Since it was announced that the gayest reality show, RuPaul’s Drag Race was coming to the UK in late 2018, there was so much speculation about it! Who would be cast? Who would be the judges? When does it start? We now know the line-up of all of the judges for the first episode and they are:

RuPaul and Michelle Visage 

Michelle Visage has been confirmed as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

As well as being a judge on eight of the past seasons of Drag Race US and all four seasons of All-Stars, Visage has returned as a judge on the second series of Ireland’s Got Talent.

“We’ve been working tirelessly to bring the magic of RuPaul’s Drag Race to my favourite city in the world: LONDON!” said Visage.

“I KNOW the UK has a wealth of talent to offer and I’m thrilled beyond belief to see these queens battle it out on the main stage, UK style! GOD SAVE THE QUEENS!”

“Michelle has worked tirelessly to help bring Drag Race to the UK, we are grateful she is part of our family,” said executive producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. “She is a quadruple threat; she sings, she dances, she acts, and boy, can she judge! Queens beware!”

Visage first eluded to her stint as a judge on the UK version of the show in December. She wrote on Twitter, “guys. yes. of COURSE I am a judge….. I am THE judge!!”

Graham Norton

Norton appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars season two in the US in 2016.

He said he has been a fan of the show forever.
“Becoming part of the drag race family makes me ridiculously happy! I can’t wait to see what the UK drag queens bring to the party, but they better weeeeerk!!!”

In a video message on Twitter Graham joked “maybe this is what the UK’s good at.”

? We have exciting news about #RPDR on @BBCThree! Two new judges who we're sure you'll recognise. First up, it's only @GrahNort! https://t.co/Kq2K9O4dEa pic.twitter.com/A7A4hMhW0x

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) February 14, 2019

Alan Carr

Alan shared a video of his reaction as BBC announced him as one of the judges of the UK Drag Race.

Carr met Ru-Paul when he appeared on his chat show Alan Carr’s Chatty Man but has been a fan for a long time.

“Wow! To be sat next to Michelle Visage and Mama Ru as a guest judge on possibly one of my all-time favourite shows EVER is a dream come true,” he said.

“I can’t wait to see what the UK Queens have got in store – it’s going to be sickening! *does death drop*”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztwuNb9W24k&frags=pl%2Cwn

When is it coming? 

Drag Race UK was announced by the BBC and will be playing on BBC Three, which is only available online through the BBC iPlayer. BBC Three have revealed that there will be just eight TV episodes of the favourite reality TV show. The BBC channel has not yet announced the streaming date for new series but we’re expected it to be either Autumn/Winter 2019.

The Rumoured Cast

A drag obsessed YouTube account has put together a rumoured shortlist of drag queens who may be taking part in the upcoming UK edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and one very popular Dublin queen may have made the cut.

Though the list is largely based off speculation, the YouTuber in question – Drag Exclusive – has gotten it very right in the past. Their prediction video for Season 11 – which was released last June – was spot on.

We are so looking forward to the UK version! It will be amazing to see a different perspective of the drag scene, we are all so used to the US queens standards that we do not know what to expect from the UK one. It will be a GAG for sure!