"Drag Race UK may have made herstory. But the stakes are about to get higher."
— RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World (season 1, episode 1)
RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World is a 2022 British Reality Show in which Drag Queens compete in challenges to impress host RuPaul. The show is a spin-off from RuPaul's Drag Race UK and part of the international Drag Race franchise. It's produced by World of Wonder and was originally released via BBC Three in the UK and WOW Presents Plus worldwide.
Unlike its parent show, all contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World are veterans of other Drag Race shows who've been invited to return and compete again, in a similar style to the American RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars series. As the title suggests, the premise is that UK contestants compete against a mix of drag queens from other countries, not just against each other.
For the first season, three of the nine contestants were from the UK, with the remainder split between American veterans of RuPaul's Drag Race and competitors from Drag Race Thailand, Drag Race Holland and Canada's Drag Race.
For season two, which has eleven contestants, four UK and two American contestants face drag queens from Drag Race France, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, Drag Race Philippines, Drag Race España and Drag Race Holland.
As with other Drag Race shows, challenges cover things such as modelling, makeup and fashion design - as well as comedy, acting and dance performances. Each episode also includes at least one themed runway fashion show, which may or may not be related to the episode's other challenges.
The series has the same judges as the parent RuPaul's Drag Race UK series - it's hosted by RuPaul and judged by a panel including RuPaul and Michelle Visage (who also judge the original US Drag Race shows), with Graham Norton and Alan Carr normally alternating as the third regular judge. The fourth judge is a special guest, with a different celebrity for each episode.
Much like the American All Stars show, the rules for victory and elimination are different to most of the Drag Race franchise. The judges still choose the bottom two contestants in each episode, but they don't decide the elimination. Nor do they initially pick a single winner for the episode. Instead, they choose two top contestants who'll lip sync, to decide who wins — and it's the winner who then decides which of the bottom two is eliminated.
The first season debuted on February 1, 2022. It was preceded by a short "Meet the Queens" special, introducing the competitors.
The second season began on February 9, 2024. Like the first season, it was preceded by a "Meet the Queens" special, which was released January 15, 2024.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World contains examples of the following tropes:
- Announcer Chatter: Season one's "Meet the Queens" promo is styled as the character selection process for a Fighting Game, complete with short soundbites from an unseen, deep-voiced announcer.
- Audience Participation: RuPaul ends each season's semi-final by asking viewers to use social media to tell her who should win the season. The sequence also provides a hashtag for each contestant.RuPaul: Now I want to hear from you, our viewers. Who do you think deserves to be crowned queen of the mother-tucking world?
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: The winner of season one is awarded a crown and sceptre as part of the grand prize, along with the "Queen of the mother-tucking world" title. The crown is shown several times prior to the end of the finale, sitting atop a cushion. But it's subverted when Blu Hydrangea wins the season, as she's never actually presented with the crown, or even seen wearing it. The end sequence shows her onstage with the sceptre, but we never see it being given to her, and the crown is never even mentioned.
- Back for the Finale: All of season one's eliminated contestants return for the grand finale, initially showcasing their costumes in a runway walk and then joining the finalists to discuss the season.
- Bait-and-Switch: In the first episode of season two, the contestants gather onstage for the initial Everyone Meets Everyone scene. When they think they're all there, the curtain raises one more time, revealing Raven, a very successful veteran of RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars who now works as a make-up artist on the shows. There's a shocked moment as some contestants react — and then she reveals that she's only onstage to introduce judge RuPaul.
- Beauty Contest: The "Meet the Queens" special for season two is styled as beauty pageant, complete with sashes, an offscreen crowd of photographers taking pictures, a short speech and a few glimpses of a talent show. Each contestant's scene gets a little weirder at the end, though, with Ominous Visual Glitches.
