The Riggory of Drag Race UK 4

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Another season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK is behind us, and despite amazing talent on the cast, producers have fumbled the ball yet again in my opinion. In a season with 2 of the most dominant contestants the series has ever seen in Danny Beard and Cheddar Gorgeous, sometimes it seemed like there wasn't room for anyone else at the table. But how much of that was true and how much of it was because of riggory?
Like we always do, we're going to dive episode by episode and discuss which moments were rigged and which were not, diving into some of the reasons and explanations behind some of the most head-scratching moments of the season. Baby and Dakota in the bottom 2, Dakota's elimination, that ....interesting double shantay between Black Peppa and Jonbers Blonde. We have plenty to discuss!
Let me know in the comments below what you think the most rigged moment of the season was! Also how would you rank this season against the other seasons of Drag Race UK?
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[@xxsummerxx9002]

I don’t understand how Jonbers was simultaneously a filler queen and favoured at the same time

[@jnd_jnd]

She's the Cheryl Hole/Ellie Diamond of the season

[@JeyxBosco]

@@jnd_jnd Ellie's way better than the others

[@MakuraZalis]

Y'all I completely forgot Cheryl was 4th place.

[@stinameaner]

@@JeyxBosco disagree. She couldn't do comedy

[@ebonyyleigh]

You calling Dakota’s horrible histories Anne Boleyn a nun is hilarious

[@DangerousKitty12]

I was dying lol 😂😂😂

[@bloodmods]

i looked, went "oh anne boleyn," and then the narration slew me

[@khil1210]

Get this gay a history book

[@SrJohnnyCat]

“This season, I’m pissed about the riggory and I’m BORED” Same, sis. 😭

[@highonsugar6273]

The fact that it was Le Fil, Baby and Dakota getting mistreated (an Asian queen, a black queen and a transgender queen) just really irks me, even if it wasn’t deliberate

[@user-ry1yf5sm8q]

Seeing how River, Vanity and Tayce have been treated in the past I start to question if it’s deliberate

[@duckieduck1175]

@@user-ry1yf5sm8q especially with the peppa/baby mix up during the season wasnt helping that theory

[@johnnybaxter8078]

@@user-ry1yf5sm8q what was rigged about River

[@jessadelix7415]

The UK is a lot more racist than we think. I’m English & I used to think we were soo inclusive. Since moving to mainland Europe I can see a lot of other countries (particularly Canada) put some much more effort into treating their minority citizens with respect. No “white” country is perfect but British racism is so insidious… it’s everywhere. And the country is only getting more right wing. Politics there are a mess right now.

[@duckieduck1175]

@@jessadelix7415 yeah youre right, like when one of thr black footballers messed up a shot in the world cup (i think last years) he was spammed to death with monkey emojis and abuse attacking him for being black

[@cvcvdfetghgbbhg]

The fact they had the audacity and the GUMPTION to judge the tops as pairs and the bottoms individually!! Like they FULLY showed their hand and basically slapped the audience in the face and said "OUR REALITY is the only one that matters and we will make it SO!"

[@sunnydays07]

No, because honestly sometimes I see why. In some team challenges, the top team should win because they worked the best together. Like the current US season 16, Plane and Q should have joint won, even if Sapphira was better, which she wasnt btw. However, when the entire premise of the challenge is, “you look good, and similar to each other.” Why separate the teams at all???

[@poppyameiIa]

you calling _the_ queen anne boleyn “this nun” is SENDING ME

[@gregatkins2156]

DAKOTA SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIGH ON SNATCHGAME. that is one of most clear examples of production trying to control a queen’s narrative. Don’t know why they didn’t just let her do well and make it to the end as she deserved and everyone wanted..

[@brandon7587]

They wanted to lessen the backlash for her planned elimination. Dakota wasn't even my favorite but she definitely deserved top 4.

[@lunacxx1330]

She did so well & yeah my sister agreed she should have been high

[@viktorwessulv5829]

she should have won tbh

[@MrCyberGal]

No hate towards any of the queens, but this season's biggest issue was that it was a two horse race between Cheddar and Danny. Jonbers was a filler queen that somehow made it to top 4, and Peppa flopped everything past week one. If there had been queens like Le Fil or Dakota going further, it would've been more even.

[@jon.callaghan4165]

Agree, but season 3 had an obvious top 2 (Raja and Manila) and so did season 11 ( Brooke Lynn Hytes and Yvie Oddly) and even season 14 kinda (Willow and Camden) so its not as if this has never happened before, but never as blatant as this

[@starsheen1]

I loved Jonbers though, I'm glad she went to the end. I agree that Dakota should have gone further, and LeFil too.

