Mel B Shocks ‘Queen of the Universe’ Audience by Slamming Queen for Daring to Sing Adele: “Bad Mistake”

Queen of the Universe is back with a brand new season on Paramount+, and that includes a brand new face on the judges’ panel. Hosted by Graham Norton, the drag queen singing competition once again counts RuPaul’s Drag Race judge and girl group alumni Michelle Visage, drag queen musician and mogul Trixie Mattel, and pop/R&B legend Vanessa Williams among its judges. Joining them for Season 2 is Mel B, a.k.a. Scary Spice. Mel B makes total sense as a judge for a drag queen singing competition, considering that she too has performed plenty of numbers while hitting choreography with 12-inch heels on her feet and 30 pounds of wigs on her head. The Season 2 premiere finds the new quartet finding a rhythm and testing out roles. Who’s good cop, who’s bad cop, who’s the wildcard, etc.? By the end of the first half of the two-part premiere, it’s clear which vibe Mel B’s going for — and it comes as a big surprise.

Mel B actually starts out as the chill judge, offering lots of excitement and standing ovations to the first few queens who take the stage. If anything Michelle Visage is once again the stern judge, Vanessa Williams adds an air of sophistication to the proceedings, and Trixie Mattel is there to critique the drag and get in some laughs. Mel B just seems stoked to be there — until she’s not. Enter: Jazell Royale.

Let’s get one thing clear: Jazell Royale is a drag legend in her own right. You just have to look at her to see the material. And when she sings? Girl, it’s over. Jazell is a former Miss Continental, just like a number of Drag Race superstars, including Sasha Colby, the current reigning queen. So you know Jazell has got the goods, and her performance in the premiere fits in with this narrative.

Jazell takes to the stage and belts out Adele’s 2021 hit “Easy on Me,” an emotionally dynamic ballad that’s every bit as vocally challenging as you’d expect from Adele, one of the most gifted singers of her (or any) generation.

Making matters even tougher for Jazell, Queen of the Universe is filmed in Adele’s home country of England. Would she be able to win over Adele’s hometown crowd? The response sure made it seem so. Just look at the judges’ expressions! Michelle got chills!

Trixie’s jaw dropped!

Vanessa was enchanted!

Mel B was… uh…

Mel B was not having it. But why? The other judges rained praise on Jazell, with Michelle noting that even with some iffy parts, Jazell was still “so, so beautiful.” Vanessa said the singer “did it beautifully.” And Trixie had words for the other girls in the competition: “People have to compete against you. That’s tough.”

So what was Mel B’s problem?

After getting her compliments out of the way, acknowledging that Jazell is, in fact, a goddess gracing us with her beauty, Mel B said:

“Right. Said that bit. Bad mistake. Bad move. You should never have sung that song.”

Honestly, Mel B said this so bluntly that it seemed like it had to be a ramp up to a joke or misdirect. Like, the force of this critique knocked Graham Norton back.

Mel B was not joking and continued: “Because, sorry, unless you’re going to sing an Adele song better than Adele, don’t do it. Or do it in your own version and own it. I love all this, but the vocals were not convincing and that’s too much of a big song to not completely get 95% right.”

Jazell, showing off the fact that she is a pageant professional, had a very diplomatic response. After saying that she accepted and appreciated the feedback, she said:

Werk, Jazell.

But seriously: who knew that Brits were this touchy about Adele? Like, Mel B didn’t come down this hard on contestant Trevor Ashley for singing Dame Shirley Bassey earlier in the episode, and Dame Shirley Bassey is a Dame. This staunch protectiveness of Adele took the rest of the judges by surprise, with Michelle Visage joking, “Stop being scary, Scary.” And, after witnessing this realignment of the judges’ panels roles, Trixie Mattel joked, “Michelle is the nice one now, get into it.” Who knows what role Mel B will take on in future episodes — but if anyone else has plans to sing Adele, they need to come up with a backup plan.

New episodes of Queen of the Universe Season 2 premiere on Paramount+ on Fridays.