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BAFTA award-winning actor Aimee Lou Wood revealed her missed opportunity to judge RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2023. The star, currently appearing in The White Lotus season three as Chelsea, shared the details with PinkNews, which was published on February 21, 2025.
"Oh my God. Can I tell you something? So there's only a few things in my life that I wanted to do, White Lotus, and be a judge on Drag Race and Cabaret. Right, I got Cabaret...I got offered to do RuPaul's Drag Race UK and I missed it because I was rehearsing for Cabaret, so I need to get my opportunity again. I have to get it again."
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The timing of RuPaul's Drag Race UK judging opportunity conflict arose from her commitment to the Cabaret, where she played Sally Bowles from February through May 2023.
Aimee Lou Wood missed RuPaul's Drag Race UK judging opportunity due to Cabaret
The West End production required Aimee Lou Wood from February through May 2023, exactly when she would have needed to be available for the drag competition series. As a result, the star had to turn down the RuPaul's Drag Race UK guest judge opportunity.
Wood has remained transparent about her three main career aspirations. During her interview with The Guardian in 2023, she specifically mentioned a guest judge spot on RuPaul's Drag Race UK and playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret as her two primary goals. The White Lotus role later joined this list.
“I’m an Aquarius, I don’t set goals in my life. I just go with it. But the only two things I’ve ever said I wanted were to be a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and play Sally Bowles in Cabaret,” Wood shared during the 2023 interview.
The actor achieved two of these objectives within the past year. She got the Cabaret role in 2023, while she secured the part of Chelsea in The White Lotus season three, missing only RuPaul's Drag Race UK judge opportunity.
White Lotus experience
Aimee Lou Wood brings life to the character of Chelsea in The White Lotus, working alongside Walton Goggins in the Thailand-set season. The production represents her first major American television project following her successful run in British entertainment. The show films at a wellness resort in Thailand, marking a change from previous seasons' locations.
Wood described her experience on set as transformative in her recent Elle interview, which was published February 14, 2025. She said,
“I am not the same person as I was pre-White Lotus. I had a lot of reckonings out there. I realized how important my anchors are in life.”
The actor maintains her enthusiasm for participating in RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In her same PinkNews interview, Wood expressed determination to obtain another chance at judging.
Wood's background
The 30-year-old performer continues to expand her repertoire across multiple entertainment formats. As she recently turned 30 on February 3, 2025, Aimee also shared thoughts about age in an Elle interview.
“The 20s are hard. There’s so much pressure to experience and prove yourself, and I feel like everyone in their 30s just chills out of it and is like, “This is who I am. This is where I’m at,’ There’s that kind of race before 30 of, ‘Have I done all the things?’” she shared.
Wood's path in entertainment began at Cheadle Hulme School, where she studied A Level drama. She advanced her training through the Oxford School of Drama's foundation course. Her breakout role came as Aimee Gibbs in S*x Education, leading to a BAFTA win for Best Female Comedy Performance in season two.
Beyond television, Wood established herself in theater through significant roles in productions like Uncle Vanya and People, Places & Things. She actively participates in both television and stage projects, including the 2022 film Living with Bill Nighy and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain in 2021.
The actor from Stockport, Manchester, maintains connections with both British television and theater communities. Her recent projects include the upcoming BBC series Daddy Issues and a Netflix drama called Toxic Town, where she takes on maternal roles.
RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 is airing on MTV.
