Spankie Jackson winning Drag Race Down Under shows talent and charm take you all the way

Drag Race Down Under had a choice to make. It’s safe to say season one went down like a lead balloon. Everything was off. The racism swept under the carpet, the two dollar budget, the horrific vibes, the fan favourites getting the boot at the start. Season two had to right the wrongs, or not bother. Season two of Drag Race Down Under more than managed to right these wrongs, and it’s all down to one queen: Spankie Jackzon.

To say that I have become completely and utterly besotted with Spankie Jackzon is the understatement of the millennia. To say that Spankie Jackzon’s runways are rough and ready is the understatement of the millennia. To say Spankie Jackzon is exploding with charm and charisma is the understatement of the millennia. Spankie Jackzon being crowned the winner of Drag Race Down Under is the best news the franchise has had in a millennia – here’s why.

SPANKIE MUTHATUCKA IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT!

When I say that that the wrongs of season one were righted due to one queen, I do not do that to discredit the work of the other queens Ar Spanks shared the Werk Room and the runway with. By a long shot, the casting of season two is an improvement – and Hannah Conda, Kween Kong, Yuri Guaii, Beverly Kills and Minnie Cooper in particular made this season one to remember for a variety of reasons. But it was Spankie Jackzon who stole every heart and had the fans clamouring for Ru to put a crown on it.

Spankie’s road to victory was unlikely at first, but that’s what makes it all the sweeter.

On episode one, Spankie Jackzon was in the bottom two for an outfit that is far and away one of the worst design challenge looks to ever haunt a Drag Race runway. A load of bent pool noodles, black panties on show and Spankie’s iconic man-legs stomping about in some Pleasers. One look at her and you’d have her written off as an early out, but Spankie is a lesson in looks being deceiving.

The rest of the season, Spankie was a force to be reckoned with. An acting and comedy powerhouse, a singer, a queen who could follow choreography and a queen with so much charisma, charm and heart that she never stopped helping and guiding her fellow competitors – and charming Ru in the process.

I feel like the true solidification of Spankie needing to win was how iconic her roar of a verse was on Bosom Buddies. Ru’s face really says it all. Icon!

Her win means more than just a crown

Drag Race is a polished machine, but Spankie Jackzon being crowned the Down Under winner proves you don’t have to have the skinny and high fashion polish of the likes of Krystal Versace to wow RuPaul and win the crown. That isn’t to discredit queens like Krystal – who absolutely deserved to win – but more a celebration that this victory of Spankie’s proves there’s space and validation for drag of all types as long as you’re super talented and driven to get there. And that is such a beautiful thing.

I’ve written a lot about how I think there’s a classism issue with the Drag Race franchise’s expectations on runway presentations and standards of fashion – and this is such a step in the right direction. Queens bursting with talent too afraid to go on the show can see everything Spankie Jackzon achieved and feel validated, and know they are worthy to be crowned a winner, baby.

Spankie MUTHATUCKA in the house tonight, indeed. What a legend, what a season and what a bloody great winner.

Watch season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under on BBC iPlayer. 

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