Drag Race co-creator fears for queer representation after BBC drops show

ByJosh Parry

LGBT & Identity Reporter

The co-creator of Drag Race has said determination is simply a "crisis of representation" connected TV, pursuing the BBC's determination to axe the UK variation of the show.

Speaking exclusively to BBC News, Fenton Bailey said helium did not judge determination was a "hidden agenda" down the decision, but feared "vulnerable communities are going to beryllium adjacent much vulnerable".

The determination led viewers to rise concerns astir the corporation's on-screen representation, aft it besides cancelled 2 LGBTQ+ dating shows.

A spokesperson for the BBC said the determination was down to "significant fiscal pressures", arsenic it attempts to marque £500m of savings.

Other shows being cancelled include Celebrity Mastermind, Blankety Blank and Live astatine the Apollo, and much than 500 occupation losses person besides been announced.

World of Wonder (WOW) announced aboriginal bid of Drag Race UK, including a caller All Stars version, volition beryllium broadcast exclusively connected the company's ain streamer, WOW Presents Plus.

BBC News spoke to Bailey, screenwriters, TV critics and erstwhile Drag Race contestants astir the determination and what it means for on-screen representation.

When Drag Race UK launched successful 2019, co-creator Fenton Bailey, who was calved successful Portsmouth but present lives successful Los Angeles, said moving with the nationalist broadcaster felt similar a "very peculiar homecoming" for his accumulation company, WOW.

The US mentation of the show, co-created by RuPaul Charles, Bailey and his concern spouse Randy Barbato, had been connected aerial for much than 10 years and was a runaway success, with dozens of Emmy awards and an planetary following.

Fans were eagerly awaiting a UK bid to showcase the unsocial British benignant of drag. Now, 8 bid and 3 spin-offs later, the programme volition halt broadcasting connected the BBC aft the existent bid ends.

"Even astatine the champion of times, queer civilization is susceptible and you can't instrumentality thing for granted," Bailey told BBC News. "Just due to the fact that a doorway opened yesterday doesn't mean it won't beryllium slammed unopen the next."

BBC News understands discussions to renew the BBC's woody with the amusement lasted months, with producers hopeful an statement could beryllium reached, but talks yet failed owed to the standard of the savings the corp is trying to make.

Bailey said it was a motion of the "horrible fiscal situations" broadcasters are presently facing.

"The squad astatine the BBC are astonishing and truthful passionate astir the show, this is not an casual happening for immoderate of the radical I interacted with, oregon thing they wanted to do," helium added.

Drag Race UK was consistently 1 of BBC Three's astir fashionable offerings, but according to Barb Audiences data, portion mean viewing figures for the bid roseate betwixt 2022 and 2024, wide they've fallen astir 15% implicit the past 4 years, against a backdrop of declining TV viewing figures crossed the board.

Bailey said the figures "haven't plummeted," but had alternatively fallen successful enactment with different terrestrial TV shows, and said the fig of viewers watching connected societal media had risen "because that's wherever the assemblage has gone."

Following the announcement, immoderate viewers speculated the amusement could beryllium acquired by different UK broadcaster, but Bailey suggested the show's creators whitethorn similar to spell it alone.

"We emotion partnerships, but successful this peculiar moment, having the state to marque the amusement the mode we privation whitethorn beryllium preferable to getting into furniture with different broadcaster and perchance beryllium successful the aforesaid concern a fewer much seasons down the road."

A BBC spokesperson said: "As the BBC continues to navigate important fiscal pressures and present the savings required of us, we person had to marque immoderate precise hard choices, nary of which person been taken lightly."

Scott Bryan, TV professional and writer of Out Now: A Queer History of Modern Television, says the determination is indicative of conscionable however terrible the fiscal pressures facing broadcasters person become.

"I tin ideate Drag Race is an costly amusement to make," Bryan told the BBC, "I tin spot the pressures the BBC are under, but it's alternatively concerning successful regards to queer storytelling.

"You spot LGBTQ+ lives reflected connected soaps and primetime dramas overmuch much casually, but determination inactive needs to beryllium shows specifically catering to a queer audience, and it feels similar precise rapidly the drawbridge is pulling up."

Earlier this twelvemonth the BBC announced LGBTQ+ dating shows I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl were besides being cancelled. The corp said astatine the clip that it was "exceptionally proud" of the shows, but they had to marque "difficult choices successful airy of our backing challenges".

Author and screenwriter Juno Dawson says viewers person begun to announcement a "pattern".

She said: "I deliberation that's wherefore possibly eyebrows person been raised, due to the fact that Drag Race hasn't been cancelled successful isolation. A mates of different LGBTQ+ shows person gone arsenic well.

"It's a shame this is happening astatine the BBC, due to the fact that commercialized channels don't needfully person an work to correspond each the communities successful the UK, but the BBC does and it's expected to correspond each of us, including LGBTQ+ people."

The BBC precocious announced Smoggie Queens, which features predominantly LGBTQ+ characters, would beryllium renewed for a 3rd series, and it represents the assemblage elsewhere done storylines successful shows including Mr Loverman, Amandaland, Vigil and EastEnders.

A caller study from GLAAD, an American advocacy organisation, recovered movie practice had fallen for a 3rd consecutive year, external and much than 200 LGBTQ+ TV characters would vanish from screens successful 2026 due to the fact that of cancellations, endings oregon limited-run series.

While akin figures for the UK aren't collated, Dawson fears a shrinking tv manufacture successful the UK volition marque it harder for commissioners to marque LGBTQ+ stories.

"So galore of my idiosyncratic shows person gotten close up to greenish light, but for tons of antithetic reasons, antithetic commissioners - not conscionable astatine the BBC - person decided to backmost away.

"Nobody is ever going to accidental to you 'it's due to the fact that it was excessively niche', but each I tin support doing is penning tv that feels existent to maine and represents maine and my life."

While Drag Race is known for its campy humour and glamour, astir episodes besides tackled superior topics, with contestants opening up astir everything from non-binary and trans identities to substance maltreatment and the realities of surviving with HIV.

"There's thing precise clever astir Drag Race," Dawson said, "because you travel for the sequins and the sparkles, but really nether its surface, you're dealing with truly big, dense and important topics."

Kate Butch, who competed connected play 5 of Drag Race UK and connected spin-off UK vs the World, told the BBC they fearfulness a determination distant from a nationalist work broadcaster could interaction the show's quality to scope audiences with "important" messages.

"It's large the amusement is going to transportation connected and radiance a spotlight connected the astonishing resistance artistry the UK has to offer," they said, "but I bash mourn the anticipation of idiosyncratic possibly conscionable flicking done the channels and randomly uncovering it."

Butch told BBC News that the amusement coming disconnected the BBC whitethorn besides bring immoderate affirmative changes to the programme - including the anticipation of prize wealth and sponsorships.

"It's a batch of effort to spell connected Drag Race, a batch of concern and affectional labour," they added, "so I anticipation the assemblage follows and keeps supporting the queens."

Fenton Bailey says he's excited astir the show's aboriginal connected its ain streaming platform.

"We whitethorn not person the resources that the BBC has, but the tone of Drag and RuPaul's Drag Race is astir making thing retired of nothing," helium told the BBC.

"As a assemblage we tin past and thrive successful little than optimal conditions.

"We have. We can. We will."