Here’s the SA Drag Reality Show You’ve Been Waiting For!

Meet the seven South African queens supreme who star in the new upcoming Showmax drag reality show Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap.

From The Mommy Club creators POP24, Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap highlights Cape Town’s top drag talent, including multi-award winner Emogan Moore, Miss Sovereign Western Cape winner Ina Propriette, Miss Cape Town Pride winner Kat Gilardi, SA’s Got Talent runner up Manila von Teez, Miss Gay Western Cape winner Maxine Wilde, and rival house mothers BB Vahlour and Madisson Scarr.

The Showmax Original debuts on 18 July 2024, with new episodes every Thursday. From Miss Sovereign to Miss Gay Grassy Park, and from Beefcakes to Zer021, the show will take you onto the Cape Town drag scene’s biggest stages.

And it’s all told in Gayle – the gay “language” birthed in Cape Town’s gay coloured communities – with subtitles, of course.

The producers promise a drag reality show that offers “an eye-opening and jaw-dropping introduction to a world of extreme transformations, unforgettable fashion, warring houses, opposing queen mothers, wig-gates, and sisterhood”.

Meet the Queens!

BB Vahlour

Pronouns: She/Her
Twenty-three-year-old Brandon Samuels, also known as BB Vahlour, is the mother of House of Vahlour. She only started drag after choreographing one of Emogan’s shows, so she is still relatively new to the drag scene but has already been featured in Vogue and was the runner-up to Ina Propriette at Miss Sovereign Western Cape last year. She also has South African colours in gymnastics. BB has a nine-to-five job as a packaging operator.

Emogan Moore

Pronouns: He/They
Thirty-three-year-old Fabian van Schalkwyk, also known as Emogan Moore, has been doing drag for 13 years, winning multiple pageants. The sassy queen is also a netball coach and admin clerk at a primary school in Cape Town. Emogan is an openly gay man who wants to hold a safe space for queer children at the school where he works and in the community.

Ina Propriette

Pronouns: He/Him
Twenty-nine-year-old Wade Khoosal, also known as Ina Propriette, is a full-time drag queen who has been doing drag for five years, winning Miss Sovereign Western Cape last year and being featured in Vogue. Ina is very much into the ballroom culture in Cape Town; Wayne, on the other hand, is very butch.

Kat Gilardi

Pronouns: He/They
Forty-five-year-old Carl Richards, also known as Kat Gilardi, is the oldest and most experienced queen on the show. He has won many pageants, including Miss Cape Town Pride, and has crowned many of the other queens. He is also part of a singing group, Diva’s Only; the director of Mr and Ms Sovereign Western Cape; and has been happily married for 16 years to Errol Stroebel.

Madisson Scarr

Pronouns: She/Her
Twenty-six-year-old Madisson Scarr is a trans woman and professional dancer who found her love for drag during the Covid pandemic. A regular face on Expresso Morning Show on SABC 3, Madisson is the mother of Haus of Scarr.

Manila Von Teez

Pronouns: He/They
Drag pronouns: She/Her
Thirty-three-year-old Vion Wentzel, also known as Manila Von Teez, is originally from Elsies Rivier. She has been doing drag for more than 14 years, winning multiple pageants, including Miss Gay Cape Town 2014. In 2016, Manila became the first drag queen to be named Runner Up at SA’s Got Talent. Manila designs all their own clothes through their label Haus of Vjorn.

Maxine Wild

Pronouns: She/Her
Twenty-eight-year-old Gillian Archer, also known as Maxine Wild, has been doing drag for more than a decade and won Miss Gay Western Cape in 2019 and Miss Cape Town Pride 2019. By day, Maxine is a make-up artist and hairstylist, and by night she performs all across South Africa. Maxine is also the co-owner of drag house Drag Cartel.

Catch drag reality show Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap on Showmax every Thursday from 18 July 2024. Watch the trailer below!