RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Fans Were Living For Jade Thirlwall’s Judging Stint

Jade Thirlwall serving looks as she sits next to RuPaul on the Drag Race UK panel

This article contains spoilers for the most recent episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

After Geri Horner’s stint on the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK panel proved to be less spicy than fans were hoping for, viewers were relieved by Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall’s stellar performance during her much-awaited appearance on the show.

Fittingly, Jade – who has never made any secret of her love of RuPaul and all things drag – was a judge in the latest episode of the series, which saw the remaining queens divided into two rival girl groups.

Right from the off, Jade had viewers laughing with her quips about Simon Cowell (when asked how her judging would compare to his, she commented that “for starters… Simon has much bigger tits”), as well as what was probably our favourite line of the episode: “You’re giving me Ariana Grand National realness”. 

Her critiques were also brilliant, whether she was comparing Baga Chipz to “Peggy Mitchell’s crazy sister” or telling Crystal her outfit was “giving me, like, my nana’s wallpaper… but in a really good way”.

In fact, fans were so impressed that many are calling for Jade to be made a full-time judge if Drag Race UK returns for a second series next year…

Just five queens now remain in the competition, with three more episodes remaining in the current series.

Still to appear as guest judges are Cheryl Tweedy – who will sit on the panel next week, when the queens will each record a fake ad for their own brand of bottled water – and TV actress and writer Michaela Coel.

Curtis and AJ Pritchard will also appear later in the series to serve as dance coaches, in the same way singer and producer MNEK helped with the songs in this week’s episode.

New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK debut on BBC Three every Thursday at 8pm.