The fourth series of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

'' began airing on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

on 22 September 2022.

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

returned to his role as main host and head judge, and was again joined on the judging panel by

Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction which ...

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeon ...

and

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

, all of whom returned for their respective fourth series. The series was filmed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in February 2022. The cast for the fourth series was revealed on 7 September 2022 on social media. The cast also featured

Dakota Schiffer Astrid Basson (born 21 December 1999), professionally known as Dakota Schiffer, is an English Drag (clothing), drag performer who competed on the RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 4), fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Early life and educati ...

, the first out

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

to compete in the British version of the show. The winner of the fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' was

Danny Beard Danny Beard is the stage name of Daniel Curtis (born 27 May 1992), a British drag performer and singer, who appeared on ''Britain's Got Talent'' and '' Karaoke Club: Drag Edition'' and won the fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Biogra ...

, with

Cheddar Gorgeous Cheddar Gorgeous is the stage name of Michael Atkins, a non-binary England, English Drag (clothing), drag performer who competed on the RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 4), fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', where they finished as the runner ...

as the runner-up.

Production

On 27 October 2021, it was announced via the shows official

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page, that casting for the fourth series was now open. Applications remained open for two weeks until closing on 10 November 2021.

Hannah Waddingham Hannah Waddingham (born 28 July 1974) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for playing Rebecca Welton in the comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actres ...

revealed herself to be first celebrity guest judge during an interview on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lead ...

'', hosted by

. The fourth series will be the first regular series of the show to be broadcast on

following '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World'' earlier in the year, with the show's success being credited in the decision to bring back the previously defunct television channel. On 30 August 2022, a ten-second teaser was released by the BBC to promote the series premiere with the caption "Bring it to the RUNW4Y". The BBC released the list of celebrity guest judges the following day. Judge

revealed in an interview with ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...

'' that the competitors that appeared on the fourth series were "some of the best queens we've ever seen". Norton said because the series was a post-

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

season, the queens had a lot more freedom and that it was, "very hard for the eason threequeens in COVID because they weren't making any money and lots of the dressmakers had stopped working. I think it was really hard during COVID, so this is definitely a post-COVID season and it's great. You can look forward to it. You don't need to worry!" It was revealed that executives had recruited former ''

The Jeremy Kyle Show ''The Jeremy Kyle Show'' is a British tabloid talk show presented by Jeremy Kyle and produced by ITV Studios. It premiered on the ITV network on 4 July 2005, and ran for seventeen series until its cancellation on 10 May 2019. It was the most p ...

'' bodyguard known as "Big Steve", to work on the show. On 1 September 2022, the BBC announced the series would premiere on 22 September, to coincide with the conclusion of the third season of ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...

'' and the second season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under'' is a reality competition streaming television series based on the American television series of the same name produced by World of Wonder and Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand. The s ...

''. In September 2022, the BBC reported that

Series 2 Series 2 could refer to: * Apple Watch Series 2, a smart watch by Apple * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 2, the automobile model * BMW 2 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 2 series, line of nV ...

contestant,

Cherry Valentine George Ward (30 November 1993 – 18 September 2022), better known by the stage name Cherry Valentine, was an English drag queen and mental health nurse who is best known for competing in the second series of the television show ''RuPaul's Dra ...

, had died at the age of 28. Subsequently, the second episode from Series 4 was dedicated to Cherry Valentine in their memory on 29 September 2022. RuPaul missed filming during Episode 7, therefore Visage took over as main judge and host, whilst

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

took Visage's spot on the judging panel. It subsequently made it the first episode RuPaul has missed from across all '' Drag Race franchises'' hosted by RuPaul himself. Coincidentally, it made Raven the first former ''Drag Race'' contestant to judge on a RuPaul fronted franchise.

Contestants

''Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.'' Notes:

Contestant progress

Lip syncs

Legend:

Guest judges

Listed in chronological order: * Dame Joanna Lumley, actress *

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

, singer and actress *

Leomie Anderson Leomie Jasmin Francis Anderson (born 14 February 1993) is a British fashion model, television presenter, and activist. She has walked in four consecutive Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows from 2015 to 2018, and became a Victoria's Secret Angel in ...

, model *

Alison Hammond Alison Hammond (born 5 February 1975) is an English television personality and actress. She competed in the third series of the reality show '' Big Brother'' in 2002, in which she was the second housemate to be evicted. She has since become a ...

, television presenter *

, actress and singer *

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

, singer *

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

, singer *

, drag queen and make-up artist *

Lorraine Pascale Lorraine Pascale (born 17 November 1972) is a British television cook and USA Food Network host and former top model, best known for selling almost one million books in the UK alone. Her TV shows are in 70 countries worldwide. She had her own ...

, chef *

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is a British singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, ''It's a Sin''. Early life Alexander w ...

, singer and actor

Special guests

Guests who will appear in episodes, but not judge on the main stage. Episode 1 *Guy Levy, photographer Episode 2 *

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the su ...

, singer and songwriter * Leland, producer *Freddy Scott, producer and songwriter Episode 5 *Dane Chalfin, vocal coach *

Giovanni Pernice Giovanni Pernice (born 5 September 1990) is an Italian professional dancer based in the United Kingdom, best known for his appearances on the British television show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He is also an Italian Open Latin Dance Champion (201 ...

, dancer and choreographer Episode 6 *

Baga Chipz Leo Loren, better known by the stage name Baga Chipz, is an English drag queen known for competing on the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2019) and later the first season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World'' (2022). Baga Chipz ...

, contestant on ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' Series 1 and '' UK vs the World'' *

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014. ...

, television presenter *

AJ Odudu Onatejiro "AJ" Odudu (born 12 February 1988) is a British television presenter from Blackburn, UK. She is best known for co-presenting the 2013 Channel 5 reality show spin-off ''Big Brother's Bit on the Side'', alongside Emma Willis and Rylan ...

, television presenter Episode 9 *

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she ...

, comedian Episode 10 *Claudimar Neto, dancer and choreographer *

The Vivienne James Lee Williams (born 12 April 1992), better known by the stage name The Vivienne, is a Welsh drag queen, known for being appointed the first UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ambassador in 2015, winning the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race U ...

, winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' Series 1 *

Lawrence Chaney Lawrence Chaney (born Lawrence Maidment; 16 October 1996) is a Scottish Glasgow-based drag queen. They are best known for winning the second series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', becoming the first Scottish drag queen to win across the franchise ...

, winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' Series 2 *

Krystal Versace Luke Fenn (born 10 October 2001), professionally known as Krystal Versace, is an English people, English drag queen best known for winning the RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 3), third series of the Reality television, reality show ''RuPaul's Drag Ra ...

, winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' Series 3

Episodes

References

{{RuPaul's Drag Race UK 2022 British television seasons 2022 in LGBT history RuPaul's Drag Race UK seasons