International drag icon, RuPaul, is back in Blighty with his cult competitive reality show. Rooted in camp, British pop culture, and famed for its unpredictability, Drag Race UK fans will be delighted with a rambunctious new cast, and a competition with even more twists, more laughs and more sass.
So start your engines, and control your excitement as a fresh new set of amazing drag queens compete to be crowned the UK’s Next Drag Race Superstar in one the world’s most unpredictable, glamorous, and fiercely entertaining races.
About to embark on its sixth season, the multiple award-winning flagship BBC Three show is highly anticipated every autumn by its huge young and ardent fanbase. The competition sees hopeful drag queens compete across ten weeks in a variety of spicy challenges and iconic games designed to test their drag mettle, with the winner of the week being awarded a coveted RuPeter badge, and the bottoms of the week facing a lip sync for their life and the risk of elimination.
RuPaul, affectionately known as Mama Ru, leads an esteemed judging panel that includes regular judges, Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, Graham Norton and a bevy of celebrity guest judges, who this year range from Mabel to Simon Le Bon!
Together, they deliberate the fate of the queens but it is queen of queens, Mama Ru, who has the final word on who shantays or sashays away from the competition.
Handpicked by RuPaul, this year’s cast of twelve gorgeous drag queens represent a heady mix of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, talent, and accents with queens from across the Nations coming together in a bid to be crowned the UK’s Next Drag Race Superstar.
We caught up with Dita Garbo, 48, from Kent…
Pronouns out of drag: They/Them
Pronouns in drag: She/Her
Tell us about yourself!
I’m Dita Garbo, I’m 48 years young from the sunny seaside town of Folkestone in Kent, and I’m so excited to be putting Folkestone on the map!
How would you describe your drag?
I serve burlesque Hollywood glamour. My influences are burlesque icon Dita Von Teese and Hollywood starlet, Greta Garbo. Hence my name – Dita Garbo. I like to say I’m the burlesque lovechild of Dita Von Teese and Greta Garbo! But I can switch it up if I need to keep up with the kids!
I can jump, split, kick, turn, shablam, drop, turn, backflip, split again… but then I might need some help getting up!
You are the oldest contestant we’ve had on Drag Race UK. How will you use that to your advantage in the competition?
The nice thing about being older is that you come to the competition with a lot of wisdom. If the younger queens need it, I’ll give them some motherly love and advice, but if they annoy me, I’ll tell them!
How did you start in drag?
I first got into drag in Madrid, Spain years ago, where I was in an androgynous drag group called Lujuria, which means ‘lust’ in Spanish. It was so much fun. Sadly, I don’t have any photos to show you as it was back in the day before mobile phones! I took a 15-year break from drag to travel the world as a professional dance teacher, but once a drag queen, always a drag queen! I re-emerged as a burlesque diva a few years back, and I’ve even set up my own little Folkestone drag scene.
What challenges are you most excited to take on?
I can sew, I can dance, and I can sing too so I’m excited for any challenges that require those skills! I’ve been a performer all my life and I’m so proud and happy to have been invited by Ru into the Drag Race UK sisterhood and I can’t wait to show what I can do as a mature lady!
Why do you deserve to be the UK’s Next Drag Race Superstar?
I’ve got a ton of experience and knowledge that I can bring to the competition plus I would be the oldest winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK! So, watch out girls because here I come!
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