The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season four was crowned last night, and Manchester queens completely dominated the final stages.
Both Cheddar Gorgeous and Danny Beard, prolific and well-loved talents based in Manchester, made it to the final two, doing our city proud.
The pair beat out competition from other finalists Black Peppa and Jonbers Blonde and faced off in a lip-sync battle.
The 10-week-long competition has been fierce in all the right ways, but it was Danny Beard – the first bearded contestant in Drag Race UK history and originally from Liverpool – who was eventually crowned victorious.
Following their win, they said: “Thank you for believing in me. I’ve had the wildest dream here meeting the most amazing people.
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“I never thought anyone who did drag like me could be a Ru girl, so this is for all the others out there. I can’t wait to let the world know what Danny Beard is all about.”
Guest judges this year have included Olly Alexander, Boy George, and Aisling Bea, with Michelle Visage stepping in as head judge for the first time.
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Fellow judge Graham Norton told Danny: “My God, you are funny. But what I didn’t expect were all the looks.
“When you’re on stage eyes are drawn to you and that is something you can’t learn, it is something you learn how to use.”
Both Danny and Cheddar are familiar faces on the Manchester nightlife scene, with Cheddar part of the Family Gorgeous troupe made up of some of our most talented queens.
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And Mancs have been delighted to see the local queens get so far in the competition, which has often been dominated by Londoners.
Actress Annie Wallace tweeted: “Huge congrats to @thedannybeard for winning @dragraceukbbc, and commiserations to @CheddarGorgeous… we do things RIGHT in Manchester!!”
Another person wrote: “What I love about Cheddar and Danny obliterating the season is they – along with Manchester queens in general – have largely been snubbed by the Drag Race brand in some shape or form, prior to Season 4. So glad producers are over their meth-like addiction to London queens.”
Another said: “I got so emosh seeing two iconic Manchester queens in the top two. @CheddarGorgeous and @thedannybeard were (and still are) staples in the Manchester drag scene when I was growing up gay. So so SO happy.”
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT👑🏁
We’re proud to have platformed some of this year’s #DragRaceUK finalists over the years, but we can't help rooting for our MCR Queens this eve 🥹
Manchester Pride wrote: “We’re proud to have platformed some of this year’s #DragRaceUK finalists over the years, but we can’t help rooting for our MCR Queens this eve.
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“@CheddarGorgeous & @thedannybeard, you’ve done Manchester so so proud.”
Someone else said: “Love to @CheddarGorgeous and congratulations to @thedannybeard. BOTH AMAZING ARTISTS. I’ve never thought the race could be so tight for me personally and they smashed it. Manchester smashed it.”
Featured image: BBC
TV & Showbiz
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you’re looking for something a little different to entertain your mini Mancs this weekend, then how about taking them to meet Kung Fu Panda?
In case you hadn’t heard, the fourth installment in the beloved DreamWorks Animation film franchise, Kung Fu Panda, has just been released today, and there’s no better way to celebrate the long-awaited new flick than taking the kids down to meet the legendary Dragon Warrior himself right here in Manchester city centre this weekend.
Po will be setting some time aside from his busy schedule of Kung Fu mastery to make his way over to Manchester’s landmark entertainment complex, Printworks, this Saturday (30 March) for a very-special meet and greet.
He’ll be meeting his Manc fans every hour, on the hour, from 11am right through to 3pm, and families will need to head to the ‘Printworks Pumpyard’ to grab a selfie with the popular character.
You can also expect loads of FREE giveaways to be up for grabs throughout the day too.
“We are always looking for exciting new experiences for families at Printworks, and are thrilled to bring the fun of Kung Fu Panda to our venue,” commented Kristian Brennan, who is the Marketing Manager at Printworks, ahead of this weekend’s meet and greet.
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Printworks (Supplied)
“As part of the recent re-launch of Printworks following extensive refurbishment, Kung Fu Panda 4 has been the first commercial partner to take space on the giant ceiling screen amongst a host of unique content.
“This partnership will spark a whole host of entertainment, fun and adventure with our young visitors, and we can’t wait to welcome them this Bank Holiday weekend.”
And then, once you’ve met the main man (or main panda, we should say), you can even extend your bank holiday family fun by sitting down to watch the film itself, as Kung Fu Panda 4 finally arrived on the big screen at Vue in Printworks.
Manchester’s landmark entertainment destination Printworks is the place to meet Po himself / Credit: Printworks
It means that, for the first time in almost a decade, you’ll get to see comedy icon Jack Black return to his role as the world’s most unlikely kung fu master.
With regular screenings available to book throughout the Easter school holidays, families are encouraged to grab some popcorn, kick back, and get ready for a hilarious butt-kicking experience.
Tickets to watch Kung Fu Panda 4 at Vue Manchester Printworks can be pre-booked here, and you can find out more about Po’s meet and greet here.
Featured Image – DreamWorks Animation / Universal Pictures
TV & Showbiz
You can now get a real ‘swamp aesthetic’ with Lush’s new Shrek collection
Danny Jones
For reasons that escape us that we neither need nor care about, Lush has launched a limited-edition Shrek collection and the marketing has worked already: we want it.
Yes, the British-based cosmetics brand has just dropped a new collaboration straight from the swamp and perhaps because it’s totally random and counter-intuitive to the whole ethos of the character, we suddenly have an intense urge to bathe ourselves like the famously filthy character.
Lush‘s new Shrek set includes everything from a body spray, ‘Fiona’ scented shower gel, a ‘Shrek Swamp’ bath bomb and many more.
There’s even a cute little Gingerbread Man bubble bar and fittingly-titled ‘Get Outta My Swamp’ shower slime (whatever that is) and we’re curious enough to try all of them.
Lush has launched a new special edition Shrek range.
Teasing the new items as an early exclusive for those who shop directly through the Lush app, the Dorset-born company have enticed customers by urging them to “embrace [their] inner ogre”, quipping, “There’s no need to look Far, Far Away”.
The officially licensed collab with DreamWorks Animations has products starting from £6 — the donkey bath bomb, specifically — and is already available here in the UK.
Our assumption is that the idea for this probably came from nothing other than the viral success of their well-timed Saltburn line earlier this year, which we’re still laughing about, to be honest.
As kitsch and gimmicky as it might sound on the surface, we have to admit it looks quite good if you’re into that kind of stuff, which we suspect a fair Shrek-thusiasts now are too.
So, if you fancy kitting your bathroom out with a load of green goodies or are just a massive Shrek fan yourself and will snap up almost every bit of merch you see (we know there’s plenty of you out there), you know where to look.
We’re sure that their bath bombs and scented sprays are just like onions: lots of layers and depth behind them — but we’ll leave that for you lot to find out.
Better still, no you have the perfect stuff to pack in your toiletry bag when you take your trip to the enchanted forest to stay in the Shrek’s Swamp. Again, we don’t have an explanation for you, but we don’t need one.