- Blatant Lies: In the season one finale, Janey Jacké comments on the biggest shock of the season, Pangina Heals' elimination, and "how heartbroken" Pangina was. Pangina responds that "I was fine", which gets a laugh from those who were there for that episode — and also from Pangina herself. She was emphatically not fine.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: In the season one semi-final, RuPaul and the judges are caught up in a jokey conversation about Coronation Street while the top two contestants prepare for their lip sync. For once it's Michelle Visage, not Ru, who abruptly ends the conversation, demands silence and calls for the contestants. Although she doesn't phrase it exactly as Ru would.Michelle Visage: [claps hands] Silence! Bring...back...dem...girls.
- Brother–Sister Incest: At the end of season two's semi-final wedding roast, Ru cancels Michelle and Graham's wedding, announcing that a DNA test has declared them to be brother and sister.
- Cast of Expies: The first season's Show Within a Show, the musical ("Rusical") Reality Show "West End Wendys: The Comeback", is packed full of very recognisable parodies of famous film and musical characters. They include born-again-virgin Dr Spank-N-Spurter, based on The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and Mariah gon Trappy, based on Maria Rainer from The Sound of Music. Elements of the actors who originally portrayed them are sometimes thrown into the mix, but the only character directly based on a real person is Meryl Streep.
- Cat Girl: The second episode of season one includes a "Kitty Girl" runway walk, with the competitors' looks ranging from cat-themed outfits to full cat girl costumes. Most notably, Pangina Heals appears in a sphinx cat costume and Jimbo opts for a liger, both with three sets of breasts.
- Celebrity Impersonator:
- For the season one "Butch Queen" runway, Mo Heart appears as a version of Cameo's Larry Blackmon.
- The first season's "U Wear It Well" challenge asks contestants to create an outfit RuPaul would wear. Jimbo goes a step further and does a full impersonation, complete with borrowed mannerisms and catchphrases. It continues in the Werk Room after she leaves the stage.
- Whereas most roles in the season one musical "West End Wendys: The Comeback" are No Celebrities Were Harmed parodies or Captain Ersatz spoofs of famous characters, one of them is Meryl Streep.
- The "Snatch Game" Game Show challenge is a comedy spoof of Match Game with the contestants impersonating celebrities. For season one, impersonations include Mariah Carey, James Charles and Billy Porter. Strictly speaking, contestants must play real people, not characters, but that doesn't stop competitors playing actors who are "in character" - such as Mike Myers portraying Austin Powers.
- Confession Cam: Contestants provide commentary via confessional interviews, which are recorded after the scenes they refer to, then spliced into the episode. Confessionals typically start on video, sometimes continuing as voiceover once the episode cuts back to the original scene. Confessionals are recorded out of drag.
- Continuity Nod:
- In season two's "Meet the Queens", Gothy Kendoll acknowledges her status as the UK's Porkchop, a reference to the first contestant ever eliminated from the original RuPaul's Drag Race show.
- Season two contestant Gothy Kendoll mentions that "No-one wants to get Pangina'd", a reference to the unexpected elimination of Pangina Heals in season one.
- In Mayhem Miller's season two "Meet the Queens" segment, she lists the different Drag Race shows she's appeared on and describes herself as "the new Juju", a reference to Drag Race veteran (and season one contestant) Jujubee, who's reappeared repeatedly over the years.
- Country Matters:
- For season two's Evil Queen runway, Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha wears a Mean Girls look, including a cape with "C*nt Book" written across the back. Ru even throws in a "See you next Tuesday" comment while judging it.
- In season two's semi-final roast, La Grande Dame makes a joke about Michelle Visage's "frostbitten twat". In rehearsals, "twat" wasn't the word used - but it's covered by a Sound-Effect Bleep and guest judge Katherine Ryan advises her not to use a punchline that can't be broadcast in the show. From context, it's very clear what was said.
- Cut Short: The season one musical challenge, "West End Wendys: The Comeback" is presented as a Show Within a Show, a Reality Show that's then cut short in-universe, with no winner declared, because hardly anyone watches or votes and nobody actually cares about the contestants.
- Dance-Off: There's always an element of dancing to Drag Race's lip sync battles, but for season two's semi-final there's an actual dance-off mini-challenge. In hen party drag, the remaining contestants dance to one of host RuPaul's songs, with the music speeding up each time Ru eliminates one of them.
