RuPaul's Drag Race UK Vs The World - Episode 3 Review
Another Tuesday evening has arrived bringing another helping of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs the World where the international Queens compete to become the first global superstar. The episode starts with the queens entering the werkroom after the elimination of the UK’s favourite hole… Cheryl (to read the exit interview with Cheryl click here). As the Queens de-brief the drama starts once Jimbo is asked who they voted to eliminate, when Jimbo reveals that it was actually JuJu he would have picked all hell breaks loose. If I’m honest, I would have done the same, yes Cheryl did fail in the challenge but JuJu just isn’t present this season. From the runway to her confessionals something is just off sadly.
When the new day in the werkroom arrives Monique Heart announces that she would from now on like to called Mo Heart which is how we will now refer to her during our reviews. Ru then arrives to kick off one of my favourite mini challenges, the reading challenge. Once the library was opened the Queens began reading each other for filth but more often than not these seasoned queens just missed the mark. I think my tops were JuJu (the pro at reading challenges) Janey Jacke and Blu. Ru chooses JuJu as the winner and at this point I’m really hoping this is the start of the JuJu we all know and love joining the competition.
With the win under her belt JuJu is given the power the decide the roles for the main challenge, this week that challenge is to put on a lip-sync Rusical celebrating musical theatre. The queens pretty much pick their roles without any issue apart from Baga who wanted the same part as JuJu. Of course, with the mini challenge winner power JuJu took the role she wanted and Baga acted like a child throwing the biggest strop. It actually really put me off Baga a little and I don’t think she’s come across very well this season at all. Not like she did in the first that’s for sure.
The Queens head off for rehearsals with Johannes Radebe who helped the queens with their choreo. No one really struggled apart from Jimbo who claimed he had a next injury so the dancing had to be dumbed down. Looking at the last two lip sync for the wins, I think this was all a lie as we have seen Jimbo isn’t a dancer and more of a pull faces and stomp around the stage. Either way Johannes whips the Queens into shape to get them ready for the show.
During the actual musical itself we had some really strong performances and some equally weak ones. Lets begin with the weaks, sadly Mo Heart had another stunt fumble (just like the one in the flash back, but maybe not as bad) which I thought would automatically land her in the bottom. It wasn't terrible and could be a safe for me but with the other Queens nailing the challenge it left Mo open for a bottom two slot. The next two performances again weren’t terrible just weak, we had Jimbo and JuJu who gave us well… pretty plain performances. Like I said nothing bad but nothing great like we expect from an international competition. My top three were Janey played her role perfectly, Pangina who opened the Rusical with a bang and Blu who really had me in stitches.
After the show the Queens then moved onto walking the runway for a category of, dot, dot, dot.
I’m really disappointed there wasn’t another Mamma Mia reference but equally the Queens just like the talent show pulled some fun and creative looks mixed with let downs. My tops Blu Hydrangea (apart from the hip shape) the outfit was so fun and creative and was one of the key stand-outs for me. Pangina’s look was also really fun and creative and although I’m glad she pulled the headpiece back, when she did you could see all the mechanics behind her head which ruined it a little for me (but not enough to not love the outfit). I love Monsters Inc so clearly I loved Mo Hearts, I just wished she kept the little Mike clutch bag for longer, either way the details on this outfit were spot on and I loved this look. The ones I hated were Baga’s and JuJu’s, both were very meh moments as they came round the corner.
Comparing the performances with the runways, my top’s this week would have to be Blu Hydrangea and Janey Jacke with Pangina as a very close top however, I preferred Janey’s performance that little bit more, maybe I’m biased as I love Mamma Mia. My bottoms would be Baga and JuJu, both lacked effort in both the performance and runway. Ru had other ideas and picked Pangina and Janey as our tops with JuJu and Jimbo in the bottom giving safe verdicts to Blu and Baga (who rightfully so looked stunned again).
When the Queens enter the werkroom to discuss, JuJu gets very emotional but sadly this will be her second time in the bottom on just week 3 alone and for me it’s her time to go. Although Jimbo failed the challenge I really do think he deserves to stay having had two top positions in a row and honestly bringing more to the competition than JuJu.
When Pangina and Janey take to the lip-sync I couldn’t work out who each had picked and after a energetic performance Ru awards Pangina with the win. As she pulls her lipstick I was gutted as she picked Jimbo to leave, wiping Canada out of the competition. Do I agree, as I said no. I just don’t think keeping JuJu based on her Drag Race Fandom love / previous work in other series is enough. This sadly left Jimbo to leave with yet another iconic exit line / performance. To read the exit interview with Jimbo about their time on the show click here.
Who would you have picked to leave the competition? Let us know on our socials.
The series airs on British screens exclusively on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from at 9pm, with new episodes released weekly (on Tuesdays).
Imagery with thanks to our friends at the BBC