For the second time in less than three years, it’s been a major possibility that Baga Chipz will sashay away with the RuPaul’s Drag Race crown. Following an excellent run on the first season of the British series, where she became the first contestant in the franchise’s history to earn three maxi-challenge wins in five episodes, the self-titled “most famous woman in Britain” made her grand return on the first season of UK vs the World last month. Once again, Baga proved her status as one of “the best actresses in the UK” with her acclaimed impersonation of Kathy Bates in the Snatch Game – making her one of only three contestants to win the fan-favourite challenge twice.
After five highly debated (and controversial) weeks, nine Glamazon Warriors have been dwindled down to four: Baga, Blu Hydrangea, Jujubee and Mo Heart, making the upcoming finale a transatlantic UK vs US lip-sync smackdown for the crown. Ahead of the final episode, we caught up with Baga to discuss her run on the series, her relationship with Casper the Baloney Ghost Jimbo and why social media trolls should “kiss my arse”.
Hello Baga! Why haven’t you taken Juju to a Greggs for her vegan sausage roll yet?!
Because I live in Central London and there’s no bloody Greggs near me! It’s all up North. There’s a Greggs down every corner up North. But, I’ll try and make her one from fresh. I’m gonna have to take her up to Manchester and get her four sausage rolls.
This week marks the last episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World. How are you feeling heading into the final?
It was such a brilliant experience, the best part to come out of it is I’ve got a lot closer to Juju, Jimbo, Mo… Yeah, I’ve made friends for life, so that is better than any prize, making friends for life. I had a blast, we were just having a lot of fun. I know I take the piss and stuff, like on the show, but we were just having so much fun and I had a laugh.
This is your second time in the final, so major condragulations! How does your experience on UK vs the World compare to UK season one?
Well, season one you’re like new meat, so nobody really knows you or anything. Obviously, people who have watched you know you, but the masses don’t know you. When you go on the second time everyone’s like… They know who you are and they expect more from you. I was a bit more prepared, but season one was more organic. I didn’t know what was coming next.
As one of the most prominent drag queens in the UK, did you feel pressure to succeed this season? Especially because you had such an excellent run the first time around?
I do it for me, at the end of the day. I’m all about making myself proud. It’s all about self-love. I’ve had lots of support off so many people, but if people don’t support me, then kiss my arse, basically. So, I don’t really care.
UK vs the World has been met with a lot of praise thanks to the incredible contestants and performances. However, it does feel like there’s been more uproar than ever before due to the eliminations – it seemed like Jimbo’s hit you pretty hard. Has all this backlash come as a surprise to you?
No, because Jimbo’s an amazing contestant and everybody loves Jimbo. I love Jimbo, I didn’t want her to go. We weren’t allowed to eliminate ourselves – there was a part of me that wanted me to say, ‘Can I just go?’ but I couldn’t because we weren’t allowed. Like I said, you just have to take it with a grain of salt, know what I mean? When people send hate to the queens, they’re sad. It shows more about them than us. Me and Jimbo have become really close friends and we support each other and we love each other and that’s all that matters. We don’t care what anybody else says. That is the reason I picked Pangina, because I thought she was trying to get rid of the best. We love each other and everyone got on like a house on fire, it’s just a game show where we have to pick people. Unfortunately, we have to pick someone.
How are you making sure you maintain your mental health throughout all this?
I just block the haters. They live sad little lives and I just carry on being fabulous and living my best life in London.
With that in mind, would you ever think about returning to the franchise for a third time?
Erm… Yeah I would, just to rub it in people’s faces that you can’t keep a good girl down, know what I mean? Yeah, I would do it again and again and again, just to piss them all off.
You won the Snatch Game – again! I don’t think I’ve EVER seen (Ru)Paul laugh that hard. What advice would you give to future queens hoping to conquer the challenge?
The secret to winning Snatch Game is that you need to do someone funny. Don’t be scared to be ugly, don’t be scared to dress down, take the piss out of yourself. Do your research on the character and just be a method actress, like myself, and be one of the best actresses in the UK, like me.
Has Kathy Bates reached out?
Me and Kathy Bates are very, very good friends and we talk all the time. We love each other and we’re really good friends and we just talk about different methods and different skills of acting, and how we can improve our craft.
You and Jujubee had a really beautiful conversation about your relationship with alcohol. How have you noticed this discussion impact viewers at home?
I’ve had hundreds of messages off people saying how it’s helped them with recovery and how it’s helped them open their eyes, and see that they have a problem. Something really good has come out of this show and it’s showed people that they’re not alone and that there is help out there.
What’s next for the most famous woman in Britain? Is there any T you can spill about upcoming TV appearances or potentially a second Frock Destroyers album?
Frock Destroyers are working on new music. I’m in touch with many fashion designers and many film directors. You never know, you’re gonna be seeing a lot of Baga Chipz and I’m going to be taking over the mothertucking world.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World finale airs 8 March on BBC iPlayer.
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