RuPaul’s Drag Race: Queens From a Land Down Under

G’day mate! The cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season one has officially been announced.

Aussies are set to kiki with Kiwis across the series’ debut, which will put 10 queens competing against each other up for the title of Down Under’s First Drag Superstar. We cannot wait to see the kind of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent these queens have in store for us.

Among the competitors include notable queer personality Anita Wigl’it, host and judge of New Zealand’s House of Drag TV series, which became the first major television competition to crown a drag king. Anita’s House of Drag co-host, Kita Mean, was also cast for this season, as well as the show’s season two runner-up, Elektra Shock.

Related Article: RuPaul Is Coming to New Streaming Platform Paramount+

Also competing is Jojo Zaho, a Miss First Nation Indigenous drag queen pageant competitor, and Art Simone, star of various TV series and feature films, as well as Australia’s reigning Drag Performer of the Year pageant winner.

Drag Race Down Under will be judged by RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and comedian Rhy Nicholson. A premiere date has not yet been set, but new episodes will be available in North America via WOW Presents+.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 is currently airing on VH1 Fridays at 8 p.m., and season two of Drag Race UK is releasing new episodes Thursdays on WOW Presents+. It was recently announced that All Stars 6 will make the jump to Paramount+ later this year, and a new competition series called Queen of the Universe is also in the works for the brand-new streaming service.

Keep scrolling to meet the full Drag Race Down Under cast.

Art Simone
Instagram: @rtist_ Art Simone is the current reigning “Queen of Australia” and has played roles in Australian feature films, theatrical shows, television programs, and commercials, as well as being awarded Drag Performer of the Year for the last two years running. Last year, Art traveled to Los Angeles and New York, representing Australia in the world’s largest drag convention, RuPaul’s DragCon.

Coco Jumbo
Instagram: @_cocojumbo Coco has performed on Australia’s Mardi Gras party main stage many times and is a multi DIVA (Drag Industry Variety Awards) award winner most prestigious Entertainer of the Year in 2017, Sydney’s Favorite Showgirl in 2016-2019 and Rising Star in 2015. Coco has worked with Absolutely Fabulous‘ Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, and Australia’s very own Sandra Sully.

Elektra Shock
Instagram: @therealelektrashock Elektra Shock is the Dancing Queen of Tāmaki Makaurau! Runner up on season two of TVNZ’s House of Drag and star of Pleasuredome The Musical, the NZ Herald describes her as “utterly charismatic.” Starting drag in 2012, she is now a resident performer at a number of venues on Karangahape Road. Her amazing dance ability, shocking high kicks, and live vocals puts her in high demand for corporate events and theatre performances around Aotearoa.

Etcetera Etcetera
Instagram: @etcetera__etcetera Etcetera is a striking nonbinary drag artist who, at only 22 years of age, has already made a splash within the Australian drag community for her aesthetic and activism. Known as the “glamour bug,” she runs the shows at one of Sydney’s iconic establishments: The Imperial Erskineville!

Jojo Zaho
Instagram: @jojo_zaho Jojo started her drag career in 2015 as a political response to a council member stating that homosexuality is not part of the Indigenous culture. So, for Dubbo’s first annual Central West Pride March, she walked the parade in a costume she made with both the Indigenous and gay Pride flag. She has not looked back since. Since then, she has made her first television cameo on Get Krackin, competing in the inaugural Miss First Nation Indigenous drag queen pageant, the documentary Black Divaz, and hosting the VIP party for the Newcastle leg of Cher’s Australian tour.

Karen from Finance
Instagram: @karenfromfinance One of the most renowned drag artists in Australia, Karen was one of the original members of the award-winning cult queer cabaret YUMMY, and has built an international fanbase, touring the world with her singular brand of office-themed character drag. At the beginning of 2021, Karen was appointed as an ambassador for DragExpo in Melbourne. She has appeared at RuPaul’s DragCon LA in 2017, 2018, and 2019 in headlining performances, as well as headlining shows all over the United States, including the Austin International Festival in Texas.

Kita Mean
Instagram: @kitamean Kita started drag when she dressed up for a New Year’s Eve party and wowed all her friends. Before long, she found herself in the thick of the nightlife, firmly making her mark on the Auckland scene. A few years down the line, she joined Anita Wigl’it as a drag duo where the two started a monthly event which gave local Kiwi drag artists a platform to perform on Drag Wars. Kita now co-owns the iconic Caluzzi Cabaret and Phoenix Venue in Auckland and has since hosted two series of TVNZ’s House of Drag, as well as maintaining her position as resident Drag Queen at Family Bar and Club.

Maxi Shield
Instagram: @maxishield Maxi has been a drag artist for 23 years and is noted for her work within the community, including “Drag Storytime,” where drag artists read stories to children, engaging them in fun and creative ways and conveying the overall message of inclusion. Maxi won Entertainer of the Year at the Drag Industry Variety Awards in 2015, has been named Madonna’s National Hostess for her Australian Rebel Heart Tour, and has closed both a straight Olympics (Sydney 2000) and opened a gay one (Gay Games 2022).

Scarlet Adams
Instagram: @scarletadamsdragqueen Scarlet is a burlesque performer, pole dancer, costume designer, and self-proclaimed “party girl.” Since she turned 18, Scarlet has worked tirelessly to build her reputation and brand as a drag artist. After only a year of doing drag, Scarlet won the prestigious title of Queen of the Court, Entertainer of the Year 2016 at the annual Proud Awards, and even took the title for Miss Burlesque Western Australia 2018, becoming not only the first drag queen to compete in Miss Burlesque Australia history, but the first to win the title.

Keep with OFM for more updates on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under.

Photos Courtesy of Instagram and World of Wonder