We spoke to all the queens of Drag Race: UK Versus the World and this is what we learnt

Well, the wait is over. Tonight, nine queens from across the global franchise of RuPaul’s Drag Race will battle it out in season one of Drag Race: UK Versus the World in a bid to be crowned winner. With one of the best casts in Drag Race herstory, full to the brim of fan favourites, the stakes (and heels) have never been higher. Before the Olympics of Drag kicks off tonight, we sat down with all the queens to discuss the series and find out exactly what we’re in for. Start your engines!

Pangina Heals and Janey Jacké

Hey Janey! How were you feeling about competing the second time around? Was there more pressure?

Janey: I think the pressure is mostly with yourself, because it’s very important to keep growing and evolving yourself. If you look back at the stuff you did a year ago and think “What was I thinking?” you’re not really evolving. Going from one season to the other, the pressure was on for me to improve and apply all the comments I got during Drag Race Holland. But it was scary all around, I’ve never been in front of RuPaul!

And how was competing for Ru and Michelle for the first time?

Janey: It was actually really fun to come there with a clean slate. If they’ve seen you before, they’ve given you feedback and they’re looking for the application of that feedback. So starting clean slate was really nice, because everything I do that they love it’s already impressive for them. It was a little scary!

Pangina! Because you’re the host of Drag Race Thailand and this is your first time competing, how did it feel transitioning to competing rather than judging?

Pangina: My mindset was “I gotta win!” A lot of people were saying if you do badly and you’re the host, how do you have the right to judge anyone? Because I’m the only Thai representative, similar with Janey being the only queen representing Holland, we have this thing in the back of our minds saying “I can’t go home.” When it comes to competing, I don’t have an ego. I just wanted to learn as much as possible to become a better drag queen.

The show was filmed here in the UK – what ideas did you have of UK drag before coming over?

Pangina: I’m a fan of Drag Race UK anyway, and season one was one of my favourite seasons of all time. They’re so charismatic and so lovely.

Janey: I’ve known UK drag even before Drag Race UK started, and always knew it as very fun, a lot of humour and a lot of live singing. I knew the show being filmed over here was going to be a lot of love and humour.

What have you learned about yourselves this season?

Pangina: I learned that I am capable. I’ve learned to deal with my self doubts – I literally had to write down in the mirror every day why I loved myself, and so after this competition I will never doubt myself again. Even if you think you’re sickening in your own country, when you come to compete with the best of the best that is going to cause some self doubt. It taught me I’m one fierce bitch.

Janey: She’s a legend, she’s an icon and she IS the moment! I think for me I was doubting my creativity and coming up with the looks, with the show being so big globally you’re always trying to find the next big and elevated thing. But you need to just trust the process and trust your instincts.

Pangina, would you say your experience on the judging panel gives you an advantage of knowing what to serve on the runway?

Pangina: Yeah, I think it does. When it comes to polish, execution, silhouettes – yes. But fashion is different in every country. So what I think is amazing and would be great in Thailand might not translate well.

How does Drag Race: UK Versus the World compare to all the other seasons that have come before it?

Janey: It’s going be interesting because we have so many influences from different cultures and countries combined. Every queer scene is different. What makes Drag Race: UK Versus the World so special is all of these people coming together and speaking a universal language. It doesn’t matter where you came from, we all have a language through our drag that we all speak together.

Pangina: The learning process! One of my favourite moments was Janey teaching me how to clean my wigs! It’s an exchange of culture – even though we speak the same language with drag, we get to feed off each other as a real sisterhood. It’s a really rewarding experience.

Blu Hydrangea and Cheryl Hole

Hi guys! What was it like for you two to combine the British humour with the other queens in the franchise?

Cheryl: In all honestly, I didn’t care if they got it or not! I’m gonna stick to my guns, be a silly tit in a wig and hopefully they understand my Essex!

Blu: I think people kind of expected it from us? Luckily, Drag Race UK is a pretty successful franchise so people had watched it and connected with us. We walked right in and made friends. Although there was cultural differences, we always meant well with our humour. We’re not nasty people, we’re just here to have fun.

Did you guys feel extra pressure as queens defending your home turf?

Cheryl: I don’t think I felt pressure, it was a familiarity that gave me a lot more confidence. It was like going into your nan’s house – the cups are in this cupboard and the spoons are in there and you just get down to business. I was just ready to show the group an evolution of Cheryl.

Blu: I think the only pressure I felt was what I put on myself. I’m the only queen from Northern Ireland that’s ever been on Drag Race and you have to go in there with confidence and power. That’s what I focussed on preparing for this season.

Is there anything that surprised you this time round?

Cheryl: Getting to know these queens and see what they bring from their countries. It got me more excited than season one.

Blu: Especially with the pandemic, it’s people we might never have met in our lives. Pangina flew 20 hours to get to set!

How did you feel about elevating your looks for your returning season?

Cheryl: The thing in season one that let me down the most were my runways. I took everything on the surface and did everything literally rather than being creative and showing layers to my drag. This time around, I was ready to invest everything into my wardrobe and looks. I worked hard through the pandemic and the hard work pays off when you can put everything back into your work.

Blu: Totally. We were the second ever international franchise, so we didn’t know really how much to invest the first time round. This time, I felt more confident being able to invest because we’ve all seen what you can gain from it. We’ve seen the success of queens like Bimini. I wanted to look good. And I did.

Did you UK girls feel more at ease with the Drag Race: UK Versus the World judging panel because you’ve been critiqued by all four of them before?