[@MaggyRarefication]

Well pixie wasn't a filler in the eyes of the producers but the fans seem to dismay her

[@gregatkins2156]

You’re literally describing season 2, one of the best seasons of drag race ever lol. The parallels are so strong. Other than Dakota taking jonbers spot in the too 4 I think this season was pretty great and the right queens made it to the end.

[@colon5246]

@@jon.callaghan4165 Yara and Alexis were doing great too even if the top 2 was obvious. this season there was top 2 and 2 queens that did bad almost the entire season

[@_roy_1_me643]

after ru telling jonbers to do “St Patty” for snatch game it’s so clear she shouldn’t judge UK

[@jillb3072]

if you know the lore, which wasn't told at all really, and ridding all snakes from Ireland, there is a lot of room for jokes, banter, innuendo and much more. Not the stereotypical drunken leprechaun and associated tropes, many use world wide.

[@ucouldnevah]

why? can you explain please?? i don’t know a lot about english/irish culture

[@lorcan5989]

literally 😭 like no one in ireland says St. Patty

[@heymistercarter.]

And I think Jonbers said she was going to do Enya originally. Like come on RuPaul, you don’t know who freaking ENYA is?

[@fluttershysdragrace]

The best part of DRUK4 is really jonbers reaction to Danny winning. 💗

[@normalizenatalie]

i just looked this up bc of this comment and you're right 🥺

[@jon.callaghan4165]

As happy as I am that Danny won and Cheddar was in the final (completely deserved and it's about time alternative queens were rewarded in Drag Race UK), JUSTICE FOR DAKOTA!!!! 🔥🌈✨

[@calipeixoto1153]

She shouldn't been btm 2 at first episode

[@jon.callaghan4165]

@@calipeixoto1153 completely agree 👍🏻

[@jon.callaghan4165]

@@calipeixoto1153 and then she was sent home by Michelle on a challenge she should've been in the top for. The cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity and THE GUMPTION

[@iliailiev5490]

THE COMMENT I AGREE WITH ON 100%

[@christyfielding7498]

Let's add Pixie being a big girl. Not that it necessarily compares to the other things but it's still interesting that even the white girl who was mistreated was big.

[@xviolaa]

I totally fell in love with Copper in her MTQ but it seemed from the get go fans HATED her and I can't figure out why! I think she could've been great if production gave her a chance and didn't force her to be filler

[@duckieduck1175]

my honest predictions pre season thought she would go to like around 5th, or even further

[@matthewwatts5068]

To be fair production treated literally everyone apart from the top 4 as filler

[@de-niall]

@@matthewwatts5068 honestly jonbers and peppa were filler too

[@jackh7889]

I think the reason why UK 4 becomes boring is because of how predictable it became. We saw from about episode 3 that Jonbers was gonna be favoured and with 4 challenge wins across the season each we knew Danny and Cheddar was top 2 at the end so the final 6 was just a race to the end to see the two winners

[@yeawhatevstrevs6315]

Just so you know, Dakota was not dressed as a Nun. She was dressed as Anne Boleyn who was Henry VIII 2nd wife who that was beheaded lol. It was “loosely” tied to the BBC’s tv show horrible histories which was a show teaching children/teens about history though comedy skits. In your defence it is giving Nun though haha

[@juampe36]

Oh yes, Anne Boleyn, the famous english nun whose head stayed completely on its place

[@Monke242]

In the words of Bob the Drag Queen: "This is wild, Monet" You really swayed my opinion on the season. I knew about six of these queens (Danny, Cheddar, Sminty, Starlet, Baby and Peppa) before they came on the show, and I was huge fans of all of them, which of course gave me some proper rose-tinted spectacles. In fact, Danny and Cheddar are two queens I personally look up to. I was completely over the moon they were getting so many wins but now I look at the season, all I'm thinking is "Wow, some of these queens did not get their cookies, did they?". Aside from Dakota's obvious riggory, and Le Fil essentially disappearing from the edit (WOW stop underrepresenting UK Asian Queens, do that challenge), Baby's departure and Peppa's defeated mindset totally crushed me. Queens from a minority background are completely, and I mean COMPLETELY mistreated. Look at the whole social media mix-up a few weeks back when Dakota left. The BBC is fucking ridiculous, get me my pocket book, I'm leaving. All in all though, it is so unbelievably important to me Danny won. I've been following them for years and I've never seen a queen quite like them. Such a ground-breaking winner if you ask me, and excellent NB representation for the country and the series. I really do love them. Give me a UK season hosted by Viv or Lawrence. Give me more queens from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Give me more queens with Carribean, African or South East Asian heritage!! Give me kings! Give me alternative queens, and give them the credit they deserve on the show instead of telling them "Wear tits and pink fabric and shave your eyebrows or you're going home!" Our drag scene is so diverse and it is being misrepresented in the worst way. Ru needs to go and have a fucking lie down.

[@whiro8945]

What was the Dakota mixup?

