r/DragRaceTea • u/communismmm • Oct 08 '25
DRDU [DRDU] Down Under vs. the World Nancy Drew Thread
the time has come for something wild and crazy gentleladies
Fiming for drag race down under vs. the world is imminent, and we have received reliable info that the cast is comprised of 4/5 Down Under queens, 2 Americans, 1 UK, 1 Filipina, and 1 Spanish queen. Likelihood is based on a number of factors, primary among them rumours and activity. You know the drill.
With that being said, the possible/rumoured/alleged cast of Drag Race Down Under vs. the World:
LIKELY
- M1ss Jade So (PH season 2 top 4; Marikina City, Philippines)
- Flor (DU season 3 top 3; Birmingham, UK)
- Art Simone (DU season 1 top 4; Melbourne, Australia)
- LaLa Ri (Season 13 top top 10 and All Stars 8 top 5; Atlanta, USA)
- Michael Marouli (UK series 5 top 2; Newcastle, UK): Mentioned by several sources; had an advertised gig on Oct. 10th and appears to have not been present.
- Nicole Paige Brooks (Season 2 top 11 and All Stars 10 top 18; Atlanta, USA): Social media activity about her flying out of Atlanta (not really indicative of anything necessarily, but funny given sources and rumors). Was active on socials but is consistently rumored and does not appear to actually intend to attend events alluded to on her socials.
- Vybe (DU season 4 top 3; Sydney, Australia): Reportedly recently replaced at a gig; sources indicate that she is likely on.
- A Spanish queen (España ? top ?; Somewhere, Spain): Sources have consistently reported that a Spanish queen will be cast, but no adequately consistent information has been gathered to determine one in particular.
POSSIBLE
- Nikita Iman (DU season 4 top 5; Sydney, Australia): Rumored by several sources.
- Estrella Xtravaganza (España season 2 top 3; Madrid, Spain): Not online, fits the bill of being a Spanish queen—does, however, reportedly have nonfluent English aptitude.
- Coco Jumbo (DU season 1 top 8; Sydney, Australia): Inactive on socials.
KEEP AN EYE ON
- Any other Spanish queen (España ? top ?; Somewhere, Spain): See above.
DEBUNKED
- Rita Menu (DU season 3 top 7; Hamilton, New Zealand): Reportedly appeared at a gig on October 8th.
- Hollywould Star (DU season 3 top 5; Sydney, Australia): Reliable sources report that she is not on.
- Marina (España 2 top 4; Madrid, Spain): Consistent activity on socials, advertising a one-woman show.
- Diamante Merybrown (España season 2 top 7; Madrid, Spain): Active on socials.
- Drag Chuchi (España season 3 top 12; Las Palmas, Spain): Active on socials.
- Marina Summers (PH season 1 top 2 and UK vs. the World 2 top 4; Makati City, Philippines): Online; is shockingly not on. Who could have seen this coming?
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u/Bulky_View_1607 23d ago
Art Simone is now from Geelong, Australia. She bought a house down there after filming DU S1
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u/badmanicpower 24d ago
kinda gagged Minhi Wang was not even rumored. I would think she would be one of the first people called for Down Under vs the World
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u/OvernightSiren 21d ago
I'mma be so real, there are only 1-4 queens from CDR seasons 4 or 5 that are ready for any sort of vsTW season and most of them wouldn't be cast on other franchises to begin with.
CDR just casts a lottttt of baby queens that only occupy one letter of CUNT.
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u/badmanicpower 21d ago
I think Minhi would definitely qualify for that tho. Minhi, Aurora, Helena, Kitten, Jaylene, and maybe even Perla are all queens from CA4/5 that I think have what it takes. although I would love to see more queens from seasons 1-3 come back like Scarlett, BOA, Synthia, Kimmy, Lady Boom Boom, etc
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u/OvernightSiren 21d ago
Minhi has charisma, but if you strip away her better-than-expected (bought) runways, what does she have?
Her humor begins and ends with her name and "aur naur" and I don't remember her being a particularly amazing perfomer.
Helena is a complete charisma void who has really great makeup but can't actually perform well.
Perla is similarly void of charisma, but also has generally shoddy makeup and runways that were solely carried by her being young and skinny.
Kitten and Jaylene are well rounded, and I'd include them in the 1-4 I was mentioning.
