to filth.
- Dramatic Irony: Upon meeting for the first time, it comes up that Elektra and Scarlet are the two dancers in the cast, so Elektra jokingly says "C'mon rivalry!" Elektra has no idea how right she is because as the season progresses, the two are frequently compared to each other (both are captains of the Girl Group challenge, Ru asks Scarlet what advice she has for Elektra, etc) and Scarlet continuously puts Elektra down. By the end of the season, Elektra openly dislikes Scarlet and upon seeing her called safe for a lip-sync, she doesn't so much as look at her.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Elektra turned out a fierce performance in the Girl Group challenge, and a lot of viewers felt like the overly-harsh critiques she received — where she was practically accused of showboating and being too good to the detriment of the other girls — didn't make sense, as being compared to Beyoncé is hardly a negative.
- I Kiss Your Hand: She does this to Raven, as she’s very taken with the Season 2 alumna when she makes a special appearance in episode 7.
- Lives in a Van: In the Werk Room, she tearfully recounts the fact that prior to the series, her previously successful business as a dance instructor collapsed, and she was forced to sell her house and was living in a garage at one point. Her involvement in Drag Race will undoubtedly help her get back on her feet.
- Main Character: Despite not making the finale, most of the episodes of the season are about her. Learning to overcome her flaws and her rivalry with Scarlet Adams make up the primary storylines of the season.
- Mr. Fanservice: With her large eyes and handsome, open features, she's a good looking man out of drag. She knows it too, occasionally giving the camera a flirty look as she walks into the Werk Room. Raven takes notice in the penultimate episode and Elektra is more than happy to flirt back.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The in-between of the three Kiwis. She's generally pretty nice and would rather parody pointless drama then actually get into it but Elektra becomes sharp-tongued when in bad spirits. She's wise enough to save her harsh words for the confessionals and keep it pleasant around the other queens.
- One Degree of Separation: Elektra is a regular performer at Kita Mean and Anita Wigl'it's Caluzzi Drag Cabaret. She was also a competitor on the second season of the reality television drag competition show House of Drag, also hosted by Kita and Anita, where she placed second.
- Rainbow Lite: For her No Place Like Home look, she goes with a rainbow/love-hearts themed outfit that's meant to embody Auckland's status as an inclusive, forward-thinking city, but the look itself is so-so, and falls flat when it comes to the judges' critiques.
- Rank Up: From being a well-liked contestant on Series 1, known for her Dance Battler skills, Elektra graduated to mentoring status when she appeared as the girls' choreography coach for the finale challenge in Series 2.
- Screaming Woman: She nails the first mini-challenge (a sci-fi themed comedy skit) with a hammy, hysterical performance that has Ru cackling like crazy, especially when she lets out a bellowing scream that could easily strip paint. She plays this up again in her Catherine O'Hara Snatch Game performance by manically screaming for Kevin.
- Self-Deprecation: Leans on this with sporting good humour in the Yeast Spread infomercial challenge of episode 5, where she wryly acknowledges her less than stellar performance in the competition so far with her product 'Topped' — a glamourising spread that helps "busted bottoms" rise to the top of any competition. It pays off for her, as her expert direction of the Pit Crew and overall concept help her snatch her first win of the competition, which she again acknowledges in shocked, humble style.PAUSE... That's me, Elektra Shock. Two times bottom and currently playing safe.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Scarlet, albeit without the laughs.
- Small Town Boredom: She hails from Invercargill, which is right at the bottom of New Zealand's South Island and one of the world's most southerly and isolated cities (the nearest large population centre is over 100 miles away), so it's not surprising that she spent a good deal of time travelling in Australia and the UK before launching her drag career and settling in Auckland, a far more cosmopolitan locale.