[@SrJohnnyCat]

I gotta say, this season started amazingly and then it deflated FAST and HARD. I was literally so bored and uninterested by the finishing line. I didn’t even watched the finale because I knew it was either Cheddar or Danny (deservingly so). I just find it so boring to have to watch an entire hour episode knowing Peppa and Jonbers have absolutely no chances of winning and yet, we have to watch their interviews and making a rumix knowing they are not gonna make it… Meh.

[@gregatkins2156]

The remix and final lipsync were great but that’s why Dakota should have been in the finale to atleast have someone else with a fighting chance. Jonbers should have went out at makeover and Dakota would have probably done decent the rest of the time.

[@waddledeedeee]

@@gregatkins2156 lets be real and honest for a moment - jonbers shouldve gone home in the design challenge. peppa n jonbers were the worst pair hands down, n we all know who wouldve got the boot in that scenario. but production wanted copper out n both of them still in, thats why they split up the pairs

[@heymistercarter.]

With Black Peppa, I hope part of the reason they kept her around wasn’t just on account of Michelle doing the whole “Hey Black Peppa, it’s your girl White Salt!” thing. That was about as annoying as Ru’s way of saying Willow Pill’s name on Season 14. In the words of Alaska, “Please Stop Immediately!”

[@wendyilla]

Ru should let a UK queen host DRUK. Same for down under a queen from New Zealand or Australia.

[@waddledeedeee]

but we all know she will never let that happen, sadly. she has to remind everyone everywhere she goes that she is (was) *the* drag queen superstar of america (us)

[@_roy_1_me643]

1000% and her weird obsessed with scottish and iris accents is so annoying. like it was funny with lawrence but the whole Jonbers St Patty thing was just awkward to watch

[@dylantd9189]

I mean would love to see Keta Mean take over DU. She's not only the first winner of DU, but also has hosting experience!

[@matthewdarry9321]

let Viv or Baga host DRUK probably Viv

[@de-niall]

@@waddledeedeee i mean, she still is the drag superstar of the us lol

[@claud6649]

the way bosco on season 14 wore the same lingerie 4737382 times and went unscathed, but dakota wore a similar silhouette two (2) times…. girl

[@greynotchristian]

yes bosco should not have made it to the finale either;D

[@olly_lmao]

and krystal versace wore the exact same silhouette twice in a row 😬

[@marcotorres5031]

At least she saved the roast. She was for sure the only one to do that well. Rest of them were a roller coaster of good and bad jokes.

[@aidenbischoff1162]

The first half of this season was TOP tier. But then it faded fast after the rusical and then dimmed completely after Dakotas elimination

[@quackson7532]

I liked this season just bc of this cast...One of my favorite ever, everyone is just so loveable and talented sad most of them got mistreated

[@labeltraneja1611]

Pixxie having the best makeup and some of the best runways? Did we saw the same season?

[@essgee621]

Sminty was right there lol

[@BurlapRat]

There were a lot of questionable comments in this video.

[@alonsorp8555]

I mean, well. Pixie taste level is a choice.

[@rebeccarichardson8669]

In the Snatch Game, one reason Cheddar did so great was that she laughed real crazy after everything she said. Because if you pay attention, Ru isn't laughing at everything, but as soon as Cheddar laughs, then Ru laughs too.

[@staystrong8966]

OMG I noticed that too!

[@machu_22]

I need this whole cast to come back and get the appreciation they deserve they’re all amazing

[@SrJohnnyCat]

Also, I’m really sad to see Peppa flopped the rest of the season after week one. What a fall from grace that was. 😬

[@hauteteapot349]

I've noticed winning the week challenge never seems to work out in the long run

[@sunnygolightly9996]

@@hauteteapot349 Emmm...Raja, Sharon Needles, Violet Chachki, Jaida Essence Hall, Symone, The Vivienne, Krystal Versace. So I wouldn't say never.

[@crystaldragon15]

You said everything about Copper that I believe to be true. The thing with the design challenge was so transparent. Also - I couldn't put my finger on why for a lot of the season, I just didn't care that much what was going on. I'd frequently fast forward through entire sections of episodes, or fall asleep and not go back to finish them. It's as you say: there just werent many storylines going on. I was tuning in each week because I loved the queens and wanted to see their drag - not because I was wanting to see what happened.

[@paigiepoohluv]

I think the biggest problem with DRUK is simply the fact that Ru is still the host and judge despite not understanding any of the references or humor of the UK queens and it really drags the series down because the queens are constantly having to change their performances to cater to Ru and we even see this a lot on US drag race when Ru doesn't understand any of the younger queens references because she stopped keeping up with pop culture in 1985 but yeah anyway justice for Dakota

[@SlurpingRoach]

Le Fil was so mistreated, Justice for Le Fil!!

