BBC drops Ru Paul show after eight series

BBC drops Drag Race UK after eight series

BBC/RuPaul’s Drag Race UK

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is leaving the BBC after eight series, the broadcaster has confirmed.

A spokesperson for the channel said it was facing “very difficult choices” in the face of “significant financial pressures”.

The show is currently broadcast on BBC Three and iPlayer. Future series – as well as its spin-off vs The World – will be broadcast on Wow Presents Plus, a streaming platform owned by the production company behind the show.

At its peak, the UK version of the international drag competition averaged at around 1.5 million viewers per episode.

A spokesperson for the BBC said it was “proud […] of this groundbreaking show” and thanked “RuPaul, World of Wonder and everyone involved, both on and off screen”.

Started in 2019, Drag Race UK brought British drag into mainstream entertainment in the UK, and has made household names of drag performers such as La Voix, Danny Beard, and Tia Kofi.

The show sees drag queens compete in a series of challenges to impress judges RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and Alan Carr, and often features big name celebrity guest judges.

It has become a staple of LGBTQ+ culture and has been praised for its portrayal of the distinct style of British drag.

The corporation is currently rolling out plans to make £500m of savings, with director-general Matt Brittin previously telling staff “the scale of savings requires tough choices”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “As the BBC continues to navigate significant financial pressures and deliver the savings required of us, we have had to make some very difficult choices, none of which have been taken lightly.”

Announcing the news on Instagram, Wow Presents Plus said a “new era” of Drag Race UK was on the way.

A new series, Drag Race UK All Stars, which sees previous fan favourites return to compete again, will premier in Autumn 2027 exclusively on Wow Presents Plus.

BBC News understands the current series of Drag Race UK, which launched in September 2026, will continue to air as normal on BBC Three and appear on iPlayer, and all existing series will continue to be available once the move is complete.

The BBC declined to comment on whether future series of other international versions of the show, including Drag Race Canada and Drag Race Down Under, would continue to air.

Earlier this year, the BBC announced it was dropping LGBTQ+ dating show I Kissed a Boy – which made history as the UK’s first gay dating show – and I Kissed a Girl.

Jordan Burrow, a contestant on series two of I Kissed a Boy, said the decision was an example of “where we’re at within the queer community”.

The corporation said at the time that it was “exceptionally proud” of the shows but they had to make “difficult choices in light of our funding challenges”.