- So Bad, It's Good: In-universe. The judges consider her Snatch Game performance of Catherine O'Hara to be an amusing hot mess. She didn't look like her, she didn't sound like her (which seemed to be an odd Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure where neither Ru nor Michelle knew she was playing Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek), and yet somehow they still liked it. It was not enough to save her from the bottom six but she still received a fair amount of praise.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: After being read for a confusing No Place Like Home runway outfit, she remarks in the Werk Room to her fellow Kiwis that at least she's letting the world know New Zealand is more than just sheep and the All Blacks — which are exactly the inspirations her fellow Kiwi queens (and bosses) chose.
- Underestimating Badassery: When she first arrives in the Werk Room, most of the Aussie queens have no idea who she is, and a few of them (Coco and Etcetera) make a few catty remarks about her look and wig, immediately deciding she's unpolished. However, she wins the first mini-challenge with a fun, hammy performance, and despite landing in the bottom two due to two so-so runway looks, when she has to lip-sync against Jojo, she puts on a slick, athletic performance, incorporating a series of expertly executed jumping-splits and death-drops that leave Jojo looking positively rigid by comparison and ultimately save her from elimination.
- Whole Costume Reference: For her Nude Illusion runway in episode 1, she sports a Mad Max-style road warrior costume inspired by a similar look Ru served back in the 80s.
- Your Makeup Is Running: In her promo/entrance look, her mascara is streaming down her cheeks.
Art Simone (runner-up)*
Age: 28
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
"Well, I'm not here to fuck spiders."
- Bad Impressionists: For her Snatch Game performance, she goes with Bindi Irwin but it’s too oblique to land and all of her replies lack any humour and drone on, boring her fellow queens, and just confusing Ru.
- Experienced Protagonist: Art Simone's talents in makeup have for a long time been known of in the international drag community. And her charisma precedes her, considering she had already been hired by World of Wonder to host and star in her own WOW Presents+ show Highway to Heel where she interviewed other Melbourne drag queens and drag kings.
- Graffiti Town: She’s a Geelong girl but currently lives and works in Melbourne, so her graffiti-patterned No Place Like Home look was a tribute to Melbourne’s Hosier Lane, famed for its extensive street-art.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Hers is one of most dramatically tearful exits in Drag Race herstory, and she completely bawls into Karen's tits after being told to sashay away.
- Insistent Terminology: Prior to the premiere, Art had to correct people who thought her drag name was Simone and not the whole "Art Simone". Doesn't help that her Instagram account is "@rtist_".
- My Greatest Second Chance: Without explanation, Art is invited back into the competition midway through, having previously crashed out in week 2. When contestants have returned in the past, there's usually been an explanation – even if the reason is some thinly-veiled excuse for the producers to get a watchable character or big personality back on the screen — but in Art's case, there simply was none. She just came back. Compoundingly strange after she was eliminated for a poor Snatch Game performance, made an incredibly inelegant exit, and didn't have to do anything to earn her place back in the competition.
- Mysterious Note: In what is undoubtedly a shocking first in Drag Race herstory, Coco discovers a threatening note left at her makeup station that simply states "Watch Out". After all of the present queens deny writing it, Coco deduces that it must have been Art, who seemingly wrote it in an embittered rage following her elimination at Coco's hands. When Art re-enters the competition in episode 4 and the note is brought up, she denies writing it, tongue firmly in cheek.Art: Well, there's no footage of me putting that note there whatsoever... It was a ghost...
- Punny Names: Averted, despite what some commentators on Drag Race assumed when the cast was finally announced. She was however very amused at the fact someone thought her drag name meant "Art Is A Moan".
- Pride Before a Fall: She's easily the best-known queen this series, and has the confidence to match, frequently reading her competitors in confessionals and making catty comments whilst getting ready in the Werk Room. However, in a shocking turn of events, her flat Snatch Game performance lands her in the bottom two, and she's positively constipated with horror when Ru asks her sashay away following her lip-sync against Coco, with her exit being amongst the least elegant in Drag Race herstory.