[@dnndmfnf]

23:20 i cant breathe. i felt the walls collapsing around me, my heart stippled beating, my ears are ringing and ive gone blind. im paralysed. jonbers was there at my birth and she was actually the nurse who cut me out of my mothers stomach. she was there for my first day of school. she raised me. she walked me down the aisle at my wedding and will be at my funeral. please leave her alone.

[@joshie6082]

starlet didnt say i slayed that she just said she had a great time up there and enjoyed her time on stage which i feel is valid you can enjoy your time on stage but flop horrifically look at peppa during the roast

[@buddyyyy]

honestly, I wouldn't have been mad if at least they did a double crowning

[@vessel_ho3219]

I miss how iconic the Uk drag race was with series 2, wish we could go back to that.

[@aribari2434]

dakota’s ‘nun’ look was acc inspired by english queen anne boleyn, wife of king henry viii who executed her and queen elizabeth i’s mother

[@brickmariobros]

Girl, as someone who used to get canker sores all the time, without a break in elementary school, those things hurt like a bitch! I feel your pain!

[@jamiekearns-twitchell2691]

The lack of any narrative in this season was SO frustrating. I found myself skipping past huge chunks of the episodes, particularly in the back half, to the point of asking myself why I even watch the show. WOW needs to put up and offer a cash prize to raise the stakes on UK, they need to get better story editors, and they need to stop forcing queens into the unfortunate (and sometimes racist) tropes that they've leaned on in the past. And ffs can we please get a British host. PLEASE.

[@Cupidador]

i really like when the producers don't force storylines. the more production...the more rigged... the more fake. this is def my favorite season of drag race in the last few years and maybe ever lol. i absolutely fell in love with the queens especially mindsy drop, dakota, cheddar, starlet, and black peppa and found them to be such a diverse and loveable cast with such a close connection with eachother that was formed in such a good way. i quite literally fell in love with cheddar throughout the season both in AND out of drag and found her to be such a humble and polished queen that def was a shoe in for the crown very early on!

[@Vindikatorz]

when dakota sashayed away, i knew the jig was up! the cheek the nerve the gall the audacity and the gumption!!!

[@zackmenard7501]

This season was literally so good for like the first half or so & has been some of the best Drag Race I've watched recently. However after Episode 5 it felt like they just started randomly placing queens in the bottom & I hate that.

[@therobotdevil2284]

I don't get why they don't just have Graham or Alan host Snatch Game? They could even pair them with RuPaul as co-hosts. RuPaul needs the spotlight, I guess.

[@YannisHalliwell]

I have been following dakota since 2020 and she was my fav since the promos, I feel so happy that she became the fan favorite. robbed queen. cant wait to see her again in a couple of years in an all stars/vs the world

[@greynotchristian]

she became a fan favorite amongst a certain demographic only ;D

[@danielsimmich1858]

My only worry with her being a fan favourite is if/when she comes back, she probably won’t live up to expectations (since queens never live up to fan expectations) and then people will sour on her. Love her to death though, she was my favourite from the season

[@LeandrinhoRaJah]

I think that Dakota, Le Fil, Pixie and Copper Top should all come back at some point as an "apology" from the production Cheddar would also be a great all stars winner (Trinity The Tuck style) and she has one of my favorite drag names ever

[@niklasss]

It's time for you to watch DRDU2! It truly is an insane step-up from the first season imo.

[@sammccormick9109]

But it’s still not brilliant

[@whiro8945]

@@sammccormick9109 that’s mostly practical production stuff like the lighting and werkroom size. the actual season was pretty sweet

[@erg7930]

It was Copper Topp, then Le Fil, then Dakota, there's always a queen they want to get rid of for no reason so they start giving her random very obviously rigged placements, it's getting super annoying cause the 3 could've made it very far in the competition if the judges just let them COMPETE

[@petercsabai2899]

I get that Pixie got a lot of unnecessary hate stemming from fatphobia but its a bit unfair to call any criticism against her just that. As much as you didnt connect with Jonbers the same could be said to her because she never really excelled at comedy challanges (which she was supposed to kill) and all her runway challanges were flops in my opinion.

[@LunaBeth97]

I feel totally the same about jonbers! Like I don't enjoy knowing that my feelings are being manipulated by the producers but they are. It's not necessarily bad but it's a huge problem when it's manipulated into feeling worse about a queen or not caring about them at all. I feel like I consume so much drag related media that I'll get more knowledge about who a queen is outside the show but for those who go home in the first and second episodes, that still doesn't counteract it. The snatch game annoys me nowadays, especially this year. They know it's highly anticipated and yet will make it mediocre for the drama. Also also, rupaul really shouldn't suggest snatch game characters imo ESPECIALLY on international seasons as it's an opportunity for the audience to learn about people they don't know or have some inside knowledge about a character which helps connect them with the show. Like with enya, JB could've done almost exactly the same thing as we don't know a lot about Enya other than she's Irish and makes ethereal music. So instead of just being a literal stereotype, we could've had a really fun performance with more layers than just "being Irish". Finally, Dakota's makeover still sticks in my mind because I've never seen something that actually challenges my ideas of fashion and how it works. Like at first I didn't think the plain dress with patterned accents in the way she did worked but then realised it did and was actually something completely new for me.

