[Cover photo courtesy of Pangina Heals / Surachai Saengsuwan.]

Unveiled today is the highly anticipated cast of the upcoming RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus the World. A brand new spin-off in the ever-expanding RuPaul’s Drag Race universe, for the first time ever, nine internationally-renowned queens from six different countries will be competing against each other to snatch the ultimate crown. 

The cast reveal created a bit of a buzz around town today, especially among Thai drag fans and the LGBTQ+ community, as our very own Koktail brand ambassador, Pangina Heals (Pan Pan Narkprasert), is indeed one of the nine drag superstars we’ll be seeing on the BBC Three next month when Versus the World premieres.

“This is biggest thing I have ever done,” gushed Pangina on Instagram today. Having had to keep her successful casting a secret for a year now, Pangina tells us that it’s such a relief to be able to “finally scream it from the rooftops!”

The nod to the UK in the series title comes from the fact that Versus the World was filmed last year in Manchester, at the same location of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Graham Norton, Alan Carr, Michelle Visage and RuPaul himself will also be reprising their Drag Race UK roles as judges. In terms of the competitors, however, only three out of the nine total queens represent the UK—Baga Chip, Blue Hydrangea, and Cheryl Hole. The rest of the cast comprises Jujube, Mo Heart, Lemon, Jimbo, Janey Jacke and Pangina Heals, former competitors in the American, Canadian and Dutch Drag Races—with the exception of Heals, who wasn’t a competitor but a co-host on Drag Race Thailand. 

The roster is the most diverse and perhaps the most intimidating the Drag Race franchise has ever seen, but it must also be reminded that Pangina is a huge contender for the crown from a Drag Race superfan standpoint. She can seriously dance (waacking is her superpower). She can sing. She can kill you in a roast, slay the runway, and she does one mean Mariah Carey impersonation. So watch out, world. Here comes one powerful Thai drag queen who is the entire package and extremely proud to prove it. 

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