- Refuge in Audacity: Despite a rocky start to the competition, Art well and truly proves her drag mettle in the Reading challenge of episode 5, absolutely nailing the series' overtly wokest, yet shadiest queen Etcetera Etcetera, with a read that has Ru and the girls absolutely hooting:Art: Just to recap on pronouns for the group; out of drag, Etcetera uses 'they/them' pronouns, so for example: they haven't been in the top, so we won't being seeing them in the final.''
- Shocking Elimination: In-universe. The other queens' jaws absolutely drop when Ru eliminates her, even though it came after a lackluster Snatch Game performance as Bindi Irwin and being outshined by Coco Jumbo in the lip sync. Art is such a big name in the Australian drag scene that none of the other queens thought she'd be sent home so early.
- Sore Loser: It's very clear that she was not expecting to crash out in 9th place, and does not take her elimination well, saying that she'll never outlive the humiliation. When a producer tries to console her by saying that at least she made it on the show, Art bitterly replies "That means nothing", and gives the middle-finger on exiting. Even more shocking is the fact that she allegedly left a threatening note at Coco's station after the less seasoned queen sent her packing. The only person who manages to console her is Michelle Visage in the How's Your Head, Queen? companion show.
- Whole Costume Reference: For the Finest Sheila in the Bush challenge of episode 5, she enters the runway in a classic Aussie cork hat and Ned Kelly duster, before whipping it all off to reveal a brilliantly spot-on Kath from Kath & Kim ensemble, complete with hideous koala sweater and hilariously mad dance moves that evoke the ‘Hen’s Night’ episode where Kath famously went totally off at a drag club after having had her drink spiked.
Karen From Finance (runner-up)
Age: 32
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Bad Impressionists: Comedy-queen Karen goes with gay icon Dolly Parton for Snatch Game — a huge risk as she's hallowed ground in the gay community. Her performance misses most of the key Dollyisms and she lands in the bottom six after a rotten showing from most of the girls that week.
- Bob from Accounting: Invoked. Her drag persona is a wry nod to the classic middle-aged accounting clerk every office seems to have, who'll tick you off for a late invoice or misfiled spreadsheet, and has to be begged to sign off on a purchase order, but who'll also go completely off at the office party, wildly guzzling chardonnay and generally making a tit of herself. Brilliantly, her show back home is called the Out Of Office Tour.
- For the Family Resemblance makeover challenge of episode 6 her rugby player makeoveree is brilliantly dubbed ‘Debbie from Reception’.
- Camp: Of all the Down Under queens, she most fully embodies classic camp drag style.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Karen gets multiple shout-outs by name on Trixie and Katya's Youtube offshoot UNHhhh dating back years before Down Under was even conceived. They repeatedly cite her drag name as one of the funniest they've ever heard.
- Lady Drunk: For her No Place Like Home runway in episode 1, Karen goes with a look that fully embodies the classic middle-aged white woman who gets utterly plastered at the Melbourne Cup, with a make-up smeared, disheveled look (complete with loo-paper stuck to her shoes) that's both hilarious and totally on-brand for Karen. She deservedly goes on to win the first week of the competition.
- Only Sane Man: She was the first to point out that Etcterera's portrayal of Lindy Chamberlain could be taken in poor taste, and when the other queens are talking about how good they thought Snatch Game was, and how they felt no one did bad, Karen is alone in recognizing the whole ordeal was nothing short of a train-wreck.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The usually campy, tongue-in-cheek Karen goes with a much more serious theme for her Finest Sheila in the Bush runway, sporting an Aussie bush firefighter's uniform in acknowledgment and celebration of the bravery of the men and women tackling what have been the worst bushfires in Australia's living memory.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Karen admits that the Nude Illusion runway challenge is both out of her comfort zone and way out of character for her drag persona as a "middle-aged bookkeeper from the outer suburbs of Melbourne". However, she manages to nail the challenge, whilst still staying very much in character, with a fun, polka-dot bikini ensemble that she whips off to reveal comedy Tan Lines and a bright yellow merkin that matches her bright yellow wig.