Blu: Yeah, I feel like we didn’t have to have that initial shock of being like “That’s RuPaul!” Some of these queens were being viewed with fresh eyes, but they knew what we can do and we had to be elevated from that, so we had to work a little bit harder. But I didn’t envy the girls who hadn’t stood in front of RuPaul before.

Cheryl: For me, the standards of my drag were so low on season one that anything I came back with was going to be a step up. I knew Michelle would have a smile on her face no matter what!

Which queens were your biggest competition?

Blu: Well, I think it’s a season of fan favourites! So that’s huge competition. Jimbo was very intimidating. Mo Heart? SO much personality. Pangina: Mysterious. We had no clue what she could do.

Cheryl: I agree 100 per cent. The minute I saw Pangina I went, “Oh, they’re not messing around this season.”

Can we expect drama from this season?

Blu: Oh, there’s full drama.

Cheryl: I’m a happy go lucky diva, but if you bring drama to my doorstep I will face it front on. Get ready for some beef, chicken and rice.

Jujubee and Lemon

Hey guys! How excited were you both to be coming back for Drag Race: UK Versus the World?

Jujubee: I’m always in this mindset where drag makes everybody happen, and when I heard this season was UK Versus the World I thought “this is huge!” I’m so excited to be competing against these super talented girls. And I’m terrified of Lemon!

Lemon: For me, it was really exciting to come back and show myself to a whole new audience. I’m a Canadian who started drag in New York, my dad’s Portuguese and my mom’s Scottish. So, I felt like this was the perfect place to come back and be reintroduced to the world.

How did you guys find Drag Race: UK Versus the World having its home here and coming to compete in the UK?

Jujubee: I loved it. I thought everyone was so welcoming and so kind. It’s so cool to be a part of it. The UK queens do NOT come to play. Look at Baga’s face! She wants to win this competition, baby.

Lemon: I feel the same way! It’s so exciting to be in the UK. The UK kind of has a different relationship to drag that most countries don’t have, you’ve had pantomimes forever. It was cool to be in a place where drag felt cherished and understood.

Some queens represented themselves without other queens from their franchise – you guys both had someone else from yours. Did you find that comforting or did it bring a different level of competitiveness?

Lemon: Comforting in a way! The girls there by themselves could be like “Well you can’t send me home because I’m the only queen from my franchise!” We were all walking into a Work Room with pre-existing relationships. It’s a complicated thing to deal with country to country, but I was so happy to see Jimbo there. We’re the MOST different queens from our season too, so it was fun that both of us were representing Canada.

What’s your favourite thing about the UK?

Jujubee: Sunday roasts. Sunday roast is my favourite thing. I don’t know why the world doesn’t do a Sunday roast. I’m happy to come over to any of your houses to eat your Yorkshire puddings. There’s a cauliflower thing y’all make that’s so delicious.

Lemon: Irn Bru should be sold all over the world. It’s one of the best drinks in the entire universe. It’s the only beverage in the entire world that tastes like the colour orange, and that’s something I just love.

What did you find the biggest challenge coming back?

Jujubee: For me, it was going back into a competition after spending a year and a half alone. If we can touch on what that’s like. We’re doing these interviews like this, we’ve got so used to communicate with each other via Zoom. So this competition was a glimmer of hope. A gift for me to remove myself from a strange place.

Lemon: Agreeing with what Juju said, when we realised we’d all been tested and we could all hug and touch each other. That was so overwhelming but amazing sharing that with so many people you love.

Jimbo and Mo Heart

Hey queens! What were the challenges you guys were most scared about coming back to the competition?

Mo: Any challenges that require me to do a cartwheel.

Jimbo: Well, I guess we all remember my girl group challenge. I’m still working on my choreo dancing. I like to dance to the beat of my own drum! I have a really hard time following along and remembering choreo.

How would you guys describe your drag evolution since we last saw your compete?

Jimbo: I got intense criticism on my makeup, and I was really able to up my makeup game which let me bring more stuff to the surface that I didn’t have the ability to before. I’m really excited for people to see my new makeup skills and new beat and how beautiful I am!

Mo: I’ve learned how to not take myself as serious and to have more fun with it. Learning how to pull from the goofs like Jimbo!

How did this season compare to your past experiences competing in the franchise?

Jimbo: This one was specifically different because the last time I competed it was pre-pandemic. Coming out of isolation and uncertainty, it was just really exciting and a big challenge to get all stuff together and fund the looks.

Mo: It was a dream come true. We got to live in Manchester for a bit! Competing in a pandemic where you have to quarantine was not fun, but to live in another country and do what you love and make great TV with your sisters was a dream come true.

Jimbo, what was it like being judged by Ru?

Jimbo: It was just the highest honour, and the biggest point of my life. It was everything. I love RuPaul because she has a sense of humour. She’s seen everything.

Mo, did you feel like you had an already existing bond?

Mo: Yes. Truthfully, season 10 we didn’t get much oohs and ahhs and kikis. All Stars, a little. But I got a rapport with her when I worked on AJ and the Queens. Episode seven, you don’t have to watch the rest because the rest of it is boring in my opinion. But Ru is the one person that makes me tremble. But I was honoured to be one of the nine selected to do this. I’m very pleased.

RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK Versus The World starts at 9pm tonight on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer. New episodes every Tuesday. For all the latest Drag Race memes and Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Baga Chipz was unable to attend due to illness.

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