[@imagixea]

In all honesty, after Dakota left all I did was skip to the challenge and if I found it boring I would skip to the runways and then directly to the lip sync, and didn’t care who left or who won because I just expected it.

[@aseofhearts]

oh nooo not dakotas Anne boylen outfit being called a nun look😂😭😭

[@landishjizni]

OMG, Drag Detective back with international riggory. I can not wait how this turn up👀👀

[@rebeccarichardson8669]

I think you are right that producers didn't think Dakota would do as well as she did. I was devastated when she left because she was such a sweet soul. 😥

[@lukeg1138]

Can I just be honest I go off the hardest when Coppers come alive verse comes on like I’m absolutely gonna take my ginger shot and take it and make it hot

[@Killixn_]

Weirdly enough - I agree! The only verses I remember are Copper's and Starlet's 😭

[@JayJayJyeBoy]

If not Baby, then give it to the best of the better group, and that’s Copper. Copper Topp deserved the girl group solo win… yeah, I said it! 🙅🏼‍♀️

[@rebeccarichardson8669]

In the Come Alive episode, Starlet's performance look was leaps and bounds above EVERYONE. She's so young and hasn't fully baked. I too thought it was hilarious when she said she was confident.

[@singerdude1992]

I do have a question about Peppa's entrance If it wasn't for that absolutely GAGWORTHY reveal, would it be as well received?

[@maciejzaleski621]

Just as a sidenote, I actually really and genuinely recommend Down Under Season 2. Out of Ru-judged seasons, I'd honestly have it as at least my second favourite behind Season 14, which is WILD to say after the first season. At the very least maybe in the future when you have a lull in drag seasons you're currently watching, if you'd be in a mood to catch up on some seasons you maybe haven't been watching The biggest issue with it was the budget unfortunately, it felt filmed in Ru's basement in 1st season, and it still feels that way in the 2nd, but it makes it up with its queens and just letting more storylines to shine in a natural way than it was in the 1st season, making it much more of a satisfying watch. Not trying to hype it up to claim it's GROUNDBREAKING, but it's just a solid, satisfying season of Drag Race which after honestly middle-of-the-road Drag Race season imo, i found it honestly really refreshing.

[@takakupo]

I'm afraid to say I disagree because I think it's horrible XD I feel like the wrong person won and a lot of their episodes were reallllly boring

[@victoria_is]

In hindsight I saw Cheddar similarly to Anetra on s15 in the sense that I absolutely fell in love w them from the very beginning but it was nothing to do with the edit. Anetra was I think more invisible in the edit but every week i’d tune in to see them and always left wishing i got more of them

[@JeremiahFuentes99]

My biggest critique with this season was a repetitive challenge order and two queens dominating the season (deservedly so tho). I feel like with a fresher challenge order (less comedy centric challenges stacked at the end) & a closer race between the finalists, DRUK can maintain the hype it had during s2.

[@emilylogan2379]

Cheddar’s semi-storyline gave me very Chad Michaels vibes

[@Killixn_]

Wait a minute...Copper Topp gave you WINNER vibes? I felt the complete opposite; she gave me first-out tease. I guess we were both wrong huh 💀😭

[@johnnybaxter8078]

Lol I mean if she hadn't been rigged out to deliberately safe Jonbers, Copper could've been that spot in the top 4.

[@pandagrl666]

just may was the one who gave me the first out vibes

[@Killixn_]

@@pandagrl666 True 💀

[@jazzbrown3206]

Word😂😕

[@lollyorbit7932]

i love just may so much but there in no way just may would not be the first out 😭

[@victorreis3933]

The notification just dropped, ooh, excited for this. Thank you Drag Detective. 😊

[@PagesAndStages]

I fully thought this season was gonna be one of my absolute favourites ever because the first few eps up to the rusical were SO good. It’s just so disappointing and frustrating when production is handed such an excellent bunch of queens and have no idea what to do with them.

[@theophilepetit6223]

I do think that Copper's outfit was the worst in episode 3. To me, it looked more unfinished than Peppa's or Jonbers'. But Cheddar's amazing outfit does drag the average up indeed

[@jahennesy]

I was absolutely GAGGED to see Danny win. Not that she didnt deserve it, but I was convinced, it was Cheddar's win. From a, (Dakota stan!)

