How to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2: Aussie queens return for another season
Catch the Australian drag queen drama as we unveil how you can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under wherever you are
Ten new drag queens are getting ready to walk the runway and complete RuPaul’s challenges as the second ever season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under airs on 30 July 2022.
The first season of RuPaul’s drag race aired in 2009. Since then, it has graced our screens with 14 seasons and is showing no sign of losing momentum anytime soon. The Aussie spin-off is much newer: heading into its second season, the show promises to give viewers drama, dancing and death drops from down under. Here’s how to watch all the action, whether you’re “Shantay, you stay(ing)” at home, or “sashay(ing) away” abroad.
What is RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under?
Last season, the show featured ten drag queens who competed to become “Down Under’s first ever drag superstar”, along with $30,000 in prize money and a years’ supply of Revolution Beauty products. The prizes for this season have not yet been announced, but one thing’s certain: the queens will be ready to fight for their victory.
To win, the group of talented contestants will need to complete a series of challenges set by the host, judge and drag-queen mentor RuPaul. Usually fashion or performance-based, the challenges can be done in teams or individually. After this, each contestant takes part in a pre-prepared themed runway walk, which can be on anything from a latex extravaganza to Hello Kitty. Whichever two queens come out at the bottom after the two challenges must lip sync for their lives to stay on the show.
Whilst Drag Race Down Under takes the same format as its original US counterpart, it’s not quite the same. According to comedian and drag-race judge Rhys Nicholson, the original has “become the idea of what drag is.” Aussie Drag Race, on the other hand, embraces the diversity of drag and what makes Australian drag special.
Last year’s winner was Kita Mean, who described winning the show as her “wildest dreams coming true.” We can’t wait to see what looks this season’s queens have to serve.
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Have any changes been announced for this season?
No significant changes have been announced for this season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. However, as with every year, the show will feature a range of famous Aussies on its guest judging panel.
Of course, the main three judges (RuPaul, Rhys Nicholson and Michelle Visage) stay the same, but for every episode new famous faces hop on to judge the drag queens. The first season featured guests such as Kylie Minogue, Troye Sivan and Olivia Newton-John.
Whilst the guest judges for every episode are yet to be announced, the first episode is set to feature the children of animal conservationist Steve Irwin: Robert and Bindi Irwin. The siblings said they were huge fans of the show and couldn’t wait to see how the “Kanga-Rus” get on.
In the second episode, Lucy Lawless will join the judging panel. Lawless is most well known for her role as Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess, which aired between 1995 and 2001. More recently, she was the voice of Nunchuck in Minions: The Rise of Gru.
How to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under from the UK: BBC3 and BBC iPlayer
Just like Drag Race UK, you can catch all the runway action from RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under on Saturdays at 10:30pm on BBC3, starting from 30 July 2022. Don’t worry if you’re not going to be around at that time, because the full show will be uploaded to BBC iPlayer shortly after it airs. Both services are ad-free and can be accessed from the UK (so long as you’ve paid your TV licence fee), so you can stream to your heart’s content with no interruptions.
How to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under abroad: Use a good VPN service
You might think that going abroad would put a stop to your Drag Race viewing. If your browser location is abroad, geo-blockers from iPlayer and other streaming sites will restrict your access. But it’s not the end of the world: if you’re hoping to tune in to watch the Aussie Drag Race action from outside the UK, the best way to do so is to use a good VPN service.
Not all VPNs will be up for the job, but we’ve tested plenty of services, and these two are our favourites for dodging geo-blockers and streaming content abroad:
ExpressVPN: A single subscription with ExpressVPN will cover five devices, offering great protection online and all the freedom to watch Drag Race Down Under from wherever you are. Express VPN also offers round-the-clock customer support. So, if set up poses any problems at all, or you run into any sudden technical problems, help is always close at hand. It’s one of our favourite VPN services for streaming content, so when you can get 3 months free and a 30-day money-back guarantee, what’s not to love?
NordVPN: VPNs aren’t just for changing your browser location. They also protect your browsing data online and according to an independent audit, NordVPN does not collect any data from its users. So, if you’re looking for a great all-round VPN that offers privacy and a 30-day money-back guarantee, NordVPN might be the one for you. It also has 24/7 customer support to iron out any technical problems at a moment’s notice. And better still, its intuitive, simple-to-navigate user interface can be grasped by even the least technically proficient among us.
Who is hosting and judging?
RuPaul
Drag Race would not be complete without the all-powerful presence of RuPaul, who has been the host of every season and most spin-off shows since it first aired in 2009. Before the show, RuPaul reached worldwide fame with his 1993 single Supermodel (You Better Work), and was a popular fixture in New York’s LGBT nightclubs.
Now, as the host of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, he will be both exercising his judgement on the queen’s performances, and acting as their mentor in and out of the show’s challenges.
Rhys Nicholson and Michelle Visage
Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson is also returning to Drag Race Down Under as a judge alongside American radio DJ Michelle Visage. The pair also judged on season one of the Aussie spin-off and although Nicholson is new on the drag-race scene, Visage has been judging on the show since 2011. We can’t wait to hear what they’ll have to say about this year’s fabulous queens.