Drag Race Down Under’s most gagworthy, unhinged and WTF moments as season four premieres

Drag Race Down Under season four has premiered – so here are five of the Australasian spin off’s most gagworthy, jaw-dropping and straight up bats**t moments.

It’s been just over three years since the Drag Race franchise hopped on a plane Down Under to find Australia and New Zealand’s first ever Drag Superstar in the form of Kita Mean. Spankie Jackzon and Isis Avis Loren followed in the subsequent second and third season – but for season four, which premieres today (1 Nov), there’s one big change.

Drag Race Down Under is Michelle Visage’s house now; for the first time ever, RuPaul’s right hand woman is hosting her own season of Drag Race – and though not everyone’s happy about it, it promises to be a wild ride.

She returns alongside non-binary comedic icon Rhys Nicholson, and a whole host of previous Down Under alumni and former competitors to help sort the girls out.

Speaking to PinkNews previously, Nicholson promised a “bonkers” season, without RuPaul – but season four of Drag Race Down Under already has plenty of bonkers to live up to.

Without further ado, here are five of the spinoff’s most gagworthy moments.

Art Simone’s elimination, exit line and return – and the story behind it

Cast your minds back; it’s the first ever season of Drag Race Down Under and Melbourne queen Art Simone has just been unceremoniously eliminated in the second episode, leaving viewers everywhere gagged at the performer’s exit.

Art was a well known queen going into the season, making her elimination all the more shocking, but she really cemented herself in the Drag Race quote pantheon by having what can only be described as a breakdown in her exit interview, and snarling, “That means nothing,” at a poor producer onset. Icon.

She then returned, seemingly for no reason, two episodes later, and made it to the finale. Why? Well, according to Coco Jumbo (who sent Art home), the pair had to film the lipsync three separate times.


RuPaul proving that he wasn’t greenscreened onto set by slapping Spankie Jackzon

Drag Race Down Under season one was a wild time. There were allegations about two of the final four’s past behaviour being racist, with Scarlet Adams even having to address past use of blackface on stage, and she even won three challenges.

The wildest thing to come out of that season, though, with its cramped Werk Room, odd camera angles and comparatively miniature main stage was the theory that head judge RuPaul never even set foot on set, and was green screened in.

To dispel the rumours at the top of season two, she summoned eventual winner Spankie Jackzon out of line in the Werk Room, and, well, spanked her. Funny.


Minnie Cooper. Just, Minnie Cooper.

Legendary queen Minnie Cooper had been doing drag for years before she set foot in the Drag Race Down Under Werk Room on season two, and boy, did she not disappoint in sheer entertainment value when she got there.

Apart from beefing with what felt like half the cast, (iconic read “I don’t mind that Pomara does drag, I just mind that she gets paid for it” still lives rent free), she also walked down the very first episode’s runway with a TV as a clutch (?) and was eliminated dressed as a clown after lipsyncing in heelies.

Minnie Cooper deserves Nobel Prize status, if we’re being honest.


Ivory Glaze passing out on stage in season three, episode two – resulting in a lipsync at the start of the next episode

It’s exactly what it sounds like; Ivory Glaze and Rita Menu had landed in the bottom two after failing to impress with their design challenge lewks.

But when it came time to lipsync for their lives, Ivory Glaze all found it a bit too much, and ended up passing out – in front of RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Rhys Nicholson, guest judge Maria Thattil and, of course, the entire cast. Imagine waking up after passing out and RuPaul is looking at you.

The duo’s lipsync was postponed until the episode prior, meaning they lipsynced for RuPaul, and RuPaul alone, on an empty set, at the start of episode three. Wild.


Hollywould Star lying about her age to RuPaul’s face

Now this is iconic diva behaviour. Season three’s top four queen Hollywould Star nabbed two wins during her run on Drag Race Down Under – but lying to RuPaul about how old she was is still the most iconic thing she did.

Her age is listed as 34 at time of competing on various wiki entries and in her confessionals, but the Sydney queen told RuPaul that she was 28 during Main Stage critiques. Legendary.

Ru then confronts Holly in the Werk Room, saying “Your paperwork says you’re 34,” to which she doubles down: “I am 28! I don’t know who wrote 34. It must have been a mysterious man.” We need more Hollywould stars.

Drag Race Down Under will air 1 November on WOW Presents Plus in the US and internationally, and on Stan in Australia.

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