Two incredible stars have been announced to appear for the debut season of Drag Race UK.
Spice Girls icon and number one solo artist Geri Halliwell and Little Mix’s very own Jade Thirwall will appear as guest judges for the highly-anticipated spin-off, which will air later this year on BBC Three.
“I just love how drag encourages people to be exactly who they are,” said Geri. “This show has brought so much joy and pride to people all over the world, I can’t wait for everyone to see the amazing queens representing the UK in this first ever series.”
Notable Drag Race fanatic Jade, who recruited previous contestants Willam, Alaska and Courtney Act for Little Mix’s Power video, also said: “I love absolutely everything about drag. I love that it’s art.”
She jokingly added: “I love how fabulous it is, how fun it is, I love that you can transform your body into a fantastic beautiful woman… the whole thing! I just wish in my next life I can be a drag queen.”
Jade and Geri will sashay onto the panel alongside RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and Alan Carr, the latter two of which will rotate every week like Ross Matthews and Carsson Kressley on the original.
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and Girls Aloud member Cheryl have also been confirmed to judge one episode. “What I love the most about drag is the story of the drag queen behind the facade,” said Maisie.
“I think that so much of drag comes from a place of real pain and seeing how that transforms into a character is so interesting to me. I love that about art and about drag.”
Drag Race UK will run for eight episodes and will reportedly feature ten queens. Earlier this year, Mama Ru teased that there’ll be many more seasons of the British spin-off heading our way in the coming years.
“Oh my goodness, when they see this show, they are going to flip. And I predict that we will be doing this English edition of Drag Race for many years to come,” RuPaul said of the show’s future.
“I think also, audiences around the world are going to start to require the English version, because it’s different, it’s the same but it’s different. There’s a different tone.”
Explaining what makes the new version different from the American original, Michelle added: “There’s an English-ness, a British-ness about it, you can feel it. And I think that’s giving it a different life, and a charm that the American one doesn’t have.”
We recently compiled a list of 14 gag-worthy queens we’d like to see on the UK edition of Drag Race. Check them out here and less us know if you agree with our list…
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