Start your engines, Australia: Drag Race is coming down under

To quote RuPaul: I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Courtney Act

The Drag Race franchise is reportedly heading for Australia. Source: Getty Images, Twitter

First came Drag Race Thailand, then Drag Race UK and Drag Race Canada.

We had a sneaking suspicion that Australia might be somewhere on the franchise's trajectory - and turns out, we were right.

ITV Studios Australia has landed the local production rights to Drag Race and is currently negotiating with local broadcast partners - meaning Drag Race Australia could be a real thing as soon as next year.
“ITV Studios Australia have secured the rights to arguably one of the biggest formats globally at the moment,” ITV Studios CEO David Mott told TV Tonight.

“With Drag Race UK about to launch and already a major hit in the US and other territories we are set to shantay onto Australian screens in 2020.”

He added: “Drag Race has moved on to being a show that captures the imagination of everyone, no matter their age or gender and we will commence discussing with potential broadcast and streaming partners shortly. It will be one of the most talked about and noisy formats next year.”

While it's definitely early days, we can't help but wonder who a potential host could be for our local version. The obvious guess is Courtney Act - but will her with RuPaul throw a spanner in the works (RuPaul reportedly blocked Act on Twitter)?

Regarding contestants, we'd love to see up-and-coming thrown into the mix.

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Published 26 August 2019 8:42am
Updated 26 August 2019 8:56am
By Samuel Leighton-Dore


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