Get ready for thunder from down under, drag fans. Not content with taking over three continents, Ms Charles is about to plant her flag where the sun always shines. News has reached our icy shores that Drag Race Australia is about to start filming this month!

2020 saw Drag Race UK, Drag Race Holland, Drag Race Canada, as well as season 12 of the original and series a zillion (?) of All Stars, we also had the colossally entertaining Drag Race Thailand, and now 2021 plans to be just as cram-packed with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and etc. Season 13 of the US version kicked off last weekend, and series two of Drag Race UK graces our screens on the 16th. So when can we expect Drag Race Australia?!

Hold your koalas, drag fans.

The Drag Race Australia Instagram page only shared a post on December 30th reading, “It’s coming! The Queens will fly to Auckland to start their 14-day isolation at the beginning of January and start filming around the 29th. Start your engines ladies.” The post was soon deleted, so let’s see how that pans out.

Producers have decided New Zealand might be safer for filming due to the pandemic. A decision they haven’t shared yet is who we can expect as the host. Past winner, Bob the Drag Queen, has thrown her purse in the ring for consideration, and, while some might expect it a forgone conclusion that Courtney Act would lead the panel, let’s not forget the queen had a very public falling out with Ru about the lack of trans representation on the show. Which leads us straight into the news that Ru has admitted a change of mind in regard to trans contestants.

The latest season of Drag Race in the US saw a historic moment as the first ever transmasc performer entered the workroom. Contestant Gottmik shared in their Meet The Queens video: “I need to be the first trans winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, period.”

Ru had previously shared a reluctance in allowing trans contestants on the show. In a 2018 interview, Charles said, “Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture.”

Now, in a recent interview on the Stephen Colbert Show, Ru explained his change of heart. When asked what lesson he had learned from hosting Drag Race, he replied, “It’s to keep an open mind. I walked into this thing with an idea of what drag is, and the kids have a different idea. They keep changing it.

“This season we have a trans man who is on our show who is competing with the other drag queens and this man is fantastic. Fantastic! So, you know, I keep moving with what the kids are doing.”