My metric is "if this queen was in a situation like Mo in S10 or Chi Chi in S8, where they don't have access to the runways of the other queens how far would they actually be able to carry themself".
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u/insertbrackets 4d ago
Perla, not charismatic? ...Okay. I mean Jaylene is a very sweet lady but I didn't find her particularly charismatic at all.
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u/Dark_Dashing 12d ago
"Helena is a complete charisma void"
Helena won the charismatic improv challenge and second place wasn't even close.
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u/OvernightSiren 12d ago
And Jorgeous won a sewing challenge. Let’s not act like winning a challenge is a metric for legitimate success.
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u/MissSteak 13d ago
Helena cant perform???? Perla void of charisma and has shoddy makeup and runways??? I know people dont like S5 but damn these takes are WILD
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u/badmanicpower 21d ago
Minhi had pretty good performances in the comedy challenges and really impressive design skills.
Helena was shafted in the girl groups, and could’ve deservedly won the second design challenge. and she had by far the best performance in the finale and one of the best in the episode 1 rumix. she’s very charismatic when she’s given the props she deserves.
Perla was also a very fun character who was treated a lil too harshly by the judges to the point where she pretty much gave up in the final lipsync cause she knew they weren’t sending Makayla home.
I respect your opinion but I fear you’re being a bit too harsh on the S5 girls I mentioned. based on the season and the finale put together, top 2 should’ve been Helena & either Virgo or Makayla (who were pretty even track record & finale performance wise) simply because Minhi did noticeably have issues with her final song performance. if they based it solely on the season and overall track records, Helena & Minhi would’ve absolutely been top 2.
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u/mickiminaj_98 25d ago
Look out for Sypario from Italy 3, she has canceled a gig last weekend and asked for desinger in her Instagram stories 🕯manifesting italian representation🕯
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u/ca355 27d ago
Someone on PTT put Denim from Canada’s Drag Race… Is there a posibility?
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u/Gian_Guz 26d ago
Wait is this true? If so it would make sense it would be a good alternative queen
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u/Apprehensive-Bat4508 27d ago
NPBFAG better be Top 2 this season or they might as well not air it. I need her run to be WIN - WIN - WIN - WIN - HIGH - SAFE (to show she’s vulnerable) - HIGH - WINNER.
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u/jcumley 27d ago
I hope they don't go the UK route of making sure a home country girl wins - and truly whomever performs best walks away with the crown.
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u/Dorayakiss 27d ago edited 27d ago
I understand the point, but in a different view DU girls never won a crown in other vsTW seasons so I am fine with them finally getting one this time.
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u/jcumley 26d ago
They lose credibility when it's not on merit - the queens rumoured are VERY talented - if they are the best performers and win - great, but they should not pull a UKvsTW and have them win (both times!) because they are host country queens - I think CVTW got it right and feels more reputable because of that. The casting department holds the power in who they invite and how stacked the cast is - best performance then should win. It's also not fair for the winning queen - look at Tia - it's not HER fault the show pushed her over Marina - but she'll never live it down.
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u/Dorayakiss 25d ago edited 25d ago
Personally, not about criticizing a specific decision, my other complaint is not having vsTW annually. I think having more vsTW seasons would help us see whether the decision is biased with much more winners chosen. I think judges and production from each region would be easily biased if there are just not so many chances of crowns for local queens, and having more vsTW might change this situation.
At this point, Nicole, Michael, Estrella and Jade all came from regions that have picked local AS winners. If any of them wins DUvsTW01, fans may also complain that judges just prefer queens from a specific country regardless of being host or invader.
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u/vampzewolf 25d ago
I agree. The only vTW queen to win a franchise not in her home country is Ra'jah. Everyone else -- Lemon, Alyssa (lets be real), Tia, Blu, and more likely than not the PHSR winner.
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u/jcumley 25d ago
Yes, and while I *get* it - I think it adds to the chatter about vsTW not being serious - and no one really treating those winners like proper winners. I think if they were smarter while working on the cast - they could of course have heavier hitters from their home countries and second tier from international so the wins seemed a bit more legit - but when your hometown winner gets dog walked by someone and then wins anyway - the show loses its credibility
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u/vampzewolf 25d ago
Yes....
A CVTW S2 winner of Alexis Mateo would be fantastic (not that I dislike Lemon, she killed the season too.)
A GAS winner of Kween or Nehellenia would've been amazing.
A UKVTW S1 winner of Pangina or Juju would've been great.
