Drag Race France unveils judging panel with Nicky Doll stepping into RuPaul’s high heels
Nicky Doll (C), Kindly Smile (L) and Daphné Bürke will form Drag Race France’s first judging panel. (World of Wonder)
Drag Race France will be hosted by season 12 queen Nicky Doll.
The French queen will join presenter Daphné Bürki and musician Kiddy Smil in stepping into Ru’s seriously high heels for the judging panel.
Together, the trio will judge the first set of queens – yet to be announced – who will compete for the Drag Race France crown.
“I’m honoured and thrilled to be the mistress of ceremonies of this emblematic show, which is going to revolutionize French drag and give prominence to incredible queer artists!” Nicky said in a statement.
“So, start your engines, and may the best drag queen… win!”
The French-language eight-part series, first announced in December last year, will air on France.tv Slash, a public service digital channel and part of the France Télévisions networks.
A premiere date will be announced shortly, but others across the world will be able to tune in on WOW Presents Plus, WOW’s streaming service.
Nicky placed a graceful 10th place in the US edition of Drag Race 2020 but very much became part of the history books as the first French queen to take part. The Marseille-born queen has sinced worked the drag circuit and picked up modelling.
RuPaul even hand-picked her to do Pete Davidson’s makeup for a Saturday Night Live sketch that aired when Ru was hosting in 2020.
And even back then, it seems RuPaul knew that Nicky could be something of a protégé.
“He gave me amazing advice that will help me throughout my whole career,” she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “Having that validation of RuPaul asking me to do a job for him was a beautiful experience.
“He told me to never read the comments online and to not pay attention to what other people do, and focus on being the best version of myself. He said: ‘If you think you’re working hard, work harder.’ It was so meaningful to hear that from her mouth.”
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