February 4, 2026 | 6:30pm
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-Canadian drag queen Melinda Verga is the first contestant to be eliminated from the third season of “Drag Race UK vs. The World.”
The premiere episode saw no queens up for elimination, as host-judge RuPaul explained was done “in the spirit of getting to know everyone better.”
Swedish-Brazilian Fontana of “Drag Race Sverige” won the season’s first badge. While all other contestants were deemed safe, some believed that Melinda and fellow veteran queen Mariah Balenciaga — of “Drag Race” Season 3 and “Drag Race All Stars” Season 5 — had subpar outings.
The performance may have carried over to Week 2, where the maxi challenge, RuMix, challenged a contestant to redesign a past outfit of a competitior while improving another one’s previous look from a past season.
Melinda selected a bridal look by “Drag Race Germany” alumna The Only Naomy and chose to revamp her “Out of the Closet” look with a plaid-filled outfit inspired by Vivienne Westwood and punk rock.
The “Canada’s Drag Race” alumna, however, landed in the bottom and lost the Lip Sync For Your Life battle of Dannii Minogue’s “I Begin to Wonder” to Naomy, who also received mediocre critique from the judges.
Related: 3 Filipinos competing on ‘Drag Race UK vs the World’ Season 3
Other Pinays
Minty Fresh from the inaugural season of “Drag Race Philippines” lived to fight another day despite also landing in the Bottom 3 with Melinda and Naomy.
The Filipina queen was saved by challenge winner Gawdland of “Drag Race Thailand.” Her good fortune prevailed even after Minty had “stolen” a look Gawdland was supposed to redesign after the Philippine representative was the last to be selected.
Gawdland ended up redesigning a past look by Fontana while glowing up her own Thai Futuristic outfit. She received good comments for both looks.
Minty stole what Gawland had chosen, an old outfit by one of the hometown bets Sminty Drop, and revamped her Let There Be Light look — the outfit she wore during her “Drag Race Philippines” elimination.
Bulacan-born Zahirah Zapanta, a competitor from “Drag Race UK,” was among the safe queens with Sminty, another British queen Kate Butch, and Serena Morena from “Drag Race Mexico.”
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