‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ UKVTW E3 Recap: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Ruvenge Remix)

A Mamma Mia! parody AND a lip-sync to the Vengaboys? Were it not for this week’s elimination (would that it were so simple….), UKVTW continues to be a fever-dream fan-fiction – featuring Jonathan Bailey, no less.

This week, our seven international stars took on a ‘lip-sync rusical’ with a genuinely clever plot: seven stars with something to prove compete in an Idol-esque show to become a new West End sensation.

It’s basically the rudemption of All Stars 2‘s HERstory musical, which was filled with bung roles pre-assigned to queens (they got Ginger, girl). This felt much more even, with potential for most of the roles to shine.

Knowing me, knowing you (the reader), we’re all sad about Jimbo’s elimination, but she unfortunately didn’t make the most of her role as Dodo The Dog, from the Wizard Of Oz (God I love this show). One of us has to go: that’s the name of the game.

The Winner Takes It All* (*$0, Records A Song With RuPaul)

This ep starts strong, with Jimbo trying to avoid any fall-out from the fact that she would have sent Jujubee home last week if she won that lip sync. She tries to make a joke out of it, reverting back to her high-pitched drag voice, but the queens aren’t having it at all — the choice, especially after she promised Juju that they have an alliance, stuns them.

It’s the more cutting side of Jimbo that we saw on CDR: not ‘toxic’ or ‘problematic’, but just a bit of a dog act matched with an odd way to refuse to engage in the conversation by making jokes. (It’s funny, then, that she later struggles to embody Toto.) None of the queens trust her anymore, and it’s hard to blame them: from this first scene, it was clear she was going home the first moment she was up for elimination.

We also get a reading challenge, which comes just in time for Jujubee, who is in desperate need of a chance to show her wit. There are some good lines in there, but nothing leg-and-dairy: I think it’s also hard to get into the challenge when the show only shows us two-three jokes per queen. Juju wins, naturally, and gets to assign roles for the Ruscial, though it’s pretty clear some roles are written with specific queens in mind.

More or less everyone ends up in their tailored role save for Baga and Juju, as Juju decides to take the Liza Minelli spoof, despite Baga often imitating her live. To be fair, Baga does a little song & dance to prove her skills and just does a little jig as if she’s trying to get out of tight jeans and is humming a song she half remembers: she once again cannot be bothered.

Another week, another tantrum, with Baga super salty she’s playing a Tracy Turnblad meets Greta Thunberg character. Fair enough, honestly. It’s probably the worst role of the bunch, but as the queens later say, it’s frustrating she doesn’t just get on with it. Baga’s used to doing what she wants at any point, and it’s wild that she doesn’t see how bad she’s coming across.

Before the challenge, we see the queens rehearse with Strictly‘s own Johannes Radeb, because why not throw in another hottie? Of the cast, it’s Janey, Baga and Jimbo who seem to struggle the most: Janey adds too much dancing into her Meryl Streep; Baga can’t be arsed, and Jimbo has ‘hurt his neck’ sleeping on it weirdly, and so just marks the moves.

Others call him out for faking, but I am 27 and recently slept on my neck ‘wrongly’ and it ruined an entire week; Jimbo is in his late 30s (???), so I believe this could be real and he was just weird about it because he’s a freak (in the best way). It’s magically better the next day, but he later uses it as an excuse when in the bottom.

West End Wendys, Sondheim’s Rediscovered Musical

Pangina starts the show as Widdle Orphan Fannie, with face makeup that makes her grown-up Annie look a little more zombie than decrepit. From the moment she limps out (on the wrong leg, thank you Jonathan), it’s obvious she’s winning.

The other stand-out, somewhat surprisingly, is Janey. I might be biased given my Mamma Mia! love and ambivalence about Meryl, but she nailed all the mannerisms of both Donna and mother of Known Daughter #1, Known Daughter #2 and The Third Daughter. Again, I think this may have been written specifically for me, and there’s no way I can objective here. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again brings me so so much joy (if you’re like me, Vulture just published an ‘oral history’ about its finale song number!)

Meanwhile, Blu continues to do excellent but not have a storyline with her horny old lady Mariah Gon Trappy; Mo (fka Monique) gets Dr. Spank-n-Spurter (insulting to imply he’s a has-been, given that Rocky Horror plays literally all the time); Baga really barely tries with Tracy, nor does Jimbo with the dog.

The two just forget to put any real performance into it and just do the choreography, but it’s Jujubee who’s in the bottom alongside Jimbo, but her ‘Lally Bowelz’ was pretty good, to me, someone whose understanding of Liza mostly comes from Judy and SNL‘s Liza turns off a lamp sketch.

Michelle’s ‘Spotting’ Joke Shows She Should Have Written For And Starred In And Just Like That

This week’s runway is Gorman couture; we’re talking bright colours, dots everywhere, quirky arts workers in their 30s with some disposable income! 

I think everyone but Jujubee looks good. Pangina is on another level – this is her third week in the top, and I will cry if she doesn’t make the finale. It’s nice to see Janey win again too, as she deserves it. Baga is shocked to be safe, as is everyone else, but she apologises for her tantrums the past few weeks when backstage.

Blah blah who cares let’s get to the good part: as soon as those sirens started with the song, I turned my speakers ALL THE WAY up. I NEVER imagined, I never BELIEVED; the thought of a Vengaboys lip sync never even crossed my mind. A delight start to finish, and a sign that Perrotet must open Palms ASAP (I’ll never apologise for these Sydney-centric references, this is God’s country!!!!). Pangina wins, though it’s damn close, and sends home Jimbo.

It sucks, even if it makes sense in the episode. I think we get a genuine reaction from Ru:

Next week, Snatch Game! Like Maddy, Jujubee’s pussy is still warming up, but she nailed AS5’s Snatch Game/we saw from the reading challenge that comedy might bring back the queen we know and love. I would have loved to see Jimbo there (she and Lemon both KILLED their Snatch Game), but all good clowns know the show must go on.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The Worlds is available to stream in Australia on Stan, with episodes dropping each Wednesday at 10am AEDT.

Jared Richards is Junkee‘s Drag Race recapper, and a freelancer who writes for NME, The Big Issue, The Guardian and more. He’s across the internet as @jrdjms