As glamorous and effortless as Drag Race UK makes drag look, trust us, it is WORK, hunty. It takes a huge amount of determination, expertise, time, and an arsenal of tools for these queens to slay as hard as they do night after night, which is why we're eternally obsessed with the process, the hustle and the artform behind being a drag artist here at heatworld. True queens.
And if anyone's questioning our allegiance to drag, check out our new YouTube series DRAG BAGS here at heatworld – honestly, drag queens are the new celebs here at heat HQ and long may they reign.
And let us tell you, drag queens do not travel light - they physically can't. For any given gig they're carrying around suitcases of make-up, skincare products, wigs, hair styling products, outfits, merch, lighting... the list goes on and on.
As such, when we quiz a queen here at heatworld (and as we've stressed, that happens a lot these days) we take the opportunity to ask these legends, 'What's the wildest thing in your drag bag?'
So, naturally, when we got to catch-up with the legendary Drag Race UK series 5 winner Ginger Johnson about her winner's series, Ginger's House, we simply had to take a sneak peek inside Ginger's bag.
Ginger revealed, 'I've gotten into a space now where I pack everything. I take everything I could possibly bring. You have to travel with your own lighting set up to do your make-up, [in case] it's not good at the place you get to and you look awful. I take a fan – I've got a mini electric fan that sits on the make-up table that I take with everywhere I go. I've got six different types of glue that I carry around - all the necessary things to put someone in to drag.'
A small clutch with a couple of make-up go-tos is unthinkable if you're a queen. Travelling light requires an Uber XL.
When asked about the weirdest thing in her drag bag, Ginger – whose new series is weird AF in the best of ways, btw – did not disappoint. In fact, she blew us away... or she could've done given the weird item in question.
'At the moment I'm on tour with a giant cannon; a human-sized cannon. That's the biggest thing in my drag bag,' Ginger added.
Naturally.
Speaking of Ginger's House, she told heatworld, 'I'm trying to reveal what the life of Ginger Johnson is like when she's off the stage. I'm primarily a live performer; up until now, that's what I've done. People only really see me performing for a room full of people. Ginger's House asks, 'What does this very strange woman that does things for applause... what is she really like when she's on her own in her house? And how do people interact with her? It's inspired by a lot of my favourite TV influences that I grew up on; things like Pee-wee's Playhouse, The Mrs Merton Show, and a lot of British sitcoms – classic British sitcoms like Terry and June and The Good Life.'
Ginger’s House launches on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Thursday 17 October and airs after each episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK at 10:10pm on BBC Three.
All series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK can be found on BBC iPlayer.
WATCH: "I Love Nehellenia!" RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars' Kitty Scott-Claus plays Drag Bags
Ben Pulsford is a digital writer for Bauer Media, writing for both Closer online and heatworld. When he's not getting paid to gossip about Big Brother, Love Island, and The Real Housewives of Cheshire, he's storming the London LGBTQ+ scene as drag queen, Beary Poppins. Both Ben and Beary are awaiting an invite to join The Real Housewives of Cheshire for series 18. The budget's not there, but the drama is 💅.