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Cheryl Hole and Blu Hydrangea on the New RuPaul's Drag Race

UK Huns Cheryl and Blu Open Up About RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. The World

WARNING: Embargoed for publication until 09:00:00 on 17/01/2022 - Programme Name: RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World - TX: n/a - Episode: RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World - generics (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: **STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 09:00 HRS ON MONDAY 17TH JANUARY 2022** Pangina Heals, Jujubee, Jimbo, Cheryl Hole, Blu Hydrangea, Baga Chipz, Mo Heart, Janey Jacke, Lemon - (C) World of Wonder - Photographer: Guy Levy

RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. The World is an all-new competition that will see a number of international queens compete to become a Drag Race superstar. Included in that list of contestants are Baga Chipz, Blu Hydrangea, and Cheryl Hole — who you may remember from series one of Drag Race UK. Airing on 1 Feb on the relaunched BBC Three channel, the new series will see special guest judges like Jade Thirlwall, Daisy May Cooper, and Clara Amfo alongside series regulars Alan Carr and Graham Norton. Ahead of the launch, POPSUGAR caught up with the UK queens to find out all there is to know about the upcoming show, including which queen ended up becoming their biggest competition . . .

On Representing British Drag

The three UK queens represented British drag amongst nine other international contestants. With that, came the opportunity to showcase British humour at its finest. "I think people kind of expected it from us," Blu Hydrangea explains in a roundtable interview. "Luckily, Drag Race UK is a pretty successful franchise, so people had watched it and connected with us and we walked in and just made friends. Although there were cultural differences, we always meant well with our humour, whether it was a little bit shady or not, and that always comes across, I think, that we are not nasty people, we're just here to have fun. That's a big part of the British drag humour."

Understandably, representing your country in an international challenge comes with its pressures, and the queens learnt a lot about themselves during the competition. "I think the only pressure that I felt was the one that I put on myself," Hydrangea says. "I mean, you can't let all these factors like I'm the only queen from Northern Ireland that's ever been on Drag Race, or [the fact that] we're defending the UK, or I have to do this because XYZ happened in my first season that makes me want to come back with this or that. You just have to go in there with confidence, and power, and strength, and try your best and give them all you can."

Cheryl Hole also added, "I don't think I felt pressure. I think it was a familiarity that gave me a lot more confidence because we didn't have to travel because we weren't going into unfamiliar territories. It's like going into your Nan's house, the cups are in this cupboard, the spoons are in this [cupboard]. So you just get down to business and make a good cuppa. I was just ready to get to battle and show [people] the growth and evolution of Cheryl."

On Financial Investment

As expected, there's a certain level of investment that's required to compete on Drag Race, and that level only steps up once the stakes are raised and the competition is increased. Cheryl Hole explains, "For me from season one, the thing that let me down the most was my runways and my looks. Not only from a financial investment [perspective], but also from a literal perspective. This time around, I was ready to invest everything back into my runway and my wardrobe and show how my drag has evolved so much and really show the elevation and the push behind me, because as Shrek says, 'Onions have layers and drag queens have layers.' I'm a queen with many layers, and I was so excited to show it because, yes, we had a pandemic, but also I worked hard. I hustled that entire time from my living room doing shows, doing work, and the hard work pays off when you were able to put everything back into your work."

Blu Hydrangea feels similarly, and believes that seeing the success of Drag Race UK helped to build confidence ahead of the new series. "When it came to season one, it was new territory. We didn't know how it was going to go. I was like, 'I'll put a bit of money into this as much as I can afford to.' Now we've seen the success, I felt more confident this time being able to invest in it because I wanted to obviously do well, but also I knew what I could potentially gain from it. I mean, we've all seen the success of people like Bimini Bon Boulash, who has 800,000-plus followers and modelling contracts."

On Their Biggest Competition

When asked about their biggest competition on the show, the answer was unanimous. Former Drag Race Thailand judge Pangina Heals seemed to be the queen to beat. "She's not competed before, so we don't have a point of reference, but all of them, to be fair, were a massive competition. It was just that mental thing of making you realise that you're there for a reason, too. But that's hard to do when you're in a room full of people that are so epic, because we're all talented queens in this world beyond Drag Race. We are all very successful artists and performers that some of us do well in certain challenges than others. So I'm very excited for the world to see what Pangina brings, because I really clicked with her from the get go," Blue Hydrangea says.

"The minute I saw Pangina, I went, 'Oh, they are not messing around with this season. We are not just queens that have been on Drag Race, we've got judges now coming to throw their hat in the ring.' And like Blu said, we hadn't seen how she can adapt to these challenges. Like we've all seen each other, we've seen Blu do excellent in an acting challenge, and we've seen me do excellent in a sewing challenge. You just never know," Cheryl Hole adds.

On Changing the Workroom

Workroom conversations were a massive part of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, providing the queens with a safe space to talk about the challenges they've faced and the hurdles they've overcome. Naturally, extending those conversations to include queens from all over the world had a pretty impressive effect. "It really opened up conversations to a much wider range because there is so much going on in these different countries that is so different to us in the UK. Laws, restrictions, how you walk down the street," Cheryl Hole explains. It was so great to hear everybody's stories, and as much as it's so great to hear tales of queens in the UK, it was so amazing to hear stories of how the drag scene is for Pangina and what the scene is like for Janey in Holland and how tough it's been for the queens in Canada during lockdown. I am so excited for all these stories to be shared with the world finally."

Blu Hydrangea adds, "I definitely felt like in that room, I learned so much from everyone around me. So I can only imagine what it's going to be like for the people watching at home, because I was only there for, what, some of the conversations people were having, different conversations around the room. So I can't wait to learn more, and I love these girls with all my heart. I've learned so much from them, and I truly cannot wait for the world to see that."

Image Source: BBC
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