Drag Race UK winner Ginger Johnson on a double crowning, drag kings, and bond with RuPaul. (BBC)
After the strength of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season five, many fans were torn over who they wanted to win between Ginger Johnson and Michael Marouli – so much so that some were were up for a rare double crowning.
However, County Durham’s comedy queen Ginger Johnson, who managed to snatch the crown in last night’s finale (30 November) after a show-stopping final lip-sync performance to Erasure’s “A Little Respect”, has revealed why a double crowning was never on the cards.
Speaking to PinkNews and other media, Ginger, 34, explained that while she and Michael would have been more than happy to share first place, they couldn’t have done – as a double crowning was never filmed.
“Michael and I have both said to each other [that] we can’t believe that they didn’t film one, because apart from the fact that it would have been a satisfying end for everybody watching, I think Michael and I might be the only two top two [queens] that would have been OK with it,” Ginger laughed.
“We’d have both been over the moon. That would have been fab for us. At one point, I even wondered: are they going to manufacture one? Are gonna make that happen somehow?”
Though the double crowning didn’t come to fruition, Ginger isn’t too worried about Michael not having a crown, as she predicts one will be in her future soon.
“Michael would have been a wonderful, worthy winner, and I am certain will win another series somewhere down the line,” Ginger declared. “Michael will be back to Drag Race, I have no doubt about it.”
Much of the fandom have declared that Ginger Johnson as a very worthy winner, and said that season five is one of the very best in Drag Race UK herstory. However, as the BBC gets the cast ready for season six, Ginger has some thoughts on how the show could be spiced up even more.
“I would love to see more of [the] broader spectrum of drag that exists in the UK on the show,” Ginger said.
“Given that my weirdness has gone down quite well with the audience, then I hope that cracks the door open a little bit for that to happen.
“Part of what I love about UK drag that I think you don’t see as much in American drag [is that] there are some lunatics doing drag, doing some of the strangest, most ridiculous things, and that’s what’s really inspiring to me.”
In particular, Ginger echoed the thoughts of other Drag Race UK icons like Victoria Scone by calling for some drag king representation.
“I would love to see kings on the show, because the level of talent out there in the king arena is phenomenal. But Drag Race knows what it’s doing.”
Though Ginger herself was “mind blown” about winning, and truly didn’t believe she’d take the crown, it was obvious for viewers that she and RuPaul had a strong connection.
Speaking about the bond she had with Ru, Ginger explained that she gave her lots of “great advice” and “really cares” about how the competition goes.
“In the werkroom when you have you little chats with her, in between the chats, maybe when the cameras aren’t on or someone’s fixing a light or something like that, she’s really personable,” Ginger revealed.
“She wants to get to know you, and if you can open up to her, I think that takes you far in the competition.”
Ginger also revealed that RuPaul often gave queens detailed advice about doing drag, despite what many people might think about Ru letting her team sort all her drag out.
“She’s got really great advice, and – this is one thhing that surprised me – lots of very nuts and bolts, technical drag advice.
“She’s just really good craic.”
Drag Race UK season five is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.