- Prone to Tears: After Anita is eliminated, Karen goes to give her a high five and then is in bits crying by the time she takes her spot at the back of the stage.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In a season that includes some of the cattiest queens yet seen on Drag Race (Coco, Scarlet, Art, Etcetera), Karen stands out as one of the more supportive, wholesome competitors. However, she's also courted controversy prior to the series launch due to her collection of golliwogsnote that she was photographed with for a magazine — she even had a depiction of one tattooed on. Karen has of course since apologised and binned her collection, but given that she started collecting the dolls in 2013, this seems woefully naive at best and ridiculously ignorant at worst.
- Whole Costume Reference: Her entrance look is based on Jane Fonda's character Judy from the camp-classic 9 to 5.Karen: Looks like we're gonna need a bigger locker for the hat!
Scarlet Adams (runner-up)
Age: 27
From: Perth, Western Australia, Australia
"Who's ready to paint the town Scarlet?"
- Alpha Bitch: Likes things done her way and the majority of her confessionals feature her putting down her competitors.
- Bird People: For her No Place Like Home runway in episode 1, the right arm of her outfit smartly incorporated the neck and head of a black swan, the State Bird of Western Australia.
- Clint Squint: Goes with actress, comedienne and Stacy's Mom Trope Codifier, Jennifer Coolidge, for her Snatch Game performance and manages to capture her squinting expression, downturned pout, and breathy tones, but lacks the humour required.
- Control Freak: For the Girl Group challenge, she initially suggests that her group should all contribute to the choreography, but upon seeing their mediocre efforts, she quickly changes her mind and firmly takes the helm.
- Deadpan Snarker: There's very little emotion in her voice and a lot of her commentary is withering sarcasm at the expense of the other girls.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Gets called out for her past racial transgressions by Etcetera who states that there's a difference between growing up in an environment where casual racism is dropped in conversation and thinking it's okay to do blackface, yellowface, and so on, multiple times, for money.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Of the 'Proximity' variety. Even before any of the other queens knew about her controversial past, Scarlet was disliked due to her rude personality, which is most in evidence with Elektra, who makes no secret of her dislike for Scarlet. Some of the queens have even taken to social media to distance themselves from Scarlet and clarify that they are definitely not friends with her.
- Named Like My Name: She's the third queen with the name "Scarlet(t)" to compete on Drag Race, after Scarlet Envy from US Season 11 and Scarlett BoBo from Canada's Drag Race Season 1.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The elephant in the room is finally addressed in episode 5, when Art asks the girls if there's anything about their drag they look back on and regret. Scarlet brings up her racially insensitive past where she performed in blackface and tearfully, yet cautiously, acknowledges the harm she's done, now hoping to atone for her past mistakes. Etcetera explains the violence that lies underneath the “it’s all just jokes” veneer that often excuses things like blackface, and ordinarily, this would be the end of this kind of important mirror-moment. However, Ru asks Scarlet about it again — on the runway — and having just been schooled by Etcetera, Scarlet delivers a second blackface apology, this time with less caginess and more (potentially) deep pathos.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: It's hard to talk about Scarlet among the general fandom without her history of racism, including repeated performances in blackface.
- Pretty Boy: She was immediately dubbed the trade of the season as soon as she de-dragged in episode 1, and with her classically handsome, chiselled features, it's not hard to see why.
- Whole Costume Reference: For the Finest Sheila in the Bush runway of episode 5, she goes with a beautiful, corseted silver catsuit and head wrap that's topped off with huge flowing silver wings in celebration of one of Australia's iconic pieces of gay cinema, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Kita Mean (winner)
Age: 34
From: Auckland, Auckland Region, New Zealand
"How delightfully camp!"
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: In true Kita fashion, while genuinely upset and teary eyed at seeing her best friend and business partner get eliminated, the next day in the Werk Room she cheekily quips "It's a new day and that ugly bitch is gone!"
