The Riggory of Drag Race UK 3

Another season of Drag Race UK has finished up, but the reception to this season has not been nearly as positive as the first two seasons, and I'm here to solve the mystery as to why!

Double shantays, double eliminations, two winners, no winners, no season of RuPaul's Drag Race has been so twisty and turny. And not many have been called into question for its riggory like this season has. Should Choriza and River both been sent home? Should Krystal Versace have won the season? Were Charity Kase and Vanity Milan treated unfairly by RuPaul and the producers? We're going to dig into every episode of UK3 and figure out what was rigged and what was not.

Let me know what you think of the season overall and what moment had you the most enraged at your TV screens in the comments below!

[DragDetective]

I definitely was wrong for mistakenly calling Choriza May a POC, which she is not. I want to apologize for my own ignorance on the subject matter. This taught me I still have a lot of learning & growing to do.

[imascene]

The Snatch Game episode still makes me upset because 1) RuPaul asked almost every queen to change the character they chose, regardless of how well they were able to portray their decision; 2) the only 2 queens that didn't take RuPaul's "advice" were punished with a double sashay and 3) Scarlet was given a high placement for literally only making RuPaul laugh. I like Home Alone as much as the next person, but there is nothing drag about portraying a character like that and it was extremely irritating to constantly zoom in on Scarlet's face when she would do the scream. I want more moments like Gigi Goode where RuPaul told her the robot wouldn't be funny and then she wins the Snatch Game as Maria the Robot.

[dragracerance]

I have a real problem with people saying Lawrence and Kitty have a similar drag aesthetic because THEY HAVE NOT. Kitty is all about sexy funny glam popstar when Lawrence has more of an opulent drag energy, their fashion are not the same... they just are both plus size, white and funny... Actually Kity is more like her sister Cheryl than Lawrence... the comparaison doesn't make sense at all.

[doomguy]

I feel like the loss of Victoria was really the domino effect that sent everything else into cascading chaos.

[teom.]

I find it baffling that production would've thought "we're not crowning Kitty, because people reacted poorly to Lawrence winning". People reacted poorly to Lawrence winning because while Lawrence dominated the first half of the season, we were literally coming off of 4 Bimini wins in 5 episodes (or something to that effect) and it felt like their momentum was unstoppable but led to an anticlimactic finale. In terms of track record, Krystal is obviously the Lawrence of the season, not Kitty: won early on, but then faded into the background, while still being favoured by Ru, even when doing mediocre. Just thinking of the producers sat around the table after the finale going "I don't understand! Why aren't they happy?! They wanted a skinny fashion queen to win last season, and that's what we're trying to give them!!!" is almost enough to make me laugh out loud... Are they that clueless?

[roelofm]

I think we can all agree that Victoria would have probably won this season had she not been injured. No one else felt like a full on "winner" to me this season, except for Victoria in that first episode.

[tryingtobesocial]

Also… can we talk about how Veronica helped everyone out with no credit or understanding on why she had little time. She went home for being nice

[LILFOC]

I think the problem with having Ru Paul, who is very loud and proud about being American, judging international seasons is that he shows very little interest in actually engaging with that country's culture and references (outside of corny British stereotypes). British drag has very different origins from American drag...it's not so much about the glamour than it is about the performance and comedy. Each countries version of drag is valid of course but if you are having a UK based season then as a judge it should be your job to learn and appreciate that cultures drag or have a local talent do it (btw I think Michelle does have more of an appreciation for British culture and drag then RuPaul so it isn't as bad). River and Choriza were punished for not going with RuPauls American references and alternate queen's like Ginny Lemon, Joe Black and Charity Case are treated badly by the show. Drag race is sadly homogenising drag into RuPauls idea of drag (ironic for a show that is ultimately about inclusivity) and it's honestly so exemplified in Krystal's win....

[bbqbestie]

Choriza isn’t a queen of color btw, she’s Hispanic but she’s from España so she’s white, you can definitely talk about how she was mistreated for being an immigrant and having English as a second language tho

[alohaisland]

I feel really bad for Ella honestly, she was my winner from Snatch Game and it really sucks that she was so disconnected in the finale because of her injury and I think she really deserved to win, I'm happy for Krystal but the finale left a really bad taste in my mouth

[SilverAnicore]

Production at the beginning: "Send the writers/editors on vacation, we've got our storyboards set, this season will write itself."
Production when Veronica & Victoria leave: **mad scramble** "Get the writers back, we'll just fill the time with literally anything shocking."
Production at the end: "Finally, the good editors are back from vacation. Here's the material you've got to work with. Good luck."

[psycane]

Please remember not to send hate to any of the queens or be rude to them because of a highly edited and sanitized reality competition show - they had no power or choice over the things that happened and the issues with the season and are all wonderful and talented and deserve nothing but love

[Cat_Woods]

Just want to put in a word of appreciation for Charity Kase. I lost interest after seeing how unfairly she was treated - how unappreciated her art and talent were.

[victortorres]

what bugged me about Krystal winning was not that she didn't deserve but from the edit it seemed like Ru never even considered the possibility that Ella or Kitty could win.. Krystal was overpraised a lot, given a few free passes and was called a star who was born to do drag at every single moment, so I always knew she was going to win..

I do understand her winning with the idea that she did outperform both Kitty and Ella in the finale, but still this seems a little bit anticlimactic for me.. what does that mean for the franchise? does a queen who slays every single challenge lose against another who one ended up 4 times in the BTTM2 for example? i just wish they crowned whoever did the best for the whole season, not just one episode...

[FYFAYAS]

The real winner was alesha Dixon, miss girl was getting her LIFE that entire episode

[maxcastillon]

Did anyone else notice how they were clearly having a Kitty vs Ella rivalry storyline throughout the entire second half of the season? There were so many moments in the confessionals where Kitty would literally be like "Ella is definitely my biggest competition..." and vice versa. They even lip-synced against each other for a win. Kind of a gag that krystal was the one who ended up winning, but this means that Ella and kitty could return on an all stars season to continue the rivalry

[ejirokirishima]

I know krystal wasnt the fan favourite nor had they the best track record but damn did I fell in love with her over the season at the beginning I thought I would hate her but she grew on me so hard she was so entertaining, grew so much and she was my winner, even though I was so sure she had no chance so I am very happy with the winner, still the season had major flaws, justice for choriza and river

[FaliusAren]

Kitty and Lawrence's aesthetics really aren't similar at all. Lawrence is far more royal and old-fashioned, she paints herself as a lady in her 30s-40s... Kitty is all pretty in pink, emanating youthful energy and spunk. I think you meant to say they're both fat and funny. Correct conclusion (that she couldn't win because she was too superficially similar to the previous winner), but weird premises

[ayanevonriegan]

I was just thinking to myself “oh man I can’t wait for the riggory of uk3” and this happens lmao. Time to think about being filthy rich 🤑

[cemozarda]

I think you categoizing Choriza as POC is kind of US-centric, because she’s spanish, not south american. Spanish people aren’t really POC if you don’t count a german or a french person to be a POC. (That obviously doesn’t take away from the fact that she gets treated differently due to her immigrant status and language barrier) great video anyway <3