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After smelling success with last season’s acting challenge, RuPaul’s Drag Race decided to bring back a flatulent favorite soap opera drama for their latest episode — The Daytona Wind.

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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, February 10), the remaining contestants were tasked with over-acting in the latest “episode” of the much-beloved, made-up TV show from last season. This time, the show ditched the farting sound effects for a ’80s sitcom-style laugh track, asking the queens to hit every catchphrase and corny line delivery possible.

While Mistress Isabelle Brooks managed to wow the judges with her campy characterization, Jax and Aura Mayari failed to impress with their half-baked performances, finding themselves in the bottom. Lip syncing to Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Sweetest Pie,” Jax pulled out every stop — including a number of perfectly executed acrobatic stunts — to secure her spot on the show, leaving Mayari on the chopping block.

Billboard caught up with Aura following her elimination to talk about struggling in the lip-sync, her BLACKPINK talent show performance and how she’s dealt with being dubbed the “cringe” queen of the season by Twitter.

We are six weeks into Drag Race — what has it been like getting to watch yourself on national television?

Well, interesting question! It’s been a lot of ups and downs; I’m just one of those people that hates watching myself and hearing myself. It’s weird and I don’t like it. But part of the job is doing viewing parties and watching yourself in front of a literal crowd, which is so gross.

I completely get that — I’m sure it also hasn’t helped that a certain section of the fanbase has decided to bombard you with criticisms of being “cringe.” But props to you for taking that and running with it online!

Yeah, at the very beginning, I really did not expect to have people coming for me. After we taped the show, I was really like, “It’ll be fine, I don’t think anyone’s gonna hate me for what I did — except for maybe the Snatch Game.” But then, yeah, they really did come for me. It took me a minute to kind of figure out how to respond to that situation, because we’re all pretty new when it comes to being in front of thousands and thousands of people online. But at the end of the day, if you feel that way, then you feel that way. I’m not here to make you love me, I’m here to do what I want to do.

To be real, I also watched a video online that was sent to me by Salina [EsTitties], of this speaker saying, “You never take criticism from somebody who isn’t in the same playing field as you.” But, I also want to be clear — if I did horrible, then I will say it, too. I’m not gonna sit here and make this about not accepting any criticism whatsoever. The situation is what it is, and I’m just rolling with it. 

I want to actually go back for a moment to the premiere episode, and your performance of “Kill This Love” by BLACKPINK for the talent show — tell me about what went into that number?

So, that wasn’t my original plan! That came together about three days before I had to leave for filming. Originally, when we were told about the talent show, I messaged production and told them that I was going to do a fun “workout routine.” I tore my hamstring while I was onstage in Nashville, and I got the call that I made it onto the show while I was in the hospital. So, the plan was that I would hopefully be able to fully heal before going, and I was stretching every day, but during that time, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do an all-out performance for the talent show, so I came up with the idea for this workout sketch. 

I wrote it and performed it to my boyfriend a couple of times, and he was basically like, “It’s funny, but you shouldn’t do this on the show. You should show them what you can do on stage.” But I knew if I moved in the wrong way, I’d hurt myself and then I’d have to go home. So we went back and forth for a while, before finally settling on this dance. I didn’t have time to choreograph it, so my friend actually choreographed it and made a video so I could learn it in three days. So, for all of the fans talking about why I was wearing flats for that performance, now you know why!

Let’s talk about this episode and “Daytona Winds”; things did not really go your way in this challenge. Walk me through what was going on in your head as you were filming this acting challenge. 

Yes, there was a lot of struggle! The truth is, I was so excited for an acting challenge — I was so ready to make an absolute fool of myself, because the challenge isn’t really about “good acting.” If you’re being goofy, you’ll be okay! Well, I ended up just thinking about it way too much. I was so focused on the “over-acting,” and had a fully different idea of the character than the script did. It was also my first time working directly with RuPaul, and I got so nervous. 

You were also very kind in switching your role with Mistress at the last minute, avoiding another “Metal-gate” moment. 

I’m always trying to be a team player — if this is a group effort, then I want it to be a hit, I want everyone to do well with their parts. I fully forgot about myself at that point. Looking back now, I feel like I definitely could have picked a better part, but it was fully nerves. 

I’m sure this was a hard lip sync to do, because Megan raps pretty fast in her verse and nailing all those words is tough. Credit where it’s due, though, you definitely brought the moves.

