Drag Race Down Under stars reveal why 2024 season was the best yet

It's rare for a TV show to lose its biggest star and then made its best series yet - but that's exactly what happened when RuPaul stepped away from Drag Race Down Under in 2024. 

Season four, which crowned Melbourne queen Lazy Susan Australia's second winner, wrapped on Friday to rave reviews on social media. 

When it launched in 2021, Down Under was the seventh version of the show and the third to feature RuPaul as host, with Michelle Visage — who has judged the US show since 2011 — and Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson rounding out the panel.

Daily Mail Australia sat down with joint runners up Oxford Street stalwart Vybe, and Brisbane queen Mandy Moobs, to ask them what changed. 

'The beauty of this season is the sisterhood that was forming and we all leaned into that,' Oxford Street stalwart Vybe, 32, said. 

'There was this feeling of you do what you can for the sake of the show, not for the individual performer. If the show is 10, everyone looks 10 so I'm very proud we all achieved that.'

Ru withdrew from hosting the fourth season due to scheduling conflicts around promoting his memoir.

However, in moving his right-hand woman Michelle Visage into the driving seat, new life was breathed into the series. 

'I don't think it was because Ru wasn't there [that the show succeeded], but it was in part because Michelle was,' Vybe said. 

'She came with such a maternal and caring energy. I don't feel like we had those producer-pushed dramatic scenes between each other or fabricated fights. Or too much wild drama attacking each other because it didn't feel like the season required that.' 

'Michelle is so fabulous, I can't sing her praises high enough,' runner-up Mandy Moobs, added. 

The Brisbane seamstress, 33, said as host, Michelle was 'genuinely interested in every single one of us.'

'She wanted to know who we were, what our background was, and what our challenges were. 

'She wanted us to succeed and the season to succeed, and so it did.' 

Vybe has been performing on Sydney's Oxford Street for 13 years and is a regular at venues like Universal, Stonewall, and Arq. 

'Being able to get to my goal, which was the finale, with this cast - there's nothing I can complain about at all,' she said of finishing second-equal.  'We were all there to celebrate and uplift each other.'

'We threw some barbs and jokes - but that's what Australian drag is. We're all there for each other and we're happy to be the butt of the joke and call out somebody else if they're being an idiot.' 

In place of Mother Ru, season four also had a revolving door of homegrown celebrity guest judges including Peach PRC, G Flip, Ladyhawke, and drag performers like Kween Kong. 

'Having a panel of judges that understand, live and breathe, and are icons of the local scene is the biggest positive change that I saw this season,' Vybe continued. 

'Having someone familiar, or who could join in on the joke that you're telling, gave us all room to breathe and creativity to play with.' 

'This season is camp. It was fun. It never felt like a competition. It just felt like a fun hangout with the girls,' Mandy added. 

'We all came together as a group and decided, let's make really good TV. There was no humongous egos that wanted to take the spotlight.'

'We wanted everyone to at least have a moment to shine and that came through on-screen.'

She is still nursing a hangover from post-finale celebrations in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley and says she is now booked out until April.

All four seasons of Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under are available to stream on Stan now.