Ready to rumble _{by Alessia Belsito-Riera}

Just like Regional News, King vs Queen is celebrating 10 years in the biz! It’s the longest-running drag show to ever grace Aotearoa stages, and to toast to its 10^th year of life, host Maria Richman [pictured] has planned an extra special Royal Rumble bracket beginning at Ivy Bar and Cabaret on the 31^st of January.

“I’ve decided to make it a knockout competition to really raise the stakes with the ultimate winner taking home an extra cash prize, a crown, and bragging rights a decade in the making,” Maria Richman says. Throughout 2025, performers will go up against their peers for the chance to move onto the next stage of the competition. The finale will take place on the last Friday in November.

“Between rounds we’ll have iconic performers settling one-off King vs Queens as normal to break it up and give our Royal Rumble competitors some recovery time.”

The full competitive cast includes Amoeba Geezer, Veronica Heart, Just Beth, Saliva Steal, Petra Fyde, Rocky Rhodes, Diana Whoreablecarcrash, and Pita Pocket, plus a lineup of local legends who will partake in the show matches throughout the year between Royal Rumble rounds.

“This show is special because it allows complete creative freedom, so the audience really gets a peek into the minds and hearts of these performers”, Maria Richman says, adding that it also gives performance opportunities to emerging and established drag artists alike while enabling them to push the “limits of creativity, craftsmanship, and conceptuality”.

Glove up for the next 10 years of King vs Queen.