[@CalumanderTube]

I genuinely don’t see how people can say this season was rigged. It’s not Danny or Cheddar’s fault that they were basically unclockable all season. Like I have no doubt that the producers had hopes for Sminty, Starlet, Le Fil, Baby & Dakota (since they all hit the ‘international audience) but the five of them just kept flopping challenges and if they had been carried through it would’ve been shit (See UK season 3 for examples) I think a lot of the American audience are just fundamentally missing that this ISN’T AN AMERICAN SEASON. It’s a different culture, the energy and presentation is different. People aren’t as catty & competitive over here. See literally any UK Talent based competition show (X Factor, Bakeoff, Masterchef, Strictly) and you’d see that. The ‘storylines’ and drama you’re looking for just don’t happen in UK media. And they likely also didn’t do a ‘villain edit’ because the UK & Europe had a better duty of care to contributors and saw how you lot react to a soft villain edit The storyline of this season is that two queens were pulling massively ahead and were rewarded accordingly. Just like most UK media goes. If you don’t like that then it’s just not for you. And again just because you don’t like the result doesn’t mean it’s riggory

[@goff_tj]

He made the point that if Pixie had won Catty Man and then Danny Beard had won the following week it would have created a better storyline of friends who are rivals. It’s not about it being bitchy, but two friends who are (close to even) and have a fun competitive relationship. Instead we got Danny Beard always in the top and Pixie always lagging behind (which later lowered her self esteem). It was such a shame to see Danny wanting to keep that fun competitiveness up and encouraging Pixie while Pixie just slowly started overthinking things. If they had tried to make their wins more even, it would have created a better storyline. Not a catty one, but a fun one. And maybe we would have gotten better performances from Pixie because she wouldn’t have been so in her head.

[@CalumanderTube]

@@goff_tj I mean I don’t understand this rhetoric. Were the producers supposed to be psychic and see into the future and know Danny was going to slay the Rusical? Danny did head and shoulders the best at challenges and so won them which as I said is more aligning with UK talent competitions where the strongest performer usually wins. Plus you can say whatever in hindsight but at the time Pixie was already the fandom’s punching bag for the season so they would’ve called it rigged had she won too. Also, It’s not like Pixie was in the bottom every week, up until that point she had a challenge Win and had otherwise been high or safe. In fact Danny & Pixie had identical track records going into this challenge, so I don’t know what you wanted them to do. Pixie just wasn’t as confident as Danny and an extra badge wasn’t gonna change that. (That’s not a failing on Pixie btw just the way it was)

[@itsa_peanut]

You mentioned we could see Le Fil for a UK all stars, and I strongly disagree. Not because I don’t like Le Fil (I thought they were so good and underrated) but I would absolutely HATE a UK All Stars. All Stars (at least in the states) is a whole other level of production, and queens are expected to dump so much money into it. Why ask queens to do that for a production where they will win literally nothing? I say never do a UK Allstars, and never do UK vs the world again. If queens are coming back they should be competing for money. (I also think that’s how it should be for UK, but I understand that UK reality tv can’t work that way)

[@dominicfromgermany]

I would rig it in any way possible to let Dakota Schiffer win ✨️❤️😅

[@milesbeaglehole8090]

Literally facts, but I am still really happy with Danny winning

[@dominicfromgermany]

@@milesbeaglehole8090 same 👌✨️

[@choccymilkconnoisseur2775]

She had no chance with Danny and cheddar there, but she should have made it to the finale

[@Jeeter8]

It’s very surprising to me how different I felt about this versus season 14. I actually enjoyed this season more, because I loved the Danny v cheddar competition. I didn’t expect this season to be received so poorly 😢

[@timotea7109]

I’m convinced they wanted pixie not JB in the final

[@takakupo]

Totally agree. Pixie seemed to be saved by the producers several times throughout the season

[@BFFR5150]

Danny Beard was The Vivienne of S4.

[@itsmr.talented]

FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT DANNY SHOULD’VE WON THE ACTING CHALLENGE AND THEY KNEW SHE WOULD SLAY THE ROAST AND SO THEY GAVE IT TO CHEDDAR 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 THABK U FOR SEEING THIS 48:00

[@VestAround]

I feel like the elimination of Dakota was also forced bc there were back stage allegations that Ru declared Baby the winner of their lip sync, and then when Baby quits, they’re left trying to find a way to still fit their end game narrative (and Ru has already mentally eliminated Dakota)

[@gabbywills98]

I'll admit Jonbers grew on me very quickly! I'm a huge Dakota stan as well, and while i'm happy that Danny won I was rooting for Cheddar going into the finale!

[@geckohunter123]

Why do the judges always give the “We’ve seen this.” critique to queens on MAKEOVER challenges. Like wtf the point is to do their drag signature.

