This week, RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under made headlines for a joke about Prince Andrew – told by Anita Wigl’it as part of a Snatch Game-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II – which was subsequently cut from the BBC broadcast. However, some fans have concerned themselves with a more meta question over the past few days: is RuPaul even there?
Suspicion about the host’s presence on the Down Under set (or lack thereof) was first shared by TikTok user Amber Tara. “I don’t think he’s actually there,” she said in a video showing clips from the show. “So who are they talking to when all this is happening? You’re speaking to a green screen?”
Other users added fuel to the fire, claiming that there are no scenes where you see Ru in close proximity to the Aussie and Kiwi queens, and that their responses seem scripted.
“So, I’ve clocked three times now that queens have said, ‘I can’t believe I’m talking to RuPaul right now’,” said TikToker Abbie Chatfield. “And that, to me, says a producer has gone, ‘Alright, so we’re gonna edit this for COVID’.”
“It’s sus… and if RuPaul is there, the production quality is just weirdly low. It feels clunky, it feels awkward, it feels unrealistic.”
On Reddit (AKA the epicentre for everyone’s fave pop culture conspiracy theories) users have also been questioning whether RuPaul is green-screened into the new series or present in person.
“It could be the weird camera angles that are making me question him actually being there,” wrote one user. “But especially through the walkthrough, Ru usually goes around the room and talks to the queens... Does anyone agree or am I being delusional?”
The conspiracies have even reached such a level that one of the contestants, Art Simone, has addressed them publicly on Twitter, suggesting that they fall more into the “delusional” category.
“Just here to quash the rumours that RuPaul was green-screened onto set,” she wrote. “There’s no way we would have the budget after we splurged on those beautiful cement cherubs.”
Convinced? Either way, the internet is still in the clutches of the RuAnon conspiracy.
