Rucycled

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under (season 1)
Company type	Television season
Industry	Reality television
Founded	May 1, 2021; 5 years ago
Headquarters	Auckland, New Zealand
Area served	Australia and New Zealand
Key people	RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Rhys Nicholson
Products	Reality competition television series

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Rucycled, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 11 August 20258 sources

The inaugural season of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under was broadcast from 1 May through 19 June 2021. A group of ten drag performers hailing from Australia and New Zealand vied for the distinction of becoming "Down Under's first Drag Superstar," along with a year-long supply of Revolution Beauty Cosmetics and a cash prize amounting to $30,000. The winner of this season was Kita Mean, while Art Simone, Karen from Finance, and Scarlet Adams finished as runners-up.

Production

Initially announced in 2019 as a series focused solely on Australia, the production relocated to New Zealand due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Filming took place in Auckland, showcasing competitors representing both nations battling for the coveted title.

Joining RuPaul and Michelle Visage on the judging panel was Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson. The official lineup of ten contestants was unveiled during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras event on 6 March 2021.

Significantly, three queens based in New Zealand had previous experience on House of Drag: Anita Wigl'it and Kita Mean appeared as judges, whereas Elektra Shock was the runner-up in its second season.

Contestants

The ages, names, and hometowns reflect information at the time of filming.

Participants of *RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under* season 1 with their details
Contestant	Age	Hometown	Result
Kita Mean	34	Auckland, New Zealand	Template:Sort
Art Simone	28	Melbourne, Australia	Template:Sort^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Karen from Finance	32	Melbourne, Australia
Scarlet Adams	27	Perth, Australia
Elektra Shock	28	Auckland, New Zealand	5th place
Maxi Shield	46	Ballina, Australia	6th place
Etcetera Etcetera	22	Canberra, Australia	7th place
Anita Wigl'it	31	Auckland, New Zealand	8th place
Coco Jumbo	29	Coffs Harbour, Australia	9th place
Jojo Zaho	30	Newcastle, Australia	Template:Sort

Lip syncs

Legend:

Episode	Competitors
1^[1]	Elektra Shock vs. Jojo Zaho	"Tragedy" (Bee Gees)	Jojo Zaho
2^[2]	Art Simone vs. Coco Jumbo	"I'm That Bitch" (RuPaul)	Art Simone
3^[3]	Coco Jumbo vs. Elektra Shock	"Shake Your Groove Thing" (Peaches & Herb)	Coco Jumbo
4^[4]	Anita Wigl'it vs. Karen from Finance	"I Begin to Wonder" (Dannii Minogue)	Anita Wigl'it
5^[5]	Etcetera Etcetera vs. Maxi Shield	"Absolutely Everybody" (Vanessa Amorosi)	Etcetera Etcetera
6^[6]	Maxi Shield vs. Scarlet Adams	"Better the Devil You Know" (Kylie Minogue)	Maxi Shield
7^[7]	Elektra Shock vs. Kita Mean	"Untouched" (The Veronicas)	Elektra Shock
8^[8]	(Art Simone vs. Karen from Finance vs. Kita Mean vs. Scarlet Adams)	"Physical" (Olivia Newton-John)	Kita Mean

Guest judges

Presented in order of appearance:

Elz Carrad, actor from New Zealand
Rena Owen, New Zealand-based actress known for theatre, television, and film

Special guests

Featured in episodes without participating as main stage judges.

Episode 1

Taika Waititi, director of film and television from New Zealand

Episode 2

Kylie Minogue, Australian singer and actress
Dannii Minogue, Australian singer and actress

Episode 3

Troye Sivan, Australian singer-songwriter
Leland, American vocalist

Episode 5

Suzanne Paul, television presenter and infomercial host

Episode 6

Aunty Donna, Melbourne-based Australian absurdist comedy troupe

Episode 7

Raven, American drag performer and runner-up on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 and All Stars Season 1
The Veronicas, pop duo from Brisbane, Australia

Episode 8

Dame Olivia Newton-John, British-Australian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and activist
Chloe Lattanzi, American singer and actress, daughter of Dame Olivia Newton-John
Lance Savali, dancer and choreographer from Wellington, New Zealand

Episodes

Template:Episode table

Controversies

After the announcement of the cast, images and video clips surfaced depicting Scarlet Adams wearing a shirt featuring the Aboriginal flag, sporting deeply tanned skin, and having two teeth blacked out. These visuals, dating back to Australia Day events in 2012, also showed Adams in blackface portraying an African American woman and adopting Asian stereotypes by dressing in a sari as a Bollywood character. Adams issued apologies on social media both in 2020 and again in March 2021. During the fifth episode’s critiques, RuPaul addressed this controversy directly. Adams expressed remorse, stating, “As an ignorant and foolish teenager, I made choices I deeply regret... I am ashamed for using my platform to mock individuals enduring systemic racism. I sincerely apologize.”

Karen from Finance encountered criticism after photographs revealed a tattoo of a golliwog. The contestant publicly acknowledged the error, confirming that the dolls had been discarded and the tattoo concealed once they recognized its offensive nature.

The reintroduction of Art Simone in Episode 4 prompted allegations of racial bias because the show did not clarify why a white contestant was allowed to return while two previously eliminated contestants of color were not given the same opportunity.

Etcetera Etcetera’s Snatch Game impersonation of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton attracted significant outrage for making light of the tragic death of Chamberlain’s daughter through the use of a blood-stained dingo puppet—a portrayal widely condemned as callous and disrespectful considering Chamberlain-Creighton’s wrongful conviction.

Anita Wigl'it's Snatch Game depiction of Elizabeth II included jokes about Prince Andrew that were censored by the BBC for broadcasts in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, Wigl'it faced accusations of joke plagiarism from comedian Anthony Lehmann, who claimed a line used had originally appeared in August 2020. Wigl'it apologized on Instagram, explaining that friends had recommended the material without her knowledge that it had been previously utilized.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee	Results
2022	New Zealand Television Awards	Television Personality of the Year	Anita Wigl'it	Template:Nom

External links

(Australia)
(New Zealand)

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