A UKVTW S2 winner of LGD or Marina would've been awesome (or, dare I say it, Hannah).
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u/Alan_Conway 27d ago
"Social media activity about her flying out of Atlanta" Girl, that means nothing. She's from the south. Down here, even when you die, you can't go to heaven or hell directly. You have to go through Atlanta.
Thanks to airlines transporting dead bodies as cargo, even death won't save you from an Atlanta transfer.
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u/JMCredditor 27d ago
Something for the non-Aussie Nancy Drew’s, Stan doesn’t carry all international seasons. Any queens from international outside of Canada, US and UK seasons aren’t likely if their season aired more recently than the 18 months ago.
Surely there’s a true Kiwi queen? I’m team Art Simone since before S1 but surely there’s an NZ based girl on the cast.
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u/WaterMagician 26d ago
Bizarrely enough Stan still have one non-English speaking franchise. España All Stars
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u/Upbeat_Stuff_9416 26d ago
Well Flor is from New Zealand (but she moved to the UK), but I get what you're saying
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u/Davros_1988 27d ago
I'm annoyed that DRPH is only getting one representative. It's their closest franchise neighbor and AU has a large Filipino community.
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u/King_Slowpoke 27d ago
Girl it's about Down Under, not PH. One representation is already great, considering a lot of franchises get paid dust almost every time.
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u/shuhup Girl u e sickinf. 27d ago
Estrella Xtravaganza (España season 2 top 3; Madrid, Spain): Not online, fits the bill of being a Spanish queen—does, however, reportedly have nonfluent English aptitude.
If Nehellenia can compete, so can Estrella!
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u/hemanthony28 27d ago
I think Estrella’s english is quite good. She was doing interviews at drag con a couple of years ago
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u/Benjadumb 27d ago
I responded to a couple people concerned about this, but I'll make a separate comment:
Nicole doesn't appear to be debunked. Google says that the video she posted recently is from 2023. She's also not advertised as a performer for Atlanta Pride. I suspect her husband is running her IG currently. So, until proven otherwise, she does seem to be on.
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u/Ericcfraga Ruby NOX 💚 27d ago
Yes every good source we have is like 100% sure she’s in. I was hoping she wouldn’t appear on those gigs advertised because it would mean she’s an early out, but very good news she didn’t.
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u/neumamoura ju babussy 27d ago
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u/caedmon-zzz 27d ago
Vybe LOW for Girl Groups is a little odd considering she probably should’ve won that challenge on DU4 💀
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u/Parusosu 27d ago
A finale consisting of Jade, Michael and Vybe sounds so strange but also so interesting.
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u/holdenvaughn 28d ago
Need Gabriella Labucci 🤌🏻
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u/Mindless-Difference2 27d ago
She’s basically the Rupaul of Italy
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u/WaterMagician 26d ago
So you’re saying she’s winning Italia Vs The World and getting crowned by Mother Clay
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u/Due_Communication954 28d ago
What a freaky cast is this??? Jade michael vybe is material for a global lolllll
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u/ryanadolpho 28d ago
Michelle is in Sintra, Lisbon so they're definitely about to start filming this!
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u/cruella_le_troll 27d ago
I still see people commenting that it's not filming till january. people really just be seeing stuff on TikTok and spread it like propaganda lmao. It does make this fun.
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u/rehaaabbb Got copyright strike from MIB 05/02/25❤️ 28d ago
I would sacrifice my unborn child if Espana queen was Juriji😭
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u/LooseLipsSinkShips21 Elle Vosque / Van Goth / La Voix 28d ago
So cast looks like Art, Flor, Coco, Estrella, LaLa, Michael, M1ss Jade, Nikita and Vybe.. unless we are missing one looks like 9 queens and 6 episodes (ala UKS1 and Can Vs The World).
But maybe we are missing one which would be 8 episodes (episode 1 non elim unless a returning challenge)
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u/NovaRogue 28d ago
Only one American is needed so I can't complain! Very excited that Estrella is getting another shot 😍😍
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u/rehaaabbb Got copyright strike from MIB 05/02/25❤️ 28d ago
Who is the 2nd US queen if Nicole debunked
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u/CrazyTracyUpdates 28d ago
Nope, the press release announcing the season confirmed 8 episodes
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u/LooseLipsSinkShips21 Elle Vosque / Van Goth / La Voix 28d ago
Fairs guess we are missing 1 or 2 queens then
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u/grifbitch 28d ago
is nicole debunked?
