RuPaul's Drag Race 13x9

1. I've been tested,

2. I have had multiple Q-tips up my nose,

3. my hands are washed, I've been quarantined,

4. and I'm safe.

5. So if you want all the tea, ask right now,

6. 'cause I'm gonna give it to you all.

7. People are constantly asking me

8. what filming during the pandemic was like,

9. and I tell them it was...

10. insane.

11. In 2020, the Coronavirus

12. shut down the world

13. and changed all of our lives forever.

14. You want a twist, honey?

15. You thought Drag Race was gonna go away

16. because Miss COVID came up in here.

17. No, darling.

18. In the middle of it all,

19. the queens and crew

20. ofRuPaul's Drag Race made herstory,

21. becoming one of the first productions

22. to be shot in the age of COVID-19.

23. This is the story of how 13 queens

24. defied the odds during a global pandemic

25. and looked damn good doing it.

26. To be able to film

27. one of the biggest shows in the world

28. through a pandemic

29. shows how amazing drag queens are,

30. and to be a part of that history

31. or herstory, rather,

32. is an amazing feeling.

33. I thought to myself, I should be excited.

34. But I'm frightened.

35. I don't know what's gonna happen.

36. All I know is

37. I'm not letting anyone take this chance away from