Photo: Denelle + Tom Ellis / @amarriedcouple.
Bailey J Mills says they’d be “misunderstood” by RuPaul and the panel if they were to appear on a future season of Drag Race UK.
The British drag entertainer and comedian memorably shot to fame over the pandemic with their inexplicably hilarious tribute to Scooby Doo’s severely near-sighted detective Velma Dinkley, which became one of the biggest viral hits in recent years.
Since “Scooby! Shaggy! Oh my god, Daphne?! Frederick?! Where is everybody?!” changed comedy forever, Bailey has received enormous amounts of praise for their “crunchy, cheap and affordable” aesthetic and “council estate” sense-of-humour.
As one of the most prominent drag entertainers in the UK right now – their Instagram and TikTok followings have surpassed 50k – Bailey is often faced with the question, “When will we see you on Drag Race UK?”
Although Bailey reveals they tried out for the third season, which saw Krystal Versace take home the crown, their application was turned down. However, the star admits it was for the best because “there’s too much polish now”.
“Baga [Chipz] and Ginny [Lemon], that’s the drag I do,” they explain.
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“It’s probably quite predictable putting me on because my platform is growing, but also my runways would be shit; they’ll purposely be shit because it would be a character. It wouldn’t be a gown, it would be a maxi-dress from eBay with goofy teeth in a wig going [makes pig noises].”
However, Bailey adds: “But that would be funny!”
On Drag Race UK season two, RuPaul memorably barked at Joe Black for wearing H&M on the runway, sparking a debate about queens’ expenses and how much of their money should be spent on garments for the show.
If Bailey were to sashay into the werkroom, and subsequently be criticised for their eBay maxi-dress, they wouldn’t take the feedback well because they “know” their worth.
Photo: Matty Parks / @matty_parks
“I don’t think any drag queen does what I do,” they confidently state. “Drag Race, I feel like I could be very misunderstood. It could go one of two ways. I don’t like changing my brand, because I’ve tried to fit in before.”
Instead, Bailey tells GAY TIMES that they want to rise to superstardom without the help of RuPaul’s Emmy Award-winning empire. They cite Alexis Stone and Juno Birch as examples, queens who are “getting opportunities for themselves and working their way up from nothing”.
“I am a drag queen that does sketch characters, and that is all of me right now. I’m an actor/actress,” they say. “That’s what I want to do in the long run, comedy characters on a TV show.”
You can read our full interview with Bailey J Mills in the latest issue of GAY TIMES via our app, Apple News+, Readly, and Flipster.
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