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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.

RuPaul's Drag Race | Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety

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