RuPaul’s Drag Race is being remade in the UK after the BBC ordered a local version from World of Wonder. The competition format is coming to youth-skewing BBC Three in 2019.
RuPaul will be on the lookout to crown one of the UK’s top drag artists the ‘Queen of Great Britain’ in the eight-part series.
Contestants will compete in individual or team challenges that test a specific drag queen skill before taking on the Maxi Challenge, where they may be required to perform, model in a photo shoot, prepare a runway look for a themed challenge before having to face the judges, with one contestant each week eliminated and asked to “sashay away”.
The reality series was originally commissioned by Viacom’s Logo TV before moving to VH1 for its ninth season.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, outgoing controller BBC Three and Kate Phillips, Controller, BBC Entertainment. The Executive Producers are RuPaul Charles, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Sally Miles and Bruce McCoy, and the BBC Commissioning Editor is Ruby Kuraishe.
RuPaul said, “It is a dream come true to extend our royal family to the United Kingdom with our partners at BBC Three. I am beyond excited to celebrate the massive charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent of the Queen’s queens. And before anyone asks, yes, we would be thrilled to have Meghan Markle join us, as we are already preparing a ‘Royal-Mother-To-Be’ runway challenge.”
Kavanagh added, “Needless to say, we’re delighted that BBC Three will be the home of a new UK version of Drag Race. It is one of the biggest entertainment titles in the world and anticipation levels for a UK version have been at feverish levels. With heart, humour and the un-imitable RuPaul, Drag Race is going to take BBC Three to a whole new level.”
World of Wonder Co-Founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato added, “World of Wonder Productions began in the UK, and the many Queens of England have always been an inspiration, so bringing RuPaul’s Drag Race to BBC Three is a very special home coming”.
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