Overview
Start your engines, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under fans — come Saturday, July 30, the Australian and New Zealand version of the hit series will return to Stan in Australia and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand for a second season. RuPaul is back playing host, of course. Michelle Visage and Rhys Nicholson also return as judges, too. And, based on the just-dropped trailer, the challenges are taking the whole Down Under part extremely seriously.
Well, one challenge is. Just as everyone in Australia will start paying an extra dollar for their Bunnings sausage sizzles — a price increase that NZ has been spared — Drag Race Down Under is throwing some snags on the barbie. Yes, there's a sausage sizzle photo shoot, as well as all the puns that you'd expect. Obviously, it looks glorious.
Competing for the title of 'Down Under's Next Drag Superstar' this time around: three contenders from Aotearoa and seven from Australia. Aubrey Haive hails from Timaru in NZ, and will be representing the country alongside Spankie Jackzon from Palmerston North and Yuri Guaii from Auckland. In the Aussie contingent, Brisbane's Beverly Kills, Adelaide's Kween Kong and Newcastle's Molly Poppinz will be doing the honours alongside Sydney's Faúx Fúr, Hannah Conda, Minnie Cooper and Pomara Fifth.
This fierce roster of queens will don eye-catching outfits, navigate plenty of dramas and vie for glory — and endeavour to follow in the footsteps of Kita Mean, who took out RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under's first season.
The second season's lineup of celebrity guests hasn't been revealed, however, after 2021 saw Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue and Taika Waititi all pop up.
If you're a fan, you already know the show's format, which spans fashion challenges, workroom dramas and lip sync battles aplenty. If you're a newcomer to all things Drag Race, you'll watch these new Australian and NZ competitors work through a series of contests to emerge victorious, and join the likes of Mean and US contenders Jinkx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Sharon Needles in being crowned the series' winner.
Before it made the leap Down Under last year, the US version of RuPaul's Drag Race had already been on the air for more than a decade, first premiering in 2009 — and wholeheartedly embracing its mission to unearth the next drag superstars ever since.
The original US series just aired its 14th season this year, so this is a program with proven longevity. It has also spun off international iterations before, including in the UK — where it's also hosted by RuPaul — plus in Thailand, Holland, Chile and Canada.
Check out the Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under season two trailer below:
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will return for a second season in 2022 on Stan and TVNZ from Saturday, July 30.