- Dance Party Ending: Each episode ends with a few seconds of the remaining contestants dancing, then leaving the stage (although it's very subdued for the season one episode where Pangina is eliminated, as nobody seems to feel like dancing). The season one finale ends the same way, unlike some Drag Race shows that let the onstage party continue to the very end.
- Drag Queen: As with other Drag Race shows, not only is it a contest for drag queens to demonstrate their skills, host RuPaul is a very well-established drag queen as well. In practice, much of each episode covers the Werk Room preparations and rehearsals, with contestants mostly out of drag. Confession Cam segments, commenting on the show's events, are also filmed out of drag.
- Drama Queen: In season two's "Meet the Queens" Beauty Contest sequence, Scarlet Envy starts reading "I believe in world peace and a drama free society" from a script before stumbling to a halt and pointing out that she is the drama. A huge "Drama Queen (duh!)" caption then appears on the screen.Scarlet Envy: So let's just get down to it. Is it me? Am I actually the drama? [music intensifies] Yeah. Yeah, I am. And happily so. [laughs]
- Elimination Catchphrase: When sending a contestant home, RuPaul uses the same "Sashay away" that the rest of the English-language Drag Race franchise uses. However, as contestants are eliminated by the episode winner's choice rather than a judges' decision, this time it's also preceded by "As it is written, so it shall be done".
- Elimination Statement: As with other shows in the Drag Race franchise, eliminated contestants usually make two different statements when they leave. The first is a final comment to the judges and cameras, before the contestant leaves the stage. The second is a message for the remaining contestants, written in lipstick on the werk room mirror.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: The first episode of each season begins with the contestants taking the stage in drag, one at a time. Many of them already know each other, either from other Drag Race shows or from other events, but they get some time to talk and introduce themselves before Ru appears.
- Fake Interactivity: During her season two "Meet the Queens" segment, Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha tells the world to listen carefully, slowly pronounces her name, gestures at the screen and asks the audience to say it. And then she says that attempt was awful.
- Fighting Game: Season one's "Meet the Queens" promo is presented as if it was character selection for a fighting game, complete with costumes, special effects, character profiles and Announcer Chatter.
- Flashback Cut:
- All of the contestants have previously appeared in other Drag Race shows and very brief flashbacks are sometimes used to show a glimpse of particularly memorable costumes or performances from those shows. The first season finale uses the same approach to summarise the contestants' progress so far.
- When Mo Heart is rehearsing for the season one musical, choreographer Johannes Radebe asks if she has any dance tricks in her bag. The scene cuts to Confession Cam, where she calls for a flashback to explain why this may be a risky move.Mo Heart: The last time I did tricks on this stage it did not work out well. If we can do a flashback, producers, please hit the rollback. [flashback shows a cartwheel going wrong]
- Foreign Remake: RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World is a British version of the American shows that originally launched the Drag Race franchise. More specifically, it's mirroring the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars format, with experienced contestants returning and changes to the franchise's usual rules for deciding winners and eliminations.
- Fun with Acronyms: As with other Drag Race shows, Ru regularly tells contestants that they'll be judged on their Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent.
- Genre Savvy: Almost every series in the Drag Race franchise has some sort of sewing challenge. Pangina Heals didn't know how to sew, but started taking classes as soon as she knew she'd be appearing in the first season.
- Hand Blast: The season one "Meet the Queens" special is presented as if it were a Fighting Game character selection process, complete with character sheets, Announcer Chatter and special moves. As part of this, special effects are used to give Baga Chipz and Lemon energy blasts from their hands.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: As with other shows in the Drag Race franchise, Ru is the host so it's RuPaul's Drag Race in the title. This doesn't happen with other Foreign Remakes that have different hosts (such as Canada's Drag Race).
