Egyptian Palestinian Halal Bae 'shockingly' eliminated from Canada's Drag Race in first episode

Egyptian Palestinian drag queen Halal Bae has been eliminated from Canada's Drag Race on the first episode of the show's third season, sparking shock from fans.

The contestant - who is a staunch supporter of a free Palestine - was sent packing after losing a lip sync battle, as shocked fans said she was "robbed" following her first-round elimination on Thursday's episode.

Egyptian queen Anubis suffered a similar fate after participating in the last season of the UK Drag Race, also going out in the first week. 

Fans have asked why Arab contestants don't seem to have much success, or perhaps luck, on the platform.

"Egyptian queens just don’t seem to do well on Drag Race. I wanted to see more Halal Bae," one Twitter user wrote. 

Egyptian queens just don’t seem to do well on Drag Race. I wanted to see more Halal Bae #CanadasDragRace

— Sara (Sah-ra) the Costume Nerd (@bluestockinsara) July 15, 2022

Some fans stated that their main takeaway from the first episode was that the Egyptian Palestinian queen was "robbed" saying the decision to eliminate her was "strange" and "wrong".

I loved the first episode. But the only thing that stood out for me was that Halal Bae got robbed. #CanadasDragRace

— neco 🌻| 🇪🇸 (@manboy18) July 15, 2022

Ambushed by #CanadasDragRace from the START.
HalalBae at the bottom and not Fiercalicious? Strange/wrong choice, but fine.
Then saying she DIDN’T win that lipsync against Moço?? RI-SI-BLE.

— St. Gêné (@040hz) July 15, 2022

The fact that Fiercalicious is safe and Halal bae is in the bottom is a hate crime #CanadasDragRace

— Indica Ari (@stqwd) July 15, 2022

Others expressed their shock and called for "justice" for the queen.

How tf was Halal Bae in the bottom!!!!! This challenge was hard as hell. But they didn’t even do the worst. Wow. #CanadasDragRace

— Dragledyke (@Dragledyke) July 15, 2022

Justice for Halal Bae!!!

— แม่ Maru 🍇 (@pelennors) July 15, 2022

Halal Bae - who hoped her appearance on the show would prove Muslims have a space in the drag community - said her name was inspired by her upbringing in a Muslim household where it was forbidden to be queer and do drag.

She says she uses the word ‘halal’ -  which means ‘permissible’ in Arabic -  to combat the stigmas behind her LGBTQ+ identity.

Canada’s Drag Race – a spin-off of the wildly successful RuPaul’s Drag Race - requires drag queens to show their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to win a $100,000 prize.