Drag Race UK eliminee picks a side after Banksie’s explosive fight with Cara and Vicki

Drag Race UK stars Cara Melle (left) and Banksie (Right).

Drag Race UK season five’s second eliminated queen has shared her thoughts on the explosive bust up between Banksie, Cara Melle, and Vicki Vivacious.

(Warning, spoilers follow for episode four of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 5).

On this week’s episode (19 October), the queens were tasked with hosting comedy chat show panels, with Miss Naomi Carter paired with Kate Butch and DeDeLecious.

Group two, made up of Ginger Johnson, Tomara Thomas, and Michael Marouli, went on to win the challenge, while all the other girls were considered the bottoms of the week.

While Miss Naomi Carter admits to PinkNews that her performance “weren’t the best”, she did expect for the queens to be judged in groups, which would have rendered her safe. However, this wasn’t the case, and she had to go head to head with Cara Melle in the bottom two, before ultimately being sent home.

Drag race uk queens Miss Naomi Carter and Cara Melle prepare to lip-sync.
Miss Naomi Carter and Cara Melle prepare to lip-sync on Drag Race UK. (BBC)

However, the most dramatic moment of Drag Race UK season five so far came when group three, made up of Cara Melle, Banksie and Vicki Vivacious, fought in the work room after their critiques

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On the main stage, Vicki and Cara appeared to suggest that group moderator Banksie was at fault for their team bombing.

Vicki told the judges that she had “concerns” with the fact Banksie was mediating the group, while Cara suggested that Banksie’s line slip-up at the beginning of the challenge contributed to the group’s downfall. In response, Banksie said she felt like “a lamb to slaughter”.

In the work room, tensions bubbled over when Vicki and Cara refuted that they’d thrown Banksie “under the bus”. Banksie suggested it was “rude” to bring up her name during their own individual critiques, before she told the other two to “f*ck off”, and stormed off set entirely.

Speaking to PinkNews following her elimination, Miss Naomi Carter, who saw the drama unfold on stage and backstage, says that she’s team Banksie.

Miss Naomi Carter at the PinkNews Awards 2023. (PinkNews)
Miss Naomi Carter at the PinkNews Awards 2023. (PinkNews)

“I think that everything that you saw happened in the way that it happened, but I do get where Banksie is coming from,” she tells us.

“She’s in a group with two people, and if you work in a group, in my eyes, you’re all supposed to be as supportive as you possibly can.

“I feel like when the other girls got asked about their performance individually, they tried to deflect it. I’m not saying that they put the blame on Banksie, but it was a bit deflective.”

Naomi added that she wouldn’t be too happy if she were in a group with people who “tried chucking [her] name under when [her] name’s not even mentioned”.

However, Naomi praised Banksie for only leaving the room “for five minutes” before coming back in and apologising profusely.

Drag Race UK season 5 star Naomi Carter. (BBC)
Drag Race UK season 5 star Miss Naomi Carter. (BBC)

“I think that just shows how much of a big person she is. I know myself and a couple of other girls, it probably would have taken me half a day to get over it,” Naomi admitted.

Reflecting on her own elimination, Naomi theorised that she might not have gone home had it not been for her injured knee.

Earlier on in the season, Naomi and DeDeLicious breast-bumped, causing Naomi to hurt herself. 

Naomi admits thar her knee was “killing” her during this week’s challenge, and she thinks the lip-sync would have been different had it not been for the injury.

“I’d have been able to move a lot more and do more… I was literally in agony walking the runway,” she revealed.

“I wouldn’t say that I was ready to go [but] I feel like physical health wise, it makes sense for me to go because I’m not even joking when I say could barely walk on the runway.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK airs on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in the UK and streams on WOW Presents Plus in the US.