- Inelegant Blubbering: When Pangina Heals is eliminated in season one she tries to keep her composure, but when told to sashay away, she breaks down in tears and apologises to the people of Thailand for her failure. Crying can still be heard after she's left the stage and the camera then focuses on the expressions of the contestants and judges, who are visibly affected. When Pangina makes her goodbye speech in the Werk Room, she's cried off much of her makeup and struggles to speak. The show then cuts back to the stage for RuPaul's usual end-of-episode statement — but Pangina's crying is still audible. The episode's Dance Party Ending is understandably subdued.
- Jaw Drop: In season one, RuPaul's jaw drops, and there's an audible intake of breath, when Blu Hydrangea announces that she's chosen to eliminate Pangina Heals. Michelle Visage and some of the contestants also seem shocked. After a second the camera cuts back to Ru for a softly-spoken "Wow."
- Letting the Air out of the Band:
- In the first episode of season one, the first contestant taking the stage is silhouetted and gradually revealed by a rising curtain. Ludwig van Beethoven's majestic "Wellington's Victory" plays while the camera focuses on sparkly high-heeled shoes and a long, elegant dress — a Whole Costume Reference to Diana, Princess of Wales — but the music falters and stops when the contestant is revealed as Baga Chipz, a British Drag Queen known for bawdy humour, not fashion and style.
- For season two's Beauty Contest themed "Meet The Queens", La Grande Dame talks about her one wish to win the crown, with Jacques Offenbach's "Infernal Galop" (aka The Cancan Song) playing in the background. When she adds that she wants to win it because she's "fully desperate... really desperate...", the energetic music lurches to a halt.
- Meaningful Rename: During the first season Monique Heart changes their drag Stage Name to Mo Heart, announcing the change to the other contestants and saying that they prefer a less gendered name. The caption on their Confession Cam segment immediately updates mid-scene to use the new name.Mo Heart: Though I present a female aesthetic, I would like to be known as a genderless entertainer. It opens it up for so much... mo.
- Medium Awareness: It's a Reality Show, so there's No Fourth Wall. Even so, Choriza May lampshades the nature of the show in season two, when it becomes clear that one of the two Spanish contestants will be eliminated, commenting that the editing will add "sad Spanish music" and "cries in Spanish subtitles" to the scene. The production plays along, briefly changing the music and adding the subtitle.Choriza May: Now is when they play like really sad Spanish music. [everyone laughs] Subtitles say "cries in Spanish".
[music immediately swaps to mournful Spanish theme]
Subtitle: [CRIES IN SPANISH] - Next Time On: Every episode (aside from the season finale) cuts from the onstage ending to a set of "Next time on..." clips. The clip montage introduces the week's main challenge and normally includes some judge's comments, but doesn't reveal who's being judged. Closing credits follow the clips.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The first season's musical, "West End Wendys: The Comeback", includes "cabaret icon" Lally Bowelz, an irrepressible performer who's ready for another comeback. She's clearly based on Liza Minnelli, who won an Oscar for her role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. It's blatant enough that when the contestants discuss casting, Baga Chipz says she wants to be "Liza".
- Ominous Visual Glitch: Season two's "Meet the Queens" special has a Beauty Contest theme, but each contestant's scene ends with with some camera glitches, sometimes accompanied by makeup changes or a soundtrack shift to harder rock. There's always some sort of interference, such as black bars disrupting the image. Sometimes the image briefly becomes a negative as well, or there's a moment of inexplicable Jitter Cam.
- Previously on…: Each episode begins with a summary of the last one, confirming who won, who was runner-up and which contestant the winner chose to eliminate. It then cuts to the Werk Room just after that elimination, as the remaining contestants read the farewell message on the mirror and discover who the runner-up would have eliminated.
- Punny Name:
- Many Drag Queens use Stage Names with puns, and the contestants are no exception. Competitors include Tia Kofi (Tea or Coffee), Baga Chipz (Bag of Chips) and Cheryl Hole (a reference to musician Cheryl, who was previously Cheryl Cole).
- For the first season's comedy Celebrity Impersonator "Snatch Game" challenge, Jujubee impersonates Cher and claims that her full name is Cher Cuterie.