I appreciate that, but I was simply so gone during the lip sync because I didn’t know my words. Truly, I was doing whatever I could to distract the judges from looking at my mouth. Honestly, I don’t really remember what I did because I was so busy trying to get these words down. 

I gotta tell you, I was so nervous for you when you started the lip sync with the kimono on — I was truly thinking, “How is she going to perform in this.” But the strip reveal to those pasties was incredible. 

I had nothing prepared for a reveal, truly! I made those pasties on set, knowing I was going to lip-sync, and just slapped them on to cover my ta-ta’s [laughs]. 

The puffer kimono was such a clever way to do the theme without doing the same thing as everyone else. Where did that idea come from? 

When we found out there would be a puffer runway, I immediately started thinking about what the other girls would do so I could do something different. I started listing out ideas I didn’t think anyone else would try with this, and I love myself a kimono, so that won. I wanted to represent for the Asian community on the show, so I knew I wanted to do an homage to my sisters out there.

Fun fact, Utica was actually the one who helped me create this! Her sleeping bag runway she did on her season was so iconic, and it was amazing that she was able to make this happen. That thing was humongous and heavy and hot. 

With every season of RuPaul’s Drag Race comes the long-awaited (for some contestants, long-feared) sewing challenge — and on season 15, the show decided to switch things up yet again.

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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, January 27), the 13 remaining queens were split into three fashion houses inspired by judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews, and tasked with turning unconventional home decor materials into runway-ready haute couture.

For Luxx Noir London, the challenge proved to be nothing short of triumph when she earned her first win for creating zebra-print pants and a flowing silk top. But for queens Salina EsTitties and Amethyst, their less-stellar looks landed them in the bottom two.

Facing off in a lip sync for your life to Janelle Monáe’s iconic single “Q.U.E.E.N.” in front of Monáe herself, Salina and Amethyst twerked, dipped and bounced their way through one of the most entertaining lip syncs of season 15, fighting for their right to stay. For her spot-on performance, Salina earned another week in the competition, while Amethyst was finally sent packing after her third time in the bottom.

Amethyst spoke to Billboard following her elimination about her grueling sewing challenge experience, her love of Lady Gaga, and how one piece of personal information turned into “high school” drama with the other queens while filming.

You’ve had quite the journey on Drag Race — what was it like getting to watch it unfold?

It doesn’t really feel real, if I’m being quite honest. I still get giddy over seeing myself on Drag Race — that’s actually still crazy to me. I’m still fangirl-ing a lot. I think that’ll go away soon. Otherwise, it’s been such a blast, connecting with the fans.

Were there any moments while you were filming in particular that made you go into full fangirl mode?

If the work room entrance didn’t do it for me, then I think walking the runway for the first time really did. It’s just the moment that it’s suddenly real. 

Over the last few episodes, the queens have conducted a pretty thorough investigation into your prior relationship with Robin Fierce — was that a weird thing for you to deal with while filming this show?

It wasn’t weird, necessarily. Like, I didn’t mind explaining it to my sisters. I think the only super weird part to me was how much of a hot topic it was among them. Once I saw that Robin was on the show with me, my mind immediately was like, “Do we tell people? What’s the plan of attack?” So I told myself from day one that if somebody asked, I wouldn’t lie. I just never saw it getting to the point that it got to, weirdly — the whole “who broke up with who” conversation. It was just so high school to me. I didn’t mind giving my side of the story, but it was weird that this was our topic of conversation.

I gotta say, watching people try and unravel the “mystery” of your breakup despite you literally explaining that it was a mature, somewhat mutual situation is very funny to me.

Girl, it’s the gays, we just gotta make it a drama. 

Before we get into this episode, I want to talk to you about the runway you served last week as Lady Gaga at the 2009 VMAs. You nailed the look — what made you choose this interpretation of the theme “Beautiful Nightmare?”

As we all know, Lady Gaga opened that performance by singing, “Amidst all of these flashing lights, I pray the fame won’t take my life.” That was the idea I wanted to run with for this, because when I saw “Beautiful Nightmare,” I thought, “Well, my beautiful nightmare is going to be watching myself look so good on TV and then having to deal with trolls online telling me I’m an early-out.”

I just think Gaga set that metaphor up so eloquently, and I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t broken, you don’t need to fix it. Or as RuPaul would say, “You ain’t gotta reinvent the wheel.” I knew, “Am I going to get read for recreating this look head-to-toe? Probably.” But I do feel like the performance of it all sold it and took it to that extra level, especially with the bleeding.

As soon as the blood came out, I said out loud, “Yep, she did that.”

Exactly! I knew people would forget the fact that I was walking down the runway in a bodysuit and thigh-highs if I could give them that gag. So I was really happy with myself. 

To this day, that stands as one of the most iconic awards show performances of all time. 

That’s why it was so far in the front of my brain and I was able to replicate it so quickly! Ever since I saw it in 2009, that’s just where it lives, girl. Like, pure horror, the audience was literally scared of her! 

Speaking of looks, this week was our first sewing challenge of season 15. What was going through your mind when they announced the challenge, knowing that you’d already been in the bottom twice and you’re not a seamstress?

A lot of explicit language that I probably should not repeat in an interview. [Laughs.] I will say, when Ru said it was unconventional materials, my ears did perk up a little — because I feel like that’s weirdly easier? Then, I can get away with using hot glue because it’s weird objects. That just didn’t work out for me, as we can now see.

I would like to talk about that — I feel like this was a very strong showing from everyone including you, and that made it harder to single out a bottom two. There were no LaLa Ri’s on that stage.

Yeah, for sure. Ru even said while we were walking the runway, “Y’all are making this hard.” It wasn’t that I looked bad, it was just that it didn’t measure up to everybody. But that’s another reason why when they announced the sewing challenge, I was saying a lot of swear words; 11 out of the 13 of us were sewers. It was like, “Well, there’s simply no way for me [to win].” I got really in my head and I started to rethink things that I shouldn’t have been rethinking, because in a situation like that — having less than a day to put this look together — you don’t have time to sit around and stare in a mirror and rethink. You have to go. 

I really want to commend you on your lip syncs this season — you’ve killed every lip sync you were in, especially this “Q.U.E.E.N.” one. What, to you, is the key to nailing a lip sync?

It’s so nerdy and boring, so be ready; I went to theatre school for acting, and my approach to lip syncs is actually how I would approach doing a monologue, or a scene. I was trained to have an action for every line, and you want every action to be different. So you’ll pick very descriptive lines of the song, and then figure out what it is that you’re going to sell with that line. That’s why I love lip syncing, because you’re telling a story through your performance of the song. 

RuPaul’s Drag Race has always prided itself on a good old-fashioned twist — but even the most prepared of queens couldn’t have predicted the latest surprise on the show,

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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, Jan. 20), the 14 remaining queens got the shock of their lives when RuPaul announced that they would be performing in the Snatch Game — a challenge usually reserved for when there are many fewer queens left. Splitting the faux game show in two, the show tested all of the girls on their comedy and impersonation chops with the iconic challenge a mere four episodes into the season.

Some girls managed to thrive — Loosey LaDuca (who had grown hungrier than ever for her first win) pulled out all of the stops for her spot-on Joan Rivers, cracking Ru and the judges up at every opportunity and winning the challenge. Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Marcia Marcia Marcia similarly slayed their gut-busting impressions of Rosie O’Donnell and Tim Gunn, respectively.

Sugar and Spice, however, had some difficulties. Both of the twins struggled in their Snatch Game performances; Sugar couldn’t nail down any jokes or even mild cracks as professional internet troll Trisha Paytas, while Spice made her Miley Cyrus a cartoonish country bumpkin hitting herself on the head with a sledgehammer.

Facing off against one another in the Lip Sync for Your Life, Sugar and Spice instead decided to make it a “twin-sync” as they called it, working together to make on cohesive number to Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.” Yet, with Sugar tripping around both the words and her own feet throughout the performance, Ru announced that the sweeter of the twins would be leaving the competition.

Billboard caught up with Sugar following her elimination, where she talked about finding her voice on reality television, her time playing Paytas in the Snatch Game, and why she loves that she had a “Farrah Moan moment” on national television.

Sugar, how are you feeling after watching these first few episodes?

I’m feeling — I hate to be Miss America, but I am feeling so much gratitude. You sit on this for so long, and it’s not that I’m surprised, but I think when me and Spice got back from filming and were all done … we were on TikTok, we had our fans, but the Drag Race fandom had their preconceived notions about me and Spice, typically. I don’t think they knew how to perceive us. So to get the response we got, which was so much love, and for people to understand me as a drag artist and as myself, was such a blessing. 

As you mentioned, you and Spice have a huge TikTok presence — what was the biggest adjustment you found yourself having to make going from TikTok to reality TV?

I felt like a doll stepping out of the box — this was my Life Size, honestly. I felt like I was stepping into the real world. 

In this scenario, you’re Tyra Banks, yes?

Of course. I know people say what they want about her, but she has inspired me so much. My biggest takeaway from her has been that she redefined what it meant to be a model, and people were like, “Oh, you’re just this, stand still, look pretty.” And she built a whole empire. 

But going to the competition, I was used to standing still and looking pretty on TikTok. I didn’t have to glue down wigs, I could just be my little creative artist self from the comfort of my own home. It was definitely an adjustment, but one I was very ready for. 

In the episode before this, you and Jax had your little tiff, which has since been squashed. But you resolved at the top of this episode to stop caring what the other competitors thought of you — how present was that struggle with perception for you?

Yeah, I’m really grateful for that moment, because I think it’s such … a relatable human experience where you enter a situation — maybe you’re around friends, or co-workers, or wherever — and you feel like you have to step back. That thought entered my mind, “If I dim my light, people will like me better.” And that should never be the case! We should never dim our light for anyone! I definitely felt like I had to do that. I kept thinking, “Let me hold back.” There’s power in restraining yourself, but then there’s also power in letting your light shine. You gotta own who you are, that will get you way further in life. I’m still working on it, it’s a journey! 

That brings us to the Snatch Game — you said in your confessional that there is an understanding that playing internet celebrities is not the best idea for this challenge. What made you decide to do Trisha Paytas anyways?

Looking back, I am like, “Why was I so convicted to do Trisha?” But she means a lot to mean — she was my comfort in high school, and she’s inspired a lot in my drag character. I just felt like … it was in the cards for me to do it. Now, maybe that was my demise, but I wasn’t doing anything to be liked in that moment, you know what I mean? I was doing what was going to make me the most happy. So, yeah, I was taking a risk with Ru not knowing who Trisha was and not understanding the crazy, troll personality. But at the end of the day, we’re all living for ourselves, so I’m happy I went out having the most fun I could. 

Was there a backup character you were considering outside of Trisha?

Actually, yes, I did. It was Christina Aguilera — it would’ve been a full thing of me just going [*does an Xtina-esque vocal run*]. Just singing the whole time, but I guess we’ll just have to save that for a later date.

The thing I hope audiences understand is how hard Snatch Game really is — it’s improv and comedy and impersonation for a long time. In the moment, did it feel difficult when you were performing Snatch Game? Could you tell things were not going your way?

You know what it was? I haven’t seen the episode yet, so I don’t know how they edited the Snatch Game — but the irony is I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt. I was having the time of my life! I put on that breastplate and you could not tell me that I wasn’t Trisha Paytas. Something came over me, I swear I thought I was her in that moment — I was trolling, I was coming for Ru and asking what his body count was, and just having the time of my life. I feel like I’m the wrong person to ask about it being hard, and honestly, maybe that’s why I went home, because I was just living my fantasy.

Well, before you got sent home, you had the “twin-sync” as you two called it.

“Twin-sync,” yes, they kept it in! I’m happy, good. 

This is maybe the first time we’ve seen two queens … work together in a lip sync for your life? What was going on here, what was your plan with Spice going into this?

[Laughs.] Girl, I blacked out after that performance. All I remember is I fell, a shoe came off, like it was wild. 

We were too busy crying our eyes out in Untucked, and then we had like 10 minutes left before the main stage. So we were like, “Oh, we gotta come up with something.” I didn’t listen to the lip sync song, I didn’t know the words, because my delusional ass was like “I was giving in Snatch Game.” At that point, I basically knew I was going home from the critiques, so I was like, “Well, let’s go out with a bang.” I guess the success of that is to be decided by everyone else. 

As you mentioned, there were a few stumbles that happened for you — walk me through what was going through your mind when you tripped. 

I fully manifested that moment when we were doing the group numbers with the girls. First of all, I’m all about the height — I’m always needing more inches with my heels. So in that first challenge, the girls were like, “Babe, you’re gonna fall on the stage in those, you do not want your Farrah Moan moment.” And I was like, “Oh no, baby — I want the Farrah Moan moment.” Like, I’m the viral TikTok person; I want to fall on my face, because the meme possibilities will be endless. And sure enough, it happened.

I feel like, with the twins lip syncing, we had to make that as iconic as humanly possible. What makes a good lip sync? Someone falling; messiness; not knowing the words — we have all of the elements right there. 

Throughout the storied history of RuPaul’s Drag Race, many mini and maxi challenges have come and gone. Between queens making puppets and variety/talent shows, there are few challenges that have remained essentially the same since their inception … except for the Snatch Game.

Since its debut back in season 2, Snatch Game — Drag Race‘s celebrity impersonation challenge lampooning the classic game show Match Game — has become one of the most beloved challenges on the show. Usually seen as a turning point in the competition, Snatch Game is one of the few challenges every queen can expect to see in their time on the show.

Now, only four episodes into its run, season 15 is launching its 14 remaining contestants into the iconic competition. On Friday’s new episode (Jan. 20), the queens will be split into two groups to face-off with their celebrity impressions, all aiming for the same goal — to make RuPaul laugh.

Along with being one of Drag Race’s most iconic challenges, Snatch Game is also one of the most difficult. Speaking to Billboard, two-time Snatch Game winner Jinkx Monsoon explained that the challenge is more than meets the eye. “Snatch Game is very hard,” she said. “It feels like it’s a test of your impersonation skills, but it’s simultaneously a test of your comedic skills and improv skills.”

With the challenge’s history of providing plenty of hilarious (and cringe-worthy) portrayals of iconic musical artists, Billboard decided to look back on every Snatch Game in the show’s herstory and rank each musical impersonation. From the Great Beyoncé Curse to spot-on performances as Adele, Cher and Britney Spears, check out all of our findings below.

The engines have officially started, and with them, our first contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 has crossed their finish line.
The two-hour premiere episode of the now-MTV-helmed franchise saw a record number of queens (16 of them!) enter the work room for the first time, as they sized up their competition — in some cases, quite literally measuring the length of their wigs.

As has become custom in seasons past, the premiere challenge saw the queens vying against one another in an all-out talent show extravaganza. Thanks to her tae kwon do-chopping, duck-walking, comedy-fueled lip sync performance, Las Vegas star Anetra took home the very first challenge win of the season.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s premiere “alien queen” Irene DuBois found herself in the bottom after a less-than-stellar comedy tutorial for making ice water, as did Connecticut queen Amethyst following her underwhelming lip sync to Lisa Stansfield’s “All Around the World.” Facing off in a fiery lip sync to guest judge Ariana Grande’s hit single “7 Rings,” Amethyst eked out a victory, making DuBois the first eliminated queen of the season.

DuBois chatted with Billboard following the airing of the premiere about her time on the show, getting to meet Ariana Grande, joining the legendary sisterhood of the First Eliminated Queens, and the thrilling conclusion to the work room drama dubbed “40-Inch-Gate” by Twitter.

Irene, you did it, you premiered on Drag Race! How are you feeling after watching the episode?

Honestly, watching myself on television has probably been one of the most cringe-y moments of my entire life. Being knocked off first might have been the best thing that could’ve happened for me. 

I was going to say, the First Eliminated Queens has become this almost mythical group to be a part of — so if there’s a good time to go, it’s first. 

Not only am I now a part of a legendary group of girls — the PorkChops, if you will — but I don’t have to watch myself on TV anymore. [Laughs.] I will say, I have won more money than any other first out in history, so I will be taking that $2,500 and buying a finale outfit. 

Well, Irene, I want to get the most important question of our interview out of the way up top —

I swear to God, if this is about the 40 inches, I’m going to lose my mind. 

… Okay, but did you ever get to the bottom of how long Luxx’s wig was?

Look, I’m gonna say one thing, and then we’re going to put this issue to bed, for good — that wig was 32 inches long. Absolutely nothing against my sister Luxx, because here is what I have come to learn about Luxx; the laws of physics that guide the reality that the rest of us live in are not the same laws that govern the world of Luxx Noir London. Her reality is its own specific dimension, and in that dimension, that wig is 40 inches. I can’t take that away from her, I don’t have that power, I’m not a god.

If you ever manage to make it into Luxx’s world, you will see what she sees. For the rest of us out here, we can appreciate a 32-inch wig. It’s a beautiful wig, by the way, and she looks gorgeous in it. We don’t judge a wig’s value by its inches. 

But I do appreciate that this ended up becoming a very real conversation on the show, because you are a very funny queen who uses playful shade to sort of bond with the girls around you — have you found that art is lost on more people now?

I think that we live in a culture where, rightfully so, we are very vigilant about making sure that people are not being taken down for things like weight, race, age, sexuality. That’s important. I think some people might swing the pendulum a little too far in that direction, and try saying that we can’t make a joke at anyone’s expense, period. Obviously that’s not true, I just like to make sure the jokes are at people’s expense and aimed towards things that they are in control of — things like their drag, the things they’ve made an active choice about. If it’s something you haven’t made a choice about, I’m not going to touch it.

I think I know how to read a room pretty well — just because people don’t like the jokes I’m telling doesn’t mean they’re offensive jokes, and that’s also important to keep in mind! Also, if you are racist or homophobic or transphobic and you think I’m funny, f–k off. I’m not making jokes for you. 

There’s so much to talk about from the episode — let’s start with the big gag of Ariana Grande entering the work room dressed as Vivacious and then guest judging. What was you experience working with her as a guest judge like?

I have not met many celebrities at her level — she’s more than A-list at this point, she’s like A-A-list. She is maybe one of the most humble, down-to-earth, genuine people I have ever interacted with in my life. That person is exactly who she portrays, she has such true genuine appreciation for what it is that we’re doing, she made eye contact with all of us, she took the time to get to know us. She was on the work room on camera for probably, what, two minutes? She was talking to us for at least 15 minutes — so lovely, and it almost felt like she was more starstruck than we were. 

It was also very clear, as you said, that she not only appreciated what you were doing, but had a very clear, deep understanding of how it works — both drag and Drag Race. 

Oh, she fully gets it, and she loves it. She’s not just some average Drag Race watcher; you could tell that she really wanted to be a part of this world. Straight-A’s for Ms. Ariana. 

Let’s talk about the talent show. I appreciated that you chose to take a risk in the talent show with a tutorial on making ice water — how much of you choosing to do the ice water bit was you trying to stand out from queens who were lip-syncing?

Oh, at least 100 percent, if not 200 percent. [Laughs.] I can lip-sync — I can’t lip-sync to “7 Rings” apparently, but I can lip-sync very well—

Well, hold on now, let’s be clear — that was a phenomenal Lip Sync For Your Life, and it felt like it could have gone either way for a good two-thirds of it. You did great.

Well, thank you. There were plenty of songs they gave us on our iPods that we could have done, and it wouldn’t matter who I was up against, I could have sent them packing. That song was not one of them. But all of that is to say, I am a lip sync artist, it is what I do in my act five shows a week.

This moment is the one time where I get the choice to do something other than a lip-sync. So, why would I choose to do the thing that I do all of the time? I mean, now I know why, because the other option sent my ass home, so maybe a lip sync would have worked. I just thought that I’d get points for originality, but they were not awarding those points on that night. 

You mentioned on the runway that this is normally a much longer bit that had to be cut down to fit the show. What were some of the parts of that act that you wish you had kept? 

I was shocked that I was able to get as much in as I did, to be honest. Part of what makes the act work is that it’s a slow burn — something like making a glass of ice water should take about 15 seconds, and I usually draw it out to about five minutes, and there is a lot of comedy that comes with that. There’s also several bits about where you can find things like water or ice, and with those asides you can kind of convey the tone of the piece and sort of illuminate my perspective. You add little jokes in like, “Make sure your water doesn’t contain lead,” “make sure you get some ice before this planet doesn’t have any left,” on and on. 

It kind of reminded me of a performance from the incredible Chicago queen Aunty Chan, where she also just takes a very simple concept and milks it — instead of lip syncing, she plays an instrumental Christmas song, and rings a bell like a member of the Salvation Army until people start tipping her. 

I have seen the act, I love Aunty Chan. That idea of breaking the mold of what a drag performance is going to be is what I’m interested in doing with my art. That’s why I’m such a fan of Aunty Chan’s, to be honest. Whether or not it got me sent home, I am very proud to have brought a piece of that to the main stage. 

Before you go, Irene, what can fans hope to see from you in the near future?

Generally, I am a queen who is very focused on look, I put a lot of work into the visual aspect of drag. I would encourage folks to make sure they’re tuned to my Instagram, because I will be dropping my looks for the show — I will say, if you liked the first runway, you will be obsessed with the rest of them.