The first 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 3 October 2019 on the BBC Three section of

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

and WOW Presents Plus's WOW Presents Plus streaming service. It ran for eight episodes. The winner of first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' was The Vivienne, with

Divina de Campo Divina de Campo is the stage name of Owen Richard Farrow, an English drag queen, singer, and actor, best known for competing in the RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 1), first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'', eventually finishing as runner-up. ...

as the runner-up. The song " Break Up (Bye Bye)", which was featured in the fifth episode, was released as a single and reached number 35 on the UK Singles Chart. It also peaked at number 44 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in the US.

Contestants

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

Contestant progress

Lip syncs

Legend:

Guest judges

Listed in chronological order: *

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...

, actor *

Maisie Williams Margaret Constance "Maisie" Williams (born 15 April 1997) is an English actress. Williams made her acting debut in 2011 as Arya Stark, a lead character in the HBO epic medieval fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019). She ...

, actress * Twiggy, model and fashion designer * Geri Halliwell, singer * Jade Thirlwall, singer *

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

, singer, television personality and dancer *

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1 October 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British screenwriter and actress. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), for which she won ...

, actress

Special guests

Guests who appeared in episodes, but did not judge on the main stage. Episode 3 *

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 ...

, runner-up of both ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' Season 2 and '' All Stars 1'' Episode 4 * Stacey Dooley, investigative journalist * Lorraine Kelly, television presenter Episode 5 * MNEK, singer and music producer Episode 6 *

Katya Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFnames ...

, contestant from ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' Season 7 and runner-up of '' All Stars 2'' Episode 8 * AJ and Curtis Pritchard, ballroom dancers

Episodes

Reception

The series received very positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian describing the series as having "saved RuPaul's Drag Race" as the recent seasons have had a less than positive reception. In their review of the series, iNews awarded the series "five stars" and described it as a "roaring success", despite criticising its omission of a stand-up comedy challenge. In a more critical review, Vulture stated in its review of the finale that although the season "may have hit some true highs... it couldn’t save Drag Race from its worst impulses".

References

{{RuPaul's Drag Race UK 2019 British television seasons 2019 in LGBT history RuPaul's Drag Race UK seasons