After ten weeks of the fiercest competition around, a new queen has taken the crown of Drag Race UK.
Ginger Johnson, Michael Marouli and Tomara Thomas – the ‘Angels of the North’, so called because of all three of the trio’s North-Eastern background – made it to the finale of Drag Race UK season five, with one of them superseding Danny Beard, who won season four a year ago.
In the queens’ final challenge, they had to write and perform a verse on RuPaul’s song ‘Spotlight’, and appear in a sexy, cat burglar themed video.
Elsewhere in the episode, the queens had sit down with RuPaul and Michelle Visage, got to enjoy a visit from their biggest supporters and reflected on the season as a whole.
Beware: spoilers below.
After a stellar season, the top three were rejoined on the main stage by six eliminated queens of the season, including the recently fallen Dede Licious and the iconic Kate Butch; Cara Melle was absent due to illness.
With the badge count stacked against her, Tomara Thomas and her single challenge win were told to sashay away from the competition, with the star leaving the stage with a signature cackle and good humour.
It was then up to Ginger Johnson and Michael Marouli, with three challenge wins apiece, to lip sync for the crown to ‘A Little Respect’ by Erasure.
After a fierce battle (and a cameo from Danny Beard), the winner of season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was announced as… Ginger Johnson!
Now, a bit of behind-the-scenes tea; at the end of a Drag Race season, multiple endings are filmed, so not even the queens know who’s won before it airs on TV – so here’s the moment Ginger actually found out she’d snatched the crown.
In the clip, season five’s top two (Ginger and Michael) can be seen reacting to the announcement with an appropriate amount of tears and celebration. Tomara, to her credit, looks thrilled to be there.
And here’s the moment we at HuffPost UK found out during the finale screening!
Drag Race UK Seasons 1-5 and Drag Race UK Vs. The World are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.