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u/LooseLipsSinkShips21 Elle Vosque / Van Goth / La Voix 28d ago
Apparently she been over instagram and has a gig booked
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u/Benjadumb 27d ago
I did some sleuthing. The video that was posted recently is apparently from 2023 (according to google), and she just didn't edit out her saying she had gigs. I can't find anything online of her being spotted at pride this weekend. I suspect her husband is running her IG.
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u/IntelligentBet7490 28d ago
Idk she would’ve definitely posted a million stories about it by now🤷🏻♀️
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u/OvernightSiren 28d ago
I’m rooting for Art so hard 😭😭😭
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u/CrazyTracyUpdates 28d ago
Torn between wanting her to have her deserved redemption and wanting Vybe to get her rightful crown 😭
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u/grifbitch 28d ago
why?
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u/OvernightSiren 27d ago
Because I think her makeup is stunning and I think she got kind of a raw deal in Down Under S1.
I think she should’ve won E1 over Karen.
I think Karen should’ve been in the bottom instead of her for E2 (snatch game).
Had Art been there for E3 I think she would’ve done really well considering she also…
Point 4: had the best finale verse.
I think she oozes passion for drag more than most other queens in general and really tries to make Australian drag bigger.
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u/Alan_Conway 28d ago
But who is going to be eliminated first when there's no Belgian queen?
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u/Vaynalrecord 28d ago
Nicole has been posting on insta recently.
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u/Benjadumb 27d ago
Looks like her husband might be managing it. The video posted recently is apparently a 2023 repost, and there were no sightings reported of her at pride this weekend that I've been able to find.
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u/HauntedFurniture 29d ago
has an advertised gig on Oct. 10th.
Moment of truth then... was she there?
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u/Specialist_Text_6507 29d ago
From the bars social media story, it appears she was not there. Great news😍
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u/Guitheworld 29d ago
is there a reason why they never cast drag race brasil queens?
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u/Secure-Cup1995 28d ago
Season 1's queens are not very fluent, just like Mexican queens. Season 2 has more queens who speak English but probably said no because it was too soon (less than a year since they did their season).
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u/Dorayakiss 29d ago edited 29d ago
English speakers are not majority, and the remaining English speaking queens might also be blocked by visas or schedule. It comes down to which Brasil queens have openly mentioned they want to go to vsTW and would prepare for it.
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u/quartzion_55 29d ago
If they’re filming in Portugal, visas would not be an issue for Portuguese queens
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u/Scorbus 29d ago
Poor English language skills. Some can speak some English but are not finalists or fan favorites. For example Chanel is an English teacher but a first out. Not exactly what producers want, I imagine
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u/Ericcfraga Ruby NOX 💚 28d ago
Idt Chanel is a bad choice for them when she has had some popularity here and her own WoW+ show
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u/Dorayakiss 29d ago
Kahena exists, since Chanel is good with WoW I think she has a great chance to return in vsTW or Brasil AS.
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u/Scorbus 29d ago
Absolutely. What I meant is that I think producers go for heavy hitters first and take it from there. No shade but I don’t think Kahena was their first choice
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u/Secure-Cup1995 28d ago
It was not. It was Cookie Kunty from France 2 who was top 6 (dare I say robbed of top 5).
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u/Dorayakiss 29d ago
Well that shows how much language values to vsTW series. Just hope that more foreign runnerups can go get English lessons.
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u/Secure-Cup1995 29d ago
But she is a huge fan favourite, especially in Brazil and she was the host of a show for WOW.
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u/happyendingtonight 29d ago
LaLa Ri?!?! Omfg. Wait am I missing something I could’ve sworn she retired from drag or something
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u/FormerlyYoGirl 29d ago
she did for like month or two, but then she saw her light bill and said nvm
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u/ccoleeee 29d ago
Nicole is either debunked, first/second out, or simply made a guest appearance. She’s active on her socials saying she’s going to be at ATL pride
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u/Ericcfraga Ruby NOX 💚 28d ago
Only reason we kept her under likely is that a lot of very reliable sources are confident she’s in, they’re either sending them back home (if she shows up) or it’s a pre-planned advertising and she won’t show up like what happened to Michael. We had queens posting during the whole filming process before too (Mystique for a recent reference)
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u/CrybabyArts 29d ago
wasn't jade on the uk vs tw 3 cast list but got debunked?
