A McDonald’s employee and university alumni: Meet the queens of RPDR UK season two

I love them all already ❤️

4 years ago

Trash

The queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season two already have so much range. We have a McDonald’s employee, a mental health nurse, a Nottingham Uni grad and a vegan. They’ve made a huge impression on fans of the show who can’t stop talking about it on Twitter, and there’s no doubt we’re all very grateful for the entertainment these queens are bringing to our previously-lifeless Thursday nights.

Here’s everything we know about our season two UK queens:

Lawrence Chaney

LaWrEnCe Chaaaaaney *RuPaul Glaswegian accent* is from Glasgow and one of the youngest of the group being only 23. She also seems to be the current favourite of this season, after smashing the first episode.

Her drag is inspired by Lady Gaga and Madonna. From her Insta, you can see her favourite styles are bright colours, big hair and pink eyebrows, she’s also already good friends with last year’s winner The Vivienne.

Credit: Instagram

Cherry Valentine

Cherry is 26 and from Darlington. She’s already famous for her mad laugh and for looking exactly Alan Cumming when out of drag. Her drag-style seems centred on dark themes – blacks, reds and scary contact lenses.

Outside of drag, she’s a qualified mental health nurse and returned to her duties during the pandemic. Originally from Darlington, she now works in Manchester.

Credit: Instagram

Bimini Bon Boulash

Bimini’s unique name is a combination of what she would’ve been called if she was a girl and the name of her mum’s cat – I can’t tell which is which. She’s from London and is passionate about being vegan, so much so she had it written on her entrance look. Although drag is her primary career path, she also has a degree in journalism.

Credit: Instagram

Ginny Lemon

Ginny Lemon is from Worcestershire and one of the older queens, being 31. Ginny’s a non-binary drag queen and said they’re “the hairiest woman in show-business” and “the only non-binary drag queen in the UK…with a sense of humour!”. If you recognise the blue brows and yellow clothes, it’s because they auditioned on The X Factor in 2017 and asked Simon if he “wanted a slice”.

Joe Black

Joe Black seemed to be the most famous and yet was the first to go. Joe Black is 30 and the first drag contestant from Brighton. She gets her drag inspiration from 1920s and 30s cabaret, adding: “I bring all the wonky eyebrows and eyeshadow of the traditional seaside drag with a bit of haunted glamour”.

Credit: Instagram

Tayce

The first Welsh queen on Drag Race, Tayce is 26 and from Newport. She’s already got famous blood as her dad was the bass drummer of Wham. She loves singing and wants to be the next Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey or Catherine Zeta Zones.

Tayce’s drag style is extra-long wigs and edgy, tight outfits.

Credit: Instagram

Tia Kofi

Although Tia calls herself the “Queen of Clapham” she’s actually from Nottingham and is a Notts Uni alumni. Recently, a video went around of her audition video for the Students’ Union activities officer position – it’s the most classically SU election vid you’ll ever see.

as a Notts alum I knew I recognised Tia Kofi as the star behind this ICONIC piece of Student Union election promo – can’t wait to see what the verse she puts out on #DragRaceUK pic.twitter.com/kw5rwIzf3N

— Liam (@LiamLambrini) January 14, 2021

Since this, she also auditioned for X Factor in 2016 with her drag queen band, The Vixens.

Veronica Green

Veronica Green is the oldest contestant this year being 34, even though she 100 per cent looks the youngest. Veronica is from London and the inspiration for her drag name came from a comic book supervillain she created as a child and the jealousy she felt towards her baby sister, Veronica.

Veronica has a background in musical theatre and competed on All Together Now, where she did pretty well scoring 77.

Sister Sister

Sister Sister is 32 from Liverpewl. Her drag centres on her love for art which she discovered at art school. She says: “Like most people, I got into drag after a break-up. I kicked him out, bought some make-up and started painting. I started with a big blue circle on my face”.

Credit: Instagram

Ellie Diamond

The youngest of the queens is Ellie Diamond, who’s 21 and from Dundee. Ellie’s 6ft4 and likes to get even taller in drag with big heels and wigs. By night she’s a drag queen, but by day she works in McDonald’s and said this job was a massive financial support during Covid.

She added: “By day I fund my drag through my work at a drive-through fast-food place, but believe me, my uniform is customised and I sashay to that counter. I would love to be dressed like this 24/7.”

Credit: Instagram

Asttina Mandella

AssssTina is 27 and from London. Her key drag skills are as a dancer and she’s already worked with Little Mix, Pussycat Dolls, Melanie C, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Fleur East and Kayne West at the Brits. Previously, she’s appeared on Channel 4’s Drag SOS, and been a contributor on BBC Radio 1’s Drag Queen’s Den.

When we spoke to her, she also admitted she “loves gaming” and spends any free moment she has playing games.

Credit: Instagram

A’Whora

And finally, A’Whora is 23 and currently living in London, but originally from Nottinghamshire. Some reports say she chose her name because her favourite Disney princess is Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora, others say it’s because it sounds like “whore”, and according to her confessional it’s because her name is George and the Spanish for George is Jorje.

Much of her drag inspo comes from fairytale villains. She says: “I love the idea of being sinister, I want to walk into the room with presence. If I could be anyone it would be Cruella De Ville.”