- Brick Joke: When Kita walks in, she is quickly identified as being part of a duo, to which she replies that it's nice to be doing something without Anita for once, then saying she hopes Anita doesn't walk in. All of the queens then look at the entrance expectantly...but the next queen to walk in is not Anita, and the feeling that Anita is amongst the cast starts to feel less likely and the anticipation is long gone. Then Anita walks in. Kita even lets out an "Oh no!" before Anita introduces herself.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: For her No Place Like Home runway in episode 1, she goes with a sexy take on the rugby kit of New Zealand's legendarily unstoppable All Blacks, complete with a black trumpet dress, silver fern frond appliques, and a gem-stoned black rugby ball in hand.
- Formerly Fat: Had a gastric sleeve and lost a considerable amount of weight in the year prior to the show.
- Homage: For her Yeast Spread infomercial, she dresses as legendary drag queen Divine, and recreates her infamous dog-shit eating scene from exploitation comedy Pink Flamingos — a reference Ru loves, but one she notes could be (sadly) lost on many of the show's younger viewers.
- Mean Boss: It's pointed out in the first episode that she's Elektra Shock's boss, as she and Anita run a club, but Kita is definitely the bossier of pair.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Mean of the Kiwi trio, though still more downplayed than what this usually implies. Kita loves drama and pot stirring and laments at the fact that she didn't think to write the Mysterious Note that Art leaves for Coco to mess with people. Kita also takes no prisoners, and readily claims that if she and Anita were to land in the bottom that she would send her home in a moment's notice. The other queens fear what she would do in a reading challenge because of her quick wit and silver tongue
- Non-Ironic Clown: She's much more of a drag-clown than her competitors, with an entrance look, complete with a giant foam wig and clownish makeup, that wouldn't be out of place during the wackier segments of a Cirque du Soleil performance.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When playing American author Dr. Seuss for the Snatch Game, her Kiwi accent slips out multiple times.
- Platonic Life-Partners: In a Drag Race first, Kita and Anita are a duo. They are not only genuinely best friends but they're also business partners as the owners of the Caluzzi Drag Cabaret in Auckland. The two have worked together for over ten years and it clearly shows in their interactions with special nicknames for each other and how fondly they speak of each others' families.
- Punny Name: As per a few of her fellow Down Under queens, she sports one of these – hers being a pun on the drug ketamine.
- Recursive Crossdressing: For her Snatch Game, she settled on Dr. Seuss to challenge herself, rather than relying on an impersonation of Carole Baskin of Tiger King fame. Her performance was good enough to keep her out of the six queen bottom placements.
- Rhymes on a Dime: As part of her Dr. Seuss Snatch Game, Kita delivers all of her lines in rhymes. Her introduction was a stumble but all of her answers to questions following that worked well together.
- Strong Family Resemblance: For the Family Resemblance makeover challenge of episode 6, she thoroughly deserves her win, as not only do her and her rugby player partner look beautiful and tessellated in matching black and white, but her partner out of drag looks literally nothing like her, increasing the challenge.
- X Must Not Win: While there's no denying that Kita is a fierce and talented queen and that her win was well deserved, in a sense her taking the crown was in no small part due to the controversy surrounding her competitors: Art Simone, who had been brought back with no explanation after what most fans considered a fair elimination and hadn't won a single challenge; Karen From Finance, who after her week one win had been generally underwhelming and was controversial due to her former infatuation with racist golliwog dolls; and especially Scarlet Adams, who despite being the season's frontrunner with the most wins had turned most fans off when it was revealed that she had repeatedly performed in blackface, yellowface and other racially insensitive stereotypes in the past. In a series that had been mired by controversy before it even aired, for many viewers Kita winning was the only option that would somewhat salvage what had been the least-liked iteration of the franchise so far, and she received by far the most fan votes on social media prior to the finale.
