Latest season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK to debut tonight

Dakota Schiffer will join 11 other contestants in a battle to be crowned the UK’s next drag superstar.

The latest season of the BBC show will see drag queens face a range of challenges that test their skills and abilities as performers, from sewing and creating gowns, to impersonating celebrities, singing and performing choreography.

Several celebrity judges have been revealed for the season, including This Morning’s Alison Hammond, Years and Years star Olly Alexander, Spice Girls member Mel B and actress Dame Joanna Lumley.

Dakota, from Sussex, aspires to be “Generation Z’s answer to Sharon Tate”

The 22-year-old said: “My drag aesthetic is always beautiful and fashion first.”

Dakota Schiffer is the first trans woman to compete on the show: credit - BBC/World of Wonder (Image: BBC/World of Wonder)

Dakota said that growing up as trans in the county had been difficult.

“Sussex is not the best place for a 6ft 1in trans woman and drag queen to grow up,” Dakota said.

“I always stood out but simultaneously felt invisible but I think certainly it’s made me the person who I am today.”

Among the contestants she is up against is Pixie Polite, the third performer from Brighton to compete on the show.

Pixie, who has been doing drag for about eight years, and is “big, bold and beautiful”.

“I do a little bit of everything reasonably well," Pixie said. "You’ve got to be versatile - you can’t just be a one-trick pony.

“I am a many tricked cow of the camp variety. I am hoping that I can stand out from the crowd in this competition.”

Pixie Polite will be hoping she can break the 'curse of Brighton' and win the show: credit - BBC/World of Wonder (Image: BBC/World of Wonder)

Pixie will be hoping to overcome the “curse of Brighton” on the show, with the two previous contestants from the city - Joe Black and Anubis, both being eliminated in the first week of their season.

After being eliminated, Anubis claimed that the “curse of Brighton lives on”.

The season debuts on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer at 9pm and will see the drag queens complete an Olympic-sized photo shoot and serve two looks on the runway.

Showbiz royalty Dame Joanna Lumley will join Michelle Visage and Graham Norton on the judging panel to help RuPaul determine the winner of the first challenge and who should be the first queen eliminated from the competition.