Culture

Drag Race UK viewers are “shook” over the latest shock elimination

By Sam Damshenas

4th March 2021

BBC

The amount of shock eliminations on Drag Race UK season two? Honey honey honey.

For their eighth maxi-challenge, the five remaining contestants – A’Whora, Bimini Bon Boulash, Ellie Diamond, Lawrence Chaney and Tayce – performed stand-up comedy routines, before stomping the runway in a stone-inspired look.

Following her win in the hilarious mini-challenge, which saw the queens embrace their inner butch queen-realness as they performed Ru’s pop favourite Kitty Girl, Ellie decided the order in which her competitors would perform.

She decided to place A’Whora first, herself second, followed by Bimini, Lawrence and Tayce. After admitting it was a strategic move on her part, as she’s the only contestant without a RuPeter badge, the Scot was met with enormous backlash from A’Whora and Lawrence.

Later, A’Whora’s routine was met with mixed reviews from the judges for relying heavily on blue-inspired humour. Alan told the star: “You’ve got great physical comedy but I just thought it was undermined by the rude jokes. But you came out first and you came out with confidence.” 

Although Ellie’s performance left the judges in hysterics, particularly for her dick-loving alter-ego Dirty Diamond, her pace was criticised. This also applied to Tayce and Lawrence, while Bimini’s routine – and acne-inspired runway – was praised.

The latter ultimately walked away with the win, her third overall, with best friends – and roommates – A’Whora and Tayce competing in the lip-sync showdown to Dusty Springfield’s chart-topping ballad You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.

After an emotionally-fused performance, A’Whora lost her place in the competition and was told to sashay away by RuPaul. “I’m feeling really proud of myself. At the end of the day, I left with two wins and only one lip sync,” said A’Whora.

“So I did my best and that’s all I can do. This may be the end but I’m sure you’ll see me next on the cover of Vogue…”

Here’s how fans reacted to the latest elimination:

https://twitter.com/hxltxnj/status/1367566998708846600

https://twitter.com/TheKeeganator1/status/1367566931058970631

https://twitter.com/CheapWine99/status/1367566758413037569

https://twitter.com/NicoleHenders0n/status/1367567384157032448

https://twitter.com/tawhora/status/1367567368331870214

https://twitter.com/mcrquands/status/1367568135855955970

On next week’s episode, the final four will star in a brand new soap opera, BeastEnders. The queens will be assisted by Eastenders legend Natalie Cassidy. An extra special guest judge will join RuPaul, Michelle Visage and Graham Norton on the panel, before another queen gets the chop.

To hear our thoughts on the brand new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, subscribe to Snatched! an original podcast from GAY TIMES. Each week, we dissect all of the drama and conflama of the latest episode and chat with the eliminated queen, who spills all the T on their exit and time on the series. Snatched! is now available on all streaming services including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.