A Sussex drag queen narrowly avoided elimination from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK after a shocking twist.

Dakota Schiffer from Horsham was forced to lipsync against south London drag queen Baby after struggling with a musical challenge.

The nine contestants on the BBC show had to perform live, acting in Lairy Poppins: The Rusical - a raunchy take on Mary Poppins.

RuPaul said that Dakota, the first trans woman to take part in the British version of the show, fell short compared to some of the other contestants in the task this week.

Speaking to Dakota, RuPaul said: “I thought you were wonderful, but it just wasn’t as good as the others.”

However, it was Baby who ended up leaving the competition after a shock decision to leave due to mental health issues.

The two bottom queens had finished a lipsync to the song No Way by Renee Lamb, when Baby told the judges: “I’m extremely grateful for being here, but I think I need to go home and take care of myself.”

Earlier on in the show, Baby admitted to “struggling a lot” on the show.

She said: “I have anxiety and I’ve kind of just been really trying to dig myself out of that really badly, but I’m just having a bit of a tough time.

“I know that I’m capable of doing this and it’s just so annoying.”

RuPaul was supportive of her and said: “I’ve been in this seat for many years and I’ve seen a lot of girls express the exact same emotion - it’s not easy.

“I found over the years that I’ve had to make friends with my saboteur. It comes rearing its ugly head and I say ‘Hey girl, what’s up? Oh, you’re here again’, and say ‘Ok, I hear you, but I’m going to do this over here.’ It doesn’t go away.”

Baby’s decision to quit the competition marks only the second time on the show that a contestant has chosen to leave voluntarily after Ginny Lemon eliminated herself mid-lipsync during series two.

She later went on to say she felt uncomfortable with some of the judge’s critiques of her drag and claimed they did not understand British humour.

Brighton drag queen Pixie Polite also struggled during rehearsals for the musical, but was praised by the judges for her performance as a character inspired by chimney sweep Bert from the original film, played by Dick van Dyke.

Judge Michelle Visage said to Pixie: “I was worried about you the most because, in rehearsals, you were spiralling down a well with nobody to rescue you - and I think you ended up kicking ass.”

Pixie also received praise for her runway look as Tracy Turnblad from the musical Hairspray.

“Tracy Turnblad is iconic and you had the whole attitude,” Michelle Visage said.