The Gold Rush (Season 1)

The first season of The Gold Rush, premiered in the United Kingdom October 16, 2019 on YouTube at 1pm. Twelve contestants auditioned through a heat process, judged by Mary Poppers, guest judges (Cybil War, Mynxie Monroe, Sue Gives a Fuck, Rhys' Pieces) and audience members of the live show got to vote for who they wanted to get through to compete in the running of becoming "The next nugget of performance talent!"

The winner of the first season won a cash prize of £1300, 13 paid gigs and a photoshoot and interview with postTEENIDOL for Loverboy Magazine. The results were announced on October 22, 2018 but the web series did not air til October 16, 2019

The winner of the first season of The Gold Rush was Dick Day, with Karma placing as First Loser as well as winning the title of Blue Ribbon Babe. Karma won a total of £500 and L'archiduchesse who placed as Second Runner Up won a total of £150. Wanda Whatever was the most congenial person this season.

Now in its third run, The Gold Rush is a weekly fixture in the calendar of Queer London with sell-out shows guaranteed and attracting big names from the world of cabaret and TV to guest judge. Season One alone had previous winners of Miss Sink the Pink, current RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant Crystal, Producers and Award winning cabaret acts from across the country.

After a year in production, The Gold Rush hopes to shine a light on what is truly happening in London right now - putting centre-stage the conversations performers are having with audiences in the hopes that we can become the UK’s alternative answer to shows such as ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ and The Boulet Brothers ‘Dragula’.

It should be noted that during this season  'The Gold Rush raised £600' for The Albert Kennedy Trust sponsored by Coca-Cola European Partners.

Contestants
(Names and ages are stated are during time of contest)

Trivia

 * Season 1 is...
 * ...The only season to have a top 5 instead of a top 4
 * ...the season with the most double eliminations
 * Episode 3 features the iconic  'Ice Cream Gate' - started by Madonna Kebab and is still referenced in current seasons. Madge for an unknown reason decides to splash an entire audience with Ice Cream, getting it in guest judge Thursday Afternoon's wig. Although the scandal has been entirely blamed on Madge, L'archiduchesse is also responsible for it as it was 'Duo's Week' and it was both their performance. Local rumours say it was L'archiduchesse that suggested it!
 * Dick Day is the first season winner in series' history.
 * Wanda Whatever is the first...
 * ...winner of the Most Congenial Person award.
 * Episode 6 is where Wanda Whatever is announced as "Most Congenial Person".
 * ...winner of the "The Christmas Gold Rush", this one off special that happened in December 2018 and was a one night only exclusive where Minara El Waters, Madonna Kebab, Flick D'Bean, Petty Nonsense, Max Legroom and Wanda Whatever competed against one another