BBC Drops Drag Race UK After Eight Series — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- BBC confirmed it is dropping RuPaul's Drag Race UK after eight series, with future seasons and spin-off vs The World moving to Wow Presents Plus, the streaming platform owned by production company World of Wonder.
- Drag Race UK peaked at around 1.5 million viewers per episode and had run since 2019, making household names of performers including La Voix, Danny Beard, and Tia Kofi.
- BBC cited "significant financial pressures" as it rolls out £500m in savings; director-general Matt Brittin previously told staff "the scale of savings requires tough choices."
- Wow Presents Plus announced a "new era" for the franchise, with a new series Drag Race UK All Stars set to premiere in Autumn 2027 exclusively on the platform.
- BBC confirmed the current series, launched in September 2026, will continue airing on BBC Three and iPlayer, and all existing series will remain available after the move.
- Tia Kofi, winner of vs The World series 2, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the move cuts "limited representation in mainstream media" for marginalized audiences, also pointing to the BBC's earlier cancellations of LGBTQ+ dating shows I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl.
- Elle Vosque, last year's runner-up, warned that moving the show off free-to-air BBC makes discovery harder, while fan Alex Re said young queer viewers wanting community now face a paywall.
- BBC declined to comment on whether future series of international versions including Drag Race Canada and Drag Race Down Under would continue to air.
Why it matters: A show that peaked at 1.5 million viewers and gave mainstream exposure to British drag performers is being pushed off free-to-air television onto a paid platform, and the BBC's own cast members say that removes one of the few mainstream platforms for LGBTQ+ representation — a concern the corporation's own list of remaining LGBTQ+-themed shows does not directly address.
Ask SkimNews
