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RuPaul's Drag Race UK started its season 5 with ten queens ready "head to toe" to make their "whole body talk." This spinoff usually features twelve contestants, and while there's no clear reason why the twelfth queen was missing, Crystal Lubrikant, the eleventh contestant, was edited out of the show.
Since the network would probably be left with a ten-minute episode if they were to remove every group shot with her, they cut her out everywhere instead, leading to a very awkward-looking yet well-done edit. Fans put on their detective hats, trying to spot little bits of her on the show. They praised the post-production team's attempts, but many were unaware of the real issue.
For context, Crystal Lubrikant was accused with allegations of s*xual assault during the show's filming, and BBC chose not to acknowledge the incident in the final cuts of the episode by simply erasing her.
X (formerly Twitter) user @bestofrdpr sarcastically wrote:
"Btw the edit is 10/10 #DragRaceUK"
RuPaul's Drag Race UK fans can't get over strange edit
RuPaul's Drag Race is known for its shady queens and abundant scandals, and it's also not uncommon for queens and fans to blame bad narratives on the edit. Nothing quite grabbed the attention of viewers like the premier episode of Drag Race UK. This time, they played scavenger hunt to find Crystal Lubrikant, who was literally made invisible in the episode, even in group scenes.
Crystal Lubrikant was accused of s*xual assault during the filming process, and an old Reddit thread from February 2023, which has since been deleted, resurfaced on social media, revealing more details. The post showed an anonymous source who said they were a part of the production team and that BBC was going to try to "cover-up" this incident.
They claimed all allegations were confirmed by former RuPaul's Drag Race queens and that the network was aware of the happenings but decided to let her "lip-sync" horribly and get eliminated, keeping viewers in the dark about the actual happenings. The source called out the network for its history of "protecting abusers" and wanted to make it public.
Since the filming for Drag Race UK had already begun, BBC edited Crystal out of every shot in the first episode and may continue the pattern until the episode of her elimination.
Fans, some of whom were unaware of these allegations, were stumped by the near-perfect post-production job, with some even saying the editors should win awards. No doubt, erasing someone from an hour-long episode can be tedious. Still, the audience, being the investigators they are, found some shots where hints of this mysterious queen were visible and took to the internet to discuss it.
Drag Race UK devotees spent hours zooming into every frame, discovering the end of her dress and the back of her wig, which had been missed in a few scenes.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK will surely be a whirlwind of emotions, explosions, and some good and embarrassing edits. The ten queens will compete in several challenges, including the infamous Rusical and Snatch game. All but one will be asked to sashay away, earning the crown, scepter, and the opportunity to, as Ru puts it, "prance, my queen."
Episode 2 of Drag Race UK season 5 will be served up hot on October 5, on BBC Three at 4 pm ET.
