For many of us around the country, the weekend officially started at 7pm on Thursday nights these last nine weeks, as that’s when we’ve been treated to new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
Series two of the hit reality show arrived a little bit later than many of us would have liked, but it more than made up for it with a season jam-packed with surprises, stunts and total serves.
This series has gifted us some incredible moments, from the early exits of initial favourites Joe Black and Asttina Mandella, Ginny Lemon’s walk-off and Rats: The Rusical, to the debut of UK Hun and a glorious Snatch Game.
Now, just four queens remain in the running, and the question remains...who is going to take home the season two crown?
Here we weigh up the four finalists’ chances of following in series one champion The Vivienne’s footsteps...
Bimini Bon Boulash
Release the beast! It’s definitely not an understatement to say that as the Drag Race UK finale approaches, Bimini Bon Boulash is the favourite for the crown by some way.
Since the queens returned from their enforced seven-month break due to the pandemic, Bimini has been picking up challenge wins left, right and centre. She’s now ahead of all of her competitors with four Ru-Peter Badges to her name, including wins for her United Kingdolls verse and her scene-stealing Snatch Game performance, which even got the seal of approval from Katie Price herself.
Not only is she ahead in wins, Bimini is trouncing the rest of the queens when it comes to fan support on social media, and has won praise for candid conversations around gender and her own non-binary identity.
The only real criticism we could have for Bimini is that it did take her a little while to find her footing in the competition (if she does win, she’ll be the only non-All Stars winner to be crowned after lip syncing in week one), but there’s no denying she’s definitely come into her own since those early weeks. The incredible performer and self-professed “cis-tem offender” would unquestionably be a great representative of UK drag on the world stage.
High-point: Returning after a seven-month break with her immediately-iconic UK Hun verse
Low moment: Winding up in the bottom two in the first week of the competition
Serve of the season:
Tayce
On paper, Tayce might not be as far ahead as some of her competitors, with four challenge losses over the course of the competition. That being said, she’s kept her composure and come back fighting every single time... and let’s be honest, of those four lip syncs, how many times did she actually deserve to be in the bottom?
Exactly.
Since Drag Race launched over a decade ago, RuPaul has stuck with his “charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent” mantra as a way of determining who the next drag superstar will be, and those are four boxes Tayce definitely ticks.
Charisma? Her quick wit and unique way with words in the confessionals regularly has us howling, and she’s probably responsible for more quotes and memes than most of her competitors.
Uniqueness? Absolutely, who else in the competition is serving the levels of glamour and quirky sense of humour like Tayce?
Nerve? Did we mention those four lip syncs, and the fact she barely batted her perfect eyelashes despite her place in the competition being on the line every single time?
And as for talent, that’s something she’s showcased throughout her time in the workroom. Her efforts might not always have translated into individual challenge wins, but Tayce is a queen we won’t forget in a hurry.
High-point: Every time she walked the runway, to be honest.
Low moment: Making an outfit out of scouring pads, despite being advised not to by RuPaul.
Serve of the season:
Lawrence Chaney
Lawrence Chaney was a frontrunner from the time she first stepped foot in the workroom and declared she was “like the Loch Ness monster… a legend”.
From the word go, Lawrence was clearly a favourite of RuPaul’s, picking up three successive wins, including for her performances in the daytime TV and design challenges. Her sense of humour also set her apart with viewers, but she was no one-trick pony, as her looks were also almost always on point.
If you’d asked anyone – including the remaining queens – in the early stages of the competition, they’d have probably said Lawrence had it in the bag. It’s been something of a different story in the post-lockdown half of the series, with Lawrence struggling more than we’d seen before, even winding up in the bottom when her Miriam Margolyes impression failed to impress the judges in the Snatch Game.
It has to be said, though, that even when Lawrence is slightly off her game or gets in her head – as she did in the lead-up to both the Ruruvision Song Contest and BeastEnders challenges – she’s always managed to deliver when it counts.
Since Drag Race has become a global phenomenon, RuPaul has frequently described the show as being about the “tenacity of the human spirit”, and tenacity is one thing Lawrence has in abundance, as evidenced when she’s discussed her struggles with bullying or how she’s personally been hit hard by the pandemic.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen her winning a Ru-Peter badge, but she does have three of them to her name, so no one should be writing her off just yet.
High-point: Winning three challenges in a row
Low moment: The Snatch Game routine that landed her in the bottom two
Serve of the season:
Ellie Diamond
No challenge wins and coming into the final straight off the back of her first lip sync might put Ellie Diamond as something of an underdog in this last stage of the competition. But what is Drag Race, if not a celebration of underdogs?
Ellie entered the competition as a queen primarily known for her incredible make-up abilities, but don’t count out her other talents, too. Her Snatch Game performance impersonation of Vicky Pollard earned the praise of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and she kept up with renowned dancer Tayce not just in their semi-final lip sync but also Rats: The Rusical.
And even though past Drag Race queens who specialise in makeup have perhaps taken the look side of the contest a little too seriously, Ellie has never been afraid to lean into the silly side of things, whether she’s channelling Dennis The Menace for her hometown look or walking the runway dressed as a giant bikini-clad seagull.
Admittedly, of the four contestants still in the running, Ellie would be the one we’d be most shocked to see take home the crown, but there’s a reason the 21-year-old has lasted as long as she has in the race.
High-point: Serving physical comedy with “Mickaaaay” in BeastEnders
Low moment: Dirty Diamond in her stand-up comedy challenge
Serve of the season:
The final of RuPaul’s Drag Race series 2 will be available to stream on BBC Three from 7pm on Thursday.