[@gvaz9636]

I thought UK4 was overall pretty fair in terms of combining competition with storyline. Le Fil left exactly when she should have, and keeping Jonbers was a good idea. The only gripe I have is Dakota being shafted wrongly, Pixie getting favoritism when she could have gone plenty of times, and I bet everybody, including Ru, thought Black Peppa was gonna sweep. But damn she really folded.

[@MayaaaC]

this season had so much potential because of the cast, but they got rid of the entertaining queens early and let the boring/annoying ones get too far. also this season didn’t have a villain, and it clearly needed one to spice up the story. copper top would have been a perfect foil to a lot of the girls

[@tomhayes413]

Agree - s2 there was drama literally every untucked , we got like nothing the entire season

[@goff_tj]

Unpopular opinion - you don’t needs queens to be at each other’s throats to make it interesting. Having likeable people will always be better tv than people who start drama just to make the show “interesting”. If you want guys wearing makeup to shit talk and fight every week, watch wrestling.

[@queenjohnbee3411]

I got so much finalist energy from Copper’s Meet The Queens interview as well, she became one of my favs going in and I really thought she was gonna be the Divina/Bimini/Ella archetype of UK4. But then ep 3 came around and they just dragged her through lava.

[@hauteteapot349]

I genuinely enjoyed watching this whole season and thought it was great.

[@brickmariobros]

Have The Vivienne or Lawrence Chaney host UK, and Kita Mean or Courtney Act host Down Under. I feel if we did that, seasons wouldn’t feel as on auto pilot

[@cinnamonroll96]

Why has literally no one ever talked about how starlet and gothy kendoll literally look like the same person

[@Virgo555]

This season is just ….. there

[@_.Idk._]

The critique of Copper's first look being one-note annoyed me too, I really liked that look and the presentation.

[@theophilepetit6223]

I would actually have sent Cheddar in the bottom with Copper. Yeah, Cheddar's outfit was truly stunning, one of my favorites of the episode, but it was a team challenge and I think Copper's outfit was sooooo bad, worse than Peppa's and Jonbers'. Cheddar should have helped Copper. I also think that, if the bottom was to be split, Jonbers actually had a worse outfit than Peppa so she should have lipsynced with Copper.

[@plantboibenji]

I am salivating for Riggory of UK S5 just to get to Kate Butch getting sent home by DeDe before the Roast for her first time bottom

[@plantboibenji]

Dede did a good lipsync but using all the tricks weve already seen her use. And from past DR episodes a slightly better lipsync doesnt necessarily save you when your track record has been god awful. Dede is a talent but unsure what she has been serving to deserve to stay other than lipsyncs. Maybe being kept in due to relationship to Krystal. Wondering how much hate she is getting for being pushed so hard by production, I would not want to be her.

[@plantboibenji]

Would have been nice to get a stronger final 4

[@tfe1788]

I totally agreee!!!!

[@citrinethecorgi]

I was left kind of frustrated for J Blonde on the season becayse she absolutely slayed several challenges, and especially in the Rusical she did great, but danny did a little better and he runway completely ran over J Blonde's so Danny won iver her. Then by the finale J has 0 wins and is next to the girls who have 4 wins. It just feels like the producers didnt know what to do with her. Then they also have a double shantay for no reason? They really should've just had a top 3 at the end of the season because the 2 girls in the bottom for the double shantay didnt have any win potential.

[@todslime4599]

Jonbers blonde is the best human that has ever graced this earth.

[@_.Idk._]

I stan her so much she's so underrated.

[@shirleyanne6573]

Just watched it again, still don't understand why Danny wasn't in the bottom after Snatch Game

[@essgee621]

Love the vid but I do disagree with a few things: - I agree with Pixie never getting a win. She didn't deserve any and Danny performed better than her every time. Also, as you said people only care about riggory when it affects their faves and considering Pixie's fan perception, her getting a win when she wasnt the clear winner would not have been met kindly. Also with her getting the bitter edit nobody wanted to see her win - I also agree with Pixie's low placements. I think Michelle didn't give the clearest feedback but I think the thing about Pixie is her performances lacked fun. After that loss to Danny she seemed to take the challenges so seriously that her performances weren't ever really funny because she was just being so hard on herself. - I personally think original top 4 plans were Danny, Cheddar, Peppa, and Sminty. I think they expected Sminty to do what Dakota did and surpass expectations of a fashion queen, but she flopped that improv challenge so hard they couldn't save her from the bottom even with the best runway of the night, and she lost the lipsync so they had to let her go. Considering how much screentime she got in just 4 episodes they definitely had big plans for her + her meet the queens was giving winner energy and so funny but she would never win because her makeup style is way too similar to Krystals - To me Danny had the best verse in the finale and I don't think she was overshadowed at all. Cheddar sure, but Danny slayed that and it's really the only verse I care to play over

[@jacksonwyatt1564]

You spoke nothing but facts

[@CriticalCulture]

I honestly think this season would’ve fared a lot better if it rewarded a wider variety of queens in the challenges. Swapping the girl group and improv challenges and giving Pixie and Jonbers some wins would’ve made this season more rewarding and less predictable, especially because this season’s cast is so good!!

