RuPaul's Drag Race's biggest ever scandals – catfishing, fix claims and storm off

It seems that despite the glitter and sequins involved in RuPaul’s Drag Race, there is always going to be scandal among the queens and judging panel.

With so many big personalities in one room – including stars like RuPaul and best pal Michelle Visage – it’s inevitable that conflict will occur.

As BBC Three returns to our TV screens after six years as an online-only streaming platform – with channel exclusive Drag Race UK vs The World airing tonight (February 1) – Daily Star takes a look at the biggest ever controversies to hit the show.

From catfishing scandals to fix claims and furious storm-offs, there have been plenty over the years – but the queens have always sashayed away unruffled.

Will the introduction of celebrity judges including Katie Price, Michelle Keegan and Mel C stir things up even more? Only time will tell.

Catfishing scandal

US contestant Sherry Pie was disqualified from the 12th series of Drag Race due to catfishing accusations – which saw her impersonate a casting director in order to solicit explicit audition tapes from five different men.

The tapes, which featured at least five aspiring young actors, included degrading videos of them saying and doing embarrassing things – and one young man said he even agreed to masturbate on camera as part of the audition process for the show.

One of the affected men wore a tank top and shorts for his “audition” for a fake musical version of A Nightmare Before Christmas, which he was told Tim Burton was affiliated with.

Sherry, real name Joey Gugliemelli, later took to Facebook to apologise for his actions, writing: “This is Joey. I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself.

“I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel. Until being on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I never really understood how much my mental health and taking care of things meant.

“I learned on that show how important ‘loving yourself’ is and I don’t think I have ever loved myself. I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC. I truly apologise to everyone I have hurt with my actions.

“I also want to say how sorry I am to my sisters of season 12 and honestly the whole network and production company. All I can do is change the behaviour and that starts with me and doing that work.”

VH1, the US production company in charge of Drag Race, subsequently released a statement which read: “In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

Storm off

Drag Race UK hasn’t escaped the controversy, either, as one queen told the judges to “f*** off” before storming off-set.

Asttina Mandella, the queen who stormed off during the episode after clashing with the production crew, later said on a Facebook Live with Daily Star: “I was trying to get ready and I was being moved around 24/7. I was like, ‘You’re the ones who can move around us — at the end of the day, if I’m not in drag then you haven’t got a show’.

“If something is incorrect, I will point it out. I wasn’t having it. It just ticked me off. And my emotions just went. I couldn’t control myself. I had to go off set. One of the producers had to come to me.

“Everything about me broke down in tears. I was angry. I was like, ‘This is too much for me’.”

Asttina was struggling with her mental health at the time, and added: “When you’re in the show, you’re so vulnerable. My mental health was off the roof. I was feeling depressed.

“I was feeling really anxious not having communication with my family. I was not enjoying it. I had my own struggles. I had family issues.”

Fix rumours

The show has been constantly blasted with accusations of it being a fix – with Season 4 and All Stars 2 contestant Phi Phi O’Hara slamming it for being “nothing like what happened on set”.

Speaking to Vulture, Phi Phi said: “It’s like watching a completely different show. Because it’s nothing like what happened on set.

“I’ve always said what I said, but people truly don’t understand how context comes into play, and they’ll cut off something and add it to another thing and then make this whole different story.

“It’s really upsetting because I put so much faith in this show [that] it was going to keep it’s word on this redemption for Phi Phi, and they’ve just made me look like another backstabbing manipulative monster.”

Further accusations of rightful winners being “robbed” of their crowns have also swirled around the programme.

RuPaul drama

Ellen isn’t the only programme host who has come under fire for how they treat guests – or contestants, in this case.

Season 7 queen Pearl raised concerns during an interview with Hey Qween, in which they alleged RuPaul is nothing like he seems on camera – which broke his heart.

Pearl told the publication: “I turned to RuPaul and said, ‘Oh my god, thank you so much. It’s such a honour to be here, such a pleasure to meet you, you have no idea.’ Just giving her everything I ever wanted to say to her.

“She turned to me and she said: ‘Nothing you say matters unless that camera is rolling’.

“In that moment, it was so heartbreaking because I idolised her. I worshipped her. I felt like it was just so disrespectful.”

However, Michelle Visage later defended RuPaul, maintaining that the programme simply wants to capture all of the “magic” moments on camera.

Unsafe working conditions

Willam Belli was an actor before appearing as a contestant on Season 4 of Drag Race – and has even appeared in Hollywood blockbusters like A Star Is Born.

But she was disqualified from Drag Race when a new scandal hit, confessing during a reunion show that it was due to receiving conjugal visits from her husband during her time on the programme – which broke show rules.

She joked: “Visiting makes it sound like we were visiting — there wasn’t no talking. But they were very long visits — he’s 6’6”.”

She later criticised the working conditions on the programme, claiming the queens were told to “run at” a table laden with breakable glass objects without a safety meeting.

Willam wrote on Twitter: “Pit Crew wheels out a table laden with breakable sh** (glass) stuff and we are told to run at it.

“I ask if they’re gonna lock the wheels down and for a safety meeting. They said no.

“So six of us run for it, stuff crashes to the ground as it rolls away as we scrap for sh** and Kenya cuts her leg and bleeds as a result (yet I’m the difficult one).”

That wasn’t the only glass-related incident, as Willam also claimed that one staff member named Heather had to pick glass out of Shengela’s back with tweezers after another incident.

“She had broken ornament glass embedded in her back from lip-syncing and shablamming and wanted to avoid the hospital visit and paperwork,” he explained.

She further claimed that vegan and dairy-free food options weren’t available to contestants despite asking for them.

Period dress ban

Manila Luzon appeared on both Season 3 of the show and two seasons of All Stars – and was renowned for her bold fashion choices.

However, one of her boldest statement pieces didn’t make it through to the final edit, as she revealed she wanted to wear a dress inspired by menstruation.

The number included a huge sanitary pad with blood dripping down it for the body, with a blood-red skirt and a red stripe sprayed into Manila’s blonde locks.

She shared the gown on Instagram, writing: “Ru said my original Curves & Swerves Runway look was in ‘bad taste’ and production told me to wear my back up.

“I was really looking forward to wearing this gown that I think celebrates a perfectly normal human experience! Many of my fans are young women who may feel pressured by society to be embarrassed by periods.

“It’s empowering to teach young women about their bodies, encourage them to celebrate them and to question people who tell them not to!

“My goal with this look was to normalise menstruation by looking sick’ning even if I was on my period!”

She went on: “Instead, I decided to wear the beautiful quilted dress you saw in the episode because it is not my show, it’s Ru’s. But because of Ru, I have my very own platform to speak for myself and show you all my interpretation!”

Trans row

RuPaul irked some viewers with his controversial comments on transgender queens.

Speaking in a 2018 interview with The Guardian, he said: “You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body.

“It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing. We’ve had some girls who’ve had some injections in the face and maybe a little bit in the butt here and there, but they haven’t transitioned.”

And despite the controversy, he only seemed to stand by his comments when he argued: “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete just not in the Olympics.”

However, RuPaul eventually backed up, tweeting: “Each morning I pray to set aside everything I think I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience.

“I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers.”

Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World airs on BBC Three tonight at 9pm

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk