Connect with Deadline online!
https://www.facebook.com/deadline/
https://twitter.com/DEADLINE
https://www.instagram.com/deadline/
https://www.youtube.com/Deadline
https://www.facebook.com/deadline/
https://twitter.com/DEADLINE
https://www.instagram.com/deadline/
https://www.youtube.com/Deadline
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I'm Katie Campione, a TV reporter at Deadline. Today I'm joined by the talented folks from
00:05RuPaul's Drag Race. Since it premiered in 2009, RuPaul's Drag Race has only continued to grow,
00:11spawning multiple spinoff series and international franchises. But today we'll be discussing the
00:1617th season of the groundbreaking original series. With me today are queens Lexi Love,
00:22Anya Nerve, Jewel to Sparkles, and Sam Starr. Before we get started, we have a clip for you
00:28from season 17. My queens, when you become a drag mother, your whole life changes. The greatest
00:35gift I've ever received is to be Mama Ru to all my girls. And now I want to give you that same gift.
00:43Oh my god. Please welcome to the workroom some extra special drag newbies. First up, Sam Starr's mom,
00:52Leslie. Oh my god. Oh my god. I can't believe my mom is here. She is everything to me. She's
01:05exactly who I needed to see when I've been so emotional. Oh my god. Thank you, Ru.
01:11Oh my god. That's my baby. That's my baby. That's my baby. Oh my god. Next, Susie Tooth's mom,
01:19Susan. Oh my god. Holy f***. Oh my god. I am so happy you're here.
01:29Up next, Anya Nerve's dad, Andre. Oh my god.
01:35I missed him so much. That is my homie back home. You're so crazy for doing this.
01:47Up next, Jules Sparkle's dad, Douglas.
01:53Hey, Queen.
01:57Hey, Queen. That is the most amazing thing to hear from him because outside of this competition,
02:04that's the first thing he says to me. Hey, Queen. So perfect.
02:08And last but not least, Lexi loves mother, Tammy. Oh my god.
02:13Mommy. I can't believe this.
02:18It is my real, actual, biological mother, Miss Tammy at RuPaul's Drag Race.
02:24Oh. Come on. You can't make RuPaul wait. Oh.
02:28I love that clip. I actually want to start the conversation there. What did it mean to you to
02:39have your parents join you on RuPaul's Drag Race? Can you talk about the significance of this episode
02:45for you? It was incredible. I mean, as you could see, us seeing our parents was like we all were
02:52breaking down, losing our minds. But being in the competition was so stressful and you feel
03:00isolated a lot. And it was exactly who we needed to see was our people who love us and support us
03:07back home. So it was just incredible. I mean, and we're so lucky, too, to have that memory with
03:13our parents. So thank you, Ru. Thank you to whoever had that idea. I love it.
03:18Anya, what about you? What did that episode mean to you?
03:22It meant a lot, especially for my dad to come because, you know, he's missed a lot of things
03:30in my life, be it that he was in prison and incarcerated for like a big chunk of my life.
03:37So for him to like catch that moment and be there with me, it's amazing. It's amazing. I can't
03:45believe you guys. I cry every time I see it. So damn you.
03:53Lexi, Jules, how did you feel rewatching that clip and reliving that moment?
03:59It's still surreal, I think. I think that entire experience, I summed it up by saying this is
04:05better than like any materialistic gift that my mother had ever given me or any object I had ever
04:11received, like for a birthday, for a holiday, whatever it may be. So just like getting to keep
04:17that like as a gift is incredible.
04:19Yeah. At that point in the competition, you're just like so isolated from everything with no
04:26phones, barely any contact with each other. And when that, you know, when my dad walked into the
04:31workroom, it was like the energy push I needed. And again, that's going to be like a memory that
04:37we're going to have forever. Like you don't often see Latino parents being super supportive of their
04:43queer kids and for him to go on TV and get in drag. Like that just meant the world to me. And
04:49yeah, I'm so grateful for that experience.
04:52Yeah. I feel like each of you had really big milestones in that episode. Anya, in the makeover
04:58episode, your dad takes a really big step of support for you and he shaves his beard for the first time
05:04in decades. What did it mean to you for him to, you know, take that leap for you and just be
05:09willing to, you know, go to such lengths to support you?
05:13It was crazy because I've never seen my dad without a beard until that day.
05:19And I didn't realize how big of a deal it was until I started to cut it. And then he like started
05:24to tear up. And at that moment, I kind of realized like, like that was a big step for him. And
05:33it kind of meant more than him getting in a drag was him, like changing a part of who he was to
05:42fulfill my needs. And like, that felt really good.
05:47All of you, as you were, you know, your parents were being dressed in drag and you got to be,
05:53go through that experience with them. Did it, you know, did you reflect on your own identity at all
05:58as you were going through that experience? I think it allowed me specifically just because
06:03there was like a whole identity crisis, I feel like in our relationship. So yes, I think major
06:12developments in me understanding myself better and like how I want to convey myself to somebody
06:20as important as my mother really stuck.
06:25Jules, you had spoken about starting your drag career in Tampa and, you know, how your dad had
06:30been very supportive from the beginning. Do you feel like this moment was a full circle moment for
06:36you to be able to bring him on this episode?
06:38Absolutely. I mean, he was always such a supportive dad in like any endeavor that I wanted. You know,
06:46he's a chef. So he was, you know, very artistic in that. And he always told me like, if you're
06:51going to do drag, you need to be the best drag queen. I cannot have you looking crazy. I cannot
06:56be showing pictures of my son looking the fool. Like my son needs to be a sickening, fierce queen.
07:02And I was like, okay, that's the job, period. I got you. I got you. And yeah, like when we moved
07:08to Tampa, he was the person who was like, okay, you can't keep doing drag in your room. Like if you're
07:13going to do it, go do it. Like you're not going to get anywhere by just being in your room. And
07:18yeah, he was, he pushed me and supported me and encouraged me to go do that. And then three years
07:25later for him to be on the show with me hand in hand, like, oh, it's just, yeah, a hundred percent
07:30full circle, a blessing. And it's so beautiful. Yeah.
07:36I love that. Sam, you went into this episode with a lot of nerves, you know, coming off of the last
07:42challenge, but you ended up winning this challenge with your mom. What was that experience like for
07:47you and how did it influence the way that you moved through the rest of the season?
07:52Well, it was a total like 180 of emotions, uh, because I truly was at my lowest point
07:57having to lip sync the week before. And y'all saw me coming in the workroom. I didn't even shave that
08:03day. I was like, girl, I can't be bothered. Uh, so I came in all disheveled and I'm actually mad at
08:10myself in hindsight because I should have been all shaved to look nice for my mom when she got
08:15there, but you know, next time, but it was, uh, amazing. I needed it. And my mother is just as
08:23competitive as I am. And she said, honey, you were in the bottom last week. That is not happening this
08:28week. And I was so proud of what she was able to do. Um, I feel like she's always secretly wanted
08:35to be on the stage and now she's probably going to start a national tour. So y'all watch out for
08:40Sassy Star on the road. Uh, RuPaul's Drag Race, you know, this competition series really asks you
08:48to be a multi-hyphenate. You have to act, you have to dance. Sam, as you said, you have to lip sync.
08:52Sometimes you have to actually sing. You have to design, you have to do, uh, so many different
08:57things. And I'm curious if you could talk about your experience, just having to master so many
09:02different skills on this show and how that pushed you outside of your comfort zones.
09:09Ooh, I feel like when you're doing drag outside of the drag race competition, um, you know,
09:16everything that you're being asked of are essential tasks. You know, people think that drag is an easy
09:22thing to do, but the majority of the drag queens who are not on RuPaul's Drag Race do it all themselves.
09:28You know, they're doing their own mixes. They're doing their own hair. They're making their own
09:31costumes, doing their own makeup. That's like one of the biggest questions I get asked. Like,
09:36do you do your own makeup? I think I'm sure all of us can agree. Like, we all get that question all
09:39the time. Girl, we do everything ourselves. Like, now we have the opportunity and the finances and we
09:44don't have the time to do it ourselves, but drag queens, the local queens, the girls who are holding
09:47the fort down, they are doing it all on their own. So, you know, getting on Drag Race, I feel like
09:53you just have to have those skills. This is the Olympics of drag and, um, it's, it's so important
10:00to be, you know, well-versed in all of that stuff. And yeah. I would say Drag Race is definitely the
10:07hardest TV show to compete on. I don't care. Argue with your mama about that because we have to,
10:13like you said, do everything. You don't even have to be a triple threat. You have to be like
10:17a hexathread. You have to be able to do everything. Um, but honestly that we knew that going into it
10:25and America's Next Drag Superstar, I think should be able to have all those disciplines. So, you know,
10:31it's not easy, but if it was easy, everyone would do it. Yeah. And to piggyback on what Sam said,
10:37I think like you can prepare yourself as much as possible for Drag Race. Like you can learn,
10:42learn the sewing, learn the singing, learn how to dance, learn how to do a split, do whatever.
10:47But like, once you get there, it's all like up in the air, you know, like you can prepare as much
10:54as possible, but nothing can actually prepare you for Drag Race. It's like, it's a whole different
10:59game. At this moment, what does it mean to you to be a part of a show that so proudly centers and
11:06celebrates the LGBTQ plus community, um, and, you know, allows you to shine and be yourselves?
11:13Amazing. It's such an honor. I mean, especially in the world we live in today,
11:22I think Drag Race is what we need to tell our stories, um, for the world to see, um, the people
11:29behind the drag personas that, you know, we're just little kids who wanted to be a part of something
11:35bigger and we created these fantasies for ourselves and, you know, that creates fantasies for other
11:41people through us. So it's such an honor. Um, I think the timing for us is amazing to be on at such
11:48an impactful time. I'm hoping that our stories resonate with people and people are able to see
11:54that, you know, we're all in this together and we're going to make it through, honey. And drag queens
11:58are not going anywhere. Absolutely. Me and Lexi were actually having this conversation earlier
12:03today that, like, us four and even all 14 of us on cast, we came from such different backgrounds.
12:10We all have such different life stories and, like, all of our hardships couldn't be more different
12:15from one another. But what brought us all together was our passion and love for drag. And I think that
12:20being on Drag Race, especially right now, everyone getting to tell their stories and their
12:25backgrounds and getting to really understand who these people are is such a beautiful thing,
12:31especially right now in our current political climate where not just queer people are being
12:36under attack, trans people are being under attack, Latino people are being under attack,
12:40black people are being under attack, you know, and we're here in the front lines telling our stories,
12:46you know, so that is honestly the most beautiful thing and such a gift.
12:50Absolutely. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for this conversation. And we appreciate everyone
12:57who's tuning in to watch RuPaul's Drag Race and watch this conversation.
13:02Thank you, Katie. Thanks for having us.