[@choccymilkconnoisseur2775]

“Giving pixie and Jonbers some wins” so you think that wins should just be given out then? They weren’t ever good enough to win any of the challenges, it’s that simple. You don’t ‘give’ wins. The top performing queens win, not mediocre queens. Simple as that

[@oto946]

UK 4 is one of my favorite seasons of all time alongside UK 2

[@gregatkins2156]

Me thinking about how Dakota and baby had to lipsync on an amazing episode where there shouldn’t have been bottoms…. And jonbers got a double save at the end of the season after having no wins because they needed a non elimination episode 🥲 no hate love jonbers she’s cute

[@harryspruce5395]

I'm just OVER ru and Michelle trying to judge British references and not understand them. Not include them. Like so many good snatch game characters have been done and changed as they aren't known by them. The challenge themes for brands being just big international things like squid game, Alexa, peloton. None of these are British or feel authentic to me.

[@Littlemitashy]

I literally think production wanted to break Copper straight away. The only person to appreciate copper was ep 1 guest judge, Joanna Lumley. Like Copper served (literally) the two soups sketch, she does the walk and face and everything, and the judges are like "that was boring" or something, when she was directly acting out the scene and gave more on that runway more than almost anyone else on the BBC runway. Literally Joanna Lumley saying "you have funny bones" to Copper and her sticking up for Copper when the other judges are criticising her 2nd runway, Joanna was like, "Copper interpreted the theme more deeply", EXACTLY JOANNA. Many queens showed us nothing other than a nice outfit in this episode, yes coppers outfit wasn't "pretty" but it was CAMP and SHE'S CAMP. And there's nothing wrong with camp, but Ru has a problem with camp drag. Then ep 2, Copper is picked last for a performance challenge. I've seen Copper perform irl, she can SING. But, because she's "quieter" and cos the judges beat her down in that first episode for no good reason, no one saw her as a strong competitor so no one picked her. Did she complain she was last picked ? No, she got on with it with a smile and she gave really good facial expressions in the performance. So it's no wonder she's broken when the other queens vote her as a background character. I was so sad when she got eliminated, but she would've been fully Jan'd had she stayed, so I'm glad for her mental state she went early, but I'd love to see her back on a vs the world or something.

[@randostuff8558]

Just want to point out, you called Dakota's first look a nun, but if I'm not wrong it was meant to be Anne Boleyn. I think that's why Dakota was kind of going for promiscuous as Anne Boleyn was the other woman

[@Jayforeman3047]

I would have fully accepted a double crowning between Danny and Cheddar on this occasion.

[@inxine]

despite all the riggory, uk 4 was and is my least favourite season of all drag race. all the queens were so bland and boring. and it was quite obvious who would win from ep1

[@sammccormick9109]

I don’t think you should do a video on structural issues with the U.K. Drag Race. There’s one issue. Rupaul and the Forced Americanisation of it. The dry humour has to be changed,the characters in snatch game are changed etc all because they fear Americans won’t get it. Time for Ru to give up the judging for U.K. and give it to a U.K. Queen (Vivienne, Bimini etc)

[@isamartinez222]

if you want to see riggory you should see “La Más Draga” it is a Mexican drag reality show, it is on KZbin and it is currently in its fifth season

[@de-niall]

the finales 😭 and them like consistently crowning the worst performer

[@ihartdiamonds]

Dakota's elimination was enough to completely put me off ever watching Drag Race again 🤷🤷

[@theabraham8164]

Imagine being that pathetic 😂

[@Alistair_coguya13]

Dacota's BBC look is supposed to be based on a horrible history's queen not a nun

[@awettycigarettey]

Ahh yes, sister Anne Boleyn who’s hardcore advocacy for protestantism changed the country of England, what a saint

[@melindamuller4466]

I think both Jonbers and Scarlett were the central pieces of why UK3 and UK4 had a rougher reception; they both clearly flopped in an initial challenge and were saved (partially at the detriment of another queen), but that was not it; I think that would have still been okay with the fandom, had that one obvious save not been followed up by more lows and then at least one more save at the detriment of the sweethearts of the season: Scarlett got saved against Charity, which rang the end for Charity the week after and then was universally disliked in Snatch game where both Choriza and River went home. Jonbers got saved and Copper was sacrificed, but then she still didn't have the greatest showing (at least better than Scarlett) and then got saved again and Dakota was sacrificed. Both seasons had this mid/end season double whammy of bad tasting decisions for one queen specifically.

[@tomhayes413]

Very interesting point -