An All Star Question: What made Rupaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World so bad?

There’s no denying that Rupaul’s Drag Race is a global phenomenon. Between 48 Emmy nominations, 24 Emmy wins, and millions of viewers across the World, Drag Race is a TV show that everyone seems to be talking about right now. 

There’s currently five running Drag Race programs in the US, along with seven international programs across the world. Quite simply, Drag Race is huge, with installments covering several scenarios and themes. In America, we have regular Drag Race, it’s after-show ‘Untucked,’ and All Stars, an annual opportunity for former queens to come back and compete for the drag race hall of fame. But that’s not all.

What if Drag Race happened to celebrities? Try Rupaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race. Okay, what if drag queens could sing? Queen of the Universe will give you the American Idol fantasy. Want a non-English installment? Take your pick from Drag Race Espana, Italia, Holland, or Thailand. If you’re patient, you’ll have the first seasons of Drag Race France and Philippines by next year. 

If that’s still not enough, Drag Race UK is pumping out seasons at a rate that’s almost 2 per year, and Drag Race Canada is arguably the best of the franchise. Only try Drag Race Down Under if you’re incredibly bored, and there isn’t any wet paint to watch dry. That one is particularly rough.

Rupaul must have decided that 89 episodes across 52 weeks wasn’t enough, and wanted to add another installment to the ever growing franchise. Introducing ‘UK vs. The World,’ or as some know it, International All Stars (which honestly describes the concept so much clearer). According to the show’s IMBD page, UK vs. the World is described as ‘Renowned queens from different Drag Race franchises compete in an international arena showcasing their country’s finest drag in their bid to become the ultimate Drag Race Superstar.’ On paper, it sounds great. The best of the best in one season, all competing for the crown? Sounds good to me! Only… it didn’t end up being that. At all. 

UK vs. The World was announced in late January to… tepid reaction. Most die-hard fans had known about the season for almost a year at that point, and the promotional video was somewhat of a let down. Simply put… it was a small cast with a low budget promo. The queens, who are typically known to be chronically upbeat, seemed deflated. Someone in post production must have picked up on the total lack of emotion, and tried to amp up the video with countless sound effects. It was a weird way to start the season, but most of the Drag Race fandom shrugged it off. The season couldn’t be that bad… right?

February 1st marked the first episode of UK vs. the World. Honestly, the first episode was great. It opened on a high note with the typical ‘talent show’ format, and although most queens just lip-synced to a bitch track, (and Jimbo did… this), it was still a fun episode. However, looking back, this is the first sign of the All Stars rules tainting the season. 

This is probably a good time to explain what All Stars rules are for those who aren’t familiar, or just need a refresher since it’s been a few years since these rules have been used in the US. Every week, two top All Stars are chosen from the challenge. These two queens will then ‘Lip-Sync for their legacy,’ with the winning queen being able to choose what bottom queen to eliminate. Usually, the winning queen will choose whoever has the worst track record, or did the worst in the challenge. But on rare occasions, the winner will choose to eliminate the front-runner, thereby taking out her biggest competition. It’s cut throat, and it can often be awful to watch, seeing someone have their hard work wiped out from under them. But sometimes… it scratches that reality TV itch that most of us crave. 

We experienced this for the first time in All Stars 4, all the way back in 2018 (that’s a long time in Drag Race years). Manila Luzon, the front runner and expected winner of the season, found herself in the bottom for the first time, and Naomi Smalls, fan-favorite and self-proclaimed leg queen, gave her the chop. It was like Nancy Kerrigan taking a baton to the leg. Within one decision, queer people all around the world were either outraged at Naomi, or absolutely in love with her nerve (I was apart of the latter). This was the fourth season of All Stars and someone finally was playing by the rules. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a whole season that was this cut throat?  It would be cruel, but it would make great tv. Or so I thought.

I was wrong. Sure, the shock of having a top queen suddenly eliminated is insane, but it’s important to think about what that does to the rest of the season. Let me quote what many queens have said before… ‘I want to beat the best.’ And although many have made fun of this mantra, rallying for queens to be as savage as possible… I believe it has a certain truth to it. 

UK vs. the World was the first season where almost all of the queens were playing by Naomi’s rules. Pangina Heals, who made history as the first International judge to compete, axed Lemon on the first episode, despite Lemon being the best out of the queens who were in the bottom. 

Next episode, Janey Jacké, reigning from Holland, eliminated UK’s Cheryl Hole, despite Cheryl having the best track record out of the Bottom girls.

Episode three, The Rusical (Yes, that is Ru + Musical,) awarded Pangina with a win, and she chose to cut Jimbo, even though Jimbo had won the last two episodes. It was obvious what the girls were doing now. They were going to play this season ‘Survivor’ style, and cut out every major form competition. 

Once the season lost fan-favorite Pangina in episode four (and we got one of the saddest eliminations ever), most fans gave up on the season. At this point, only one other competitor had a win, and the competition was left with the most lukewarm top 4 in history. Only 2 queens had official wins, with the other girls holding a smattering of highs and lows. But no obvious top queen, no obvious winner. All we were left with were a boring bunch of queens, with yawn-worthy storylines and unimpressive track records.

The season ended with the exhilaration of a balloon losing helium. Blu Hydrangea, the only queen with a win (besides Jujubee, who had been consistently placed in the bottom), was crowned the Universal Queen of Drag. At the viewing party I threw, no one cheered. No one gasped, or said anything. This is the same group of people who will scream at undeserving challenge wins, and boo at Rupaul’s ill-timed jokes. We love drag race, and the unapologetic queer art that it offers. But UK vs. the World ended up being a slow moving descent into what Drag Race is at its worst… shallow, lame, and overwhelmingly boring. 

The general fan reaction was no different. Usually, Twitter explodes when a new winner is crowned, no matter what country she reigns from. But with UK vs. The World, Drag Race wasn’t even a trending topic. It seemed like everyone looked at each other with a shrug, then said ‘Wow, glad that’s over.’

Although no official announcement has been made about the next installment of the series, there is a murmuring that Canada will be hosting. With any luck, that means only the best for ‘Vs. The World,’ as Canada has been serving up some great content over the past few years. Hopefully the girls learn to play All Stars in a new fashion, or producers change up the formula, otherwise we’re in for another disaster.