- Reality Show: The season one musical challenge, "West End Wendys: The Comeback" is presented as a Show Within a Show, a reality show offering faded West End starlets a last chance to regain their fame.Michelle Visage: [voiceover] Seven West End starlets are about to battle it out to return to the spotlight. These former theatrical legends all want a second shot at fame, but only one will have what it takes to be crowned Comeback Queen, while the losers will fade into obscurity forever!
- Recovered Addict: At one point in the first season Jujubee and Baga Chipz discuss their past issues with alcohol. Both acknowledge that they were alcoholics, and that working in bars and clubs facilitated this. Jujubee no longer drinks at all, whereas Baga says she's significantly reduced her alcohol intake and only has a beer now and then.
- Shout-Out:
- Any contestant who wins a challenge is rewarded with a gold "Ru Peter badge", a reference to the long-running British children's TV show Blue Peter. The main RuPaul's Drag Race UK series also uses Ru Peter badges, but the gold version is unique to the vs the World series.
- The "Reading is Fundamental" challenge, in which queens cast shade at their competitors, is announced as "in the grand tradition of Paris Is Burning".
- As with other shows in the Drag Race franchise, RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World includes a "Snatch Game" challenge, a spoof of Match Game (which was remade in the UK as Blankety Blank) in which the contestants impersonate celebrities within a gameshow.
- Sound-Effect Bleep:
- There's no swearing allowed in the initial "Meet the Queens" promo, so for season one Lemon and Cheryl Hole both get some of their dialogue bleeped. They even get Symbol Swearing added onscreen as well.
- For season two's "Meet the Queens" self-described "potty mouth", Australia's Hannah Conda, who gets repeatedly bleeped out. A "Shhhhh" Censor Box is added over her mouth as well.
- Split Screen:
- Split screen is used for many runway walks, with one half showing a full-length view of the contestant's outfit while the other focuses on particular details, such as makeup and hair.
- The opening sequence of the first season finale heavily relies on split screen and Flashback Cuts to rapidly summarise the show so far. Different looks for the same contestant are contrasted on split screen, or different contestants are compared.
- Sudden Contest Format Change: For the first half of season one, the judges decide on the episode's bottom two contestants, then the episode's winner chooses which one is eliminated. Whereas in the second half of the season, the winner can eliminate anyone who's not in the top two. The contestants don't seem to be aware of the rule change until it happens. For season two it's less of a surprise, and only takes effect for the semi-final.
- Talent Show: On one level, the whole series is a talent show for contestants to showcase a wide range of drag skills, including acting, dance, fashion design and sewing. More specifically, the first episode of each season features a talent show challenge.
- This Is a Competition: After one first season elimination, runner-up Jimbo is asked who she would have eliminated if she'd won. She's forced to admit that despite an alliance with Jujubee she'd planned to eliminate her ally. After she's roundly criticised for backstabbing, with one contestant calling it "shady shit", her Confession Cam justifies this on the basis that it's a competition, and that everyone's here to win.Jimbo: You know, we are all here to win. None of us are here to save each other. So, I'm trying to win.
- Torpedo Tits: Season one's initial "Meet the Queens" promo is styled as if it was character selection for a Fighting Game, complete with costumes and special effects. Canadian contestant Jimbo, infamous for Boob Based Gags, gets to fire purple energy beams from her very large fake breasts.
- Voted Off the Island: Each episode the judges decide who the bottom two competitors are, but it's the episode's winning contestant who actually decides which one leaves the show. This contrasts with the usual Drag Race rule, where the two contestants get a final chance to impress via a lip sync battle, after which the judges decide who leaves. In season one, a Sudden Contest Format Change halfway through the season means that the winner can eliminate anyone outside the top two. The same rule is applied in the second season, but only for the semi-final.RuPaul: In a departure from normal Drag Race rules, you queens will be eliminating each other.
"I don't want to stop anybody's dreams, but I have to stop theirs to live on with mine."
— Jujubee (season 1)