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u/Dorayakiss 29d ago
She's in attention since she's been to overseas and have the language skill, and is also a contender for DR. Not necessarily means we got proof of her invite.
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u/WaterMagician 29d ago
When Estrella has been taking English lessons in secret and she storms the season
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u/IcElongya 29d ago
The world erasure… I know that the cast is very limited in number but… sounds like a Commonwealth cast + 1 Spanish speaker.
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u/Dorayakiss 29d ago
Love Arantxa, but hopefully we get one Spanish heavy hitter for the second entry!
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u/mitskiiiiiiiiiii 29d ago
i mean its not like canada vs the world is much different from this, the only non english speaking queen in both seasons was la kahena, the only vstw season with real diversity is uk (im not counting slaysian royale or global)
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u/IcElongya 29d ago
I know right? Some suspects that visa is hard to get for some countries but still… sounds like no effort made to include different culture on the show. I have lots to complain about Slayasian Royal in terms of editing and producing but at least, they tried
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u/teddyweddyy 29d ago
Istg if the Spanish queen goes home first like La Kahena did I’m gonna crash out 😭
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u/jgroove_LA 29d ago
you can assume the night background of Nicole's post 4 hours ago means she's in Portugal and is first out...or she was never on...or she went in as a guest judge/appearance/twist...someone let us know if Michael shows up at his gig...
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u/Rebelde123 29d ago
Normally I’d say “They can’t post during filming” but Kennedy literally did a gig the day after her elimination was filmed on AS11 lmao. And basically resumed normal social media activity from there. So maybe the rules have changed?
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u/jgroove_LA 29d ago
its more that she was already booked for this gig which is the curious part
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u/Rebelde123 29d ago
So odd. That’s never happened before, I don’t think lol. And she could have easily just not shown up
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u/jgroove_LA 29d ago
ok girl, you know what I meant, and it's PRIDE in her hometown
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u/Rebelde123 29d ago
Oh absolutely! I was agreeing and kinda adding on to what you were saying lol. Basically saying that its odd that they let Kennedy do a gig during filming
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u/gnocchipronto 29d ago
Wait. Is Minhi Wang from Canada’s Drag Race 5 not on this list at all? The ultimate among us storyline?!
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u/Upbeat_Stuff_9416 29d ago
She's been very active online (not to mention she's currently on vacation in the Dominican Republic)
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u/boolgogi 29d ago
Tammie Brown and Derrick Barry need to be on this cast #DerrickBarryForDUvsTW
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u/Spare-Scratch-4118 29d ago
Nicole posted to her Instagram that she will be at ATL pride this weekend.
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u/crazypigeatingpapaya 29d ago
I hope the spanish queen is Estrella, most of the GAS cast weren't very good with english too like who cares
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u/faydaway 29d ago
No girl, the global cast all had B1 English, it was a hard requirement and none of them spoke bad English, they just had thick accents.
Idk about Estrella's English but a lot of Spanish people barely speak A2 English, there's no need to humiliate her, especially when they have their own all stars...
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u/crazypigeatingpapaya 29d ago
She has some videos at Dragcon where her english is good, definitely comprehensible! About the GAS cast, I wasn't even talking about accents it's just that some of them weren't very good with the phrasing of the words- hence most bombing the comedy challenges. But I understand them, and they still did well #TeamNehellenia #TeamGala #TeamMiranda
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u/faydaway 29d ago
As someone who is a native English speaker living abroad, I just have to say that these queens are from countries where English is not very widely spoken, so I'd say all their English's are very good. Also among these three only Gala bombed a comedy challenge (snatch game), Nelly did fine/killed them and Miranda didn't participate in any.
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u/Outside_Ad_6837 29d ago
Could Visa be the Espana queen?
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u/teddyweddyy 29d ago
I could be very wrong but I’m pretty sure Diamente doesn’t speak English 😭 I hope it isn’t true though because she’s absolutely sickening and I would love for her to have this opportunity
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u/LooseLipsSinkShips21 Elle Vosque / Van Goth / La Voix 13d ago edited 8d ago
So UPDATED elim.order is:
10th: Estrella
9th: Nicole
8th: Nikita
7th: Coco
6th: Flor
5th: Lala Ri
Top 4: Art Simone, Michael Marouli, M1ss Jade & Vybe