RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s most influential queens: Could season 3 be the most popular yet?

The competitors in the new season of hit BBC show Drag Race UK are set to become the show’s biggest ever stars, new research has revealed.

The third series of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK is set to premiere on 23rd September, and the queens who feature can expect to join Instagram royalty, with the ability to charge thousands for a sponsored post.

The study by online gambling community CasinoGrounds compared this year’s line-up of queens with the contestants from the first two seasons, finding that season two stars Bimini Bon Boulash and Tayce currently hold the top two spots on the overall Instagram influential rankings.

The current list of top 10 most influential queens features five stars from season one, and five stars from season two. Analysis into the contestants’ follower growth over the course of the season two airing found that runner-up and winner of the Miss Congeniality award Bimini Bon Boulash increased their Instagram following by 1601%.

Across the board, the average increase in followers for all contestants on the show was 660%, with those making it past the halfway mark racking up an average 816% increase in followers over the course of the show.

From those standings, there’s a great deal of potential for the new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK to claim the title of most influential season so far. Veronica Green has 163,217 Instagram followers, while Charity Kase has 155,249, making them season three’s most followed stars so far. As a result, if their follower count increases by the average 660%, they will each surpass one million followers to become the show’s most influential stars.

The huge increase in followers could also bring in a large pay-cheque for the rising stars. The show’s current biggest earner is Bimini, who has more than 900,000 followers and is estimated to make roughly £2,500 per sponsored post. However, if Veronica Green and Charity Kase reach more than one million followers, they could expect to make upwards of £3,000 per sponsored post. This equates to £530,000 per year if they were to share three sponsored posts per week.

Veronica Green will be making their second appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK after competing in the second series. During that time their Instagram following grew by 927%, before they had to leave the show after a positive coronavirus test.

Lower ranking stars, such as Kitty Scott-Claus, currently with 18,756 Instagram followers, can expect a huge influx of new followers, and based on the average increase of 660% can expect to hit at least 130,000 followers by the season finale.

The current holder of the Drag Race UK crown, Lawrence Chaney, sits fourth on the overall Instagram follower rankings, having climbed from the fourth lowest ranked star since their crowning. The star saw an increase of 1145%, the third highest increase in followers the show has seen.

Tia Kofi currently has the tenth most followers of all Drag Race contestants, having seen their presence on Instagram grow by 1,333%, from 15,275 followers to 218,917, despite being eliminated in week six of season two. This increase in followers clocks in as the second highest the show has seen, providing inspiration for those who meet their demise earlier on in the series.

Commenting on the analysis, a spokesperson from CasinoGrounds said: “Starring on the show can provide a huge opportunity for the queens. The additional airtime from making it past halfway and into the top 4 can create great opportunities for the stars and push their fame to new heights. It will be very interesting to see how much the new set of queens can take advantage of being on such a popular show.”