‘Drag Race U.K.’s Victoria Stone Eliminated Early After Major Injury
Author: Mikelle Street
A trailblazing path, cut short.
Only three episodes into RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. series three, Victoria Scone, the international franchise’s first cisgender woman competitor, is out. The elimination comes not as a result of poor performance, but for medical reasons.
“I have some unfortunate news to report: based on medical advice, the amazing and talented Victoria Scone will not be returning to the competition,” RuPaul announced on the episode. “We will all miss Victoria very much and I have a sense that we haven’t seen the last of her. But for now the show must go on.”
The Cardiff-based performer made history on the long-running franchise when she was announced as part of the cast. In the over a decade that the show has been on air, with iterations in the United States, Canada, Thailand, Holland, and more, she became the first cisgender woman to compete. Women assigned female at birth are often dubbed bio queens or hyper queens. Scone, who is a lesbian, had her inclusion come as producers had long been beset by calls for greater inclusion.
The competitor made a splash in the competition from the first episode, wowing judges. She found herself as a top performer in the Maxi Challenge, and as a result was asked to lip sync for the win against Krystal Versace. While Versace won, Scone made a big impression. But during a running slide, she injured her knee.
As revealed in episode two of the series, the knee began to swell. That week’s maxi challenge involved dance choreography and Scone completed it while sitting due to her injury. While she was marked as safe, at the end of the episode, RuPaul warned that she would be sent to doctors to examine her knee and from there a determination would be made about her status in the competition. In episode three she was disqualified, much like Eureka O’Hara was removed from season nine of Drag Race after injuring her knee.
“Thank you so much for all of your love and support,” Scone said in a video to fans posted on social media. It has been reported that she tore her ACL in the performance. “It means an awful lot, it really does. I’m absolutely fine now, I’m all nice and healed. My knee is feeling much better so I can’t wait to get back in action.
“Please, come see some live shows,” she continued. “Come and see me. I can’t wait to see you.”
While Scone is expected to be invited onto U.K. series four, she has reportedly not been offered a slot yet. The performer is currently slated for a Halloween tour with other Drag Race queens and hopes to do a solo tour beginning in January called Jam-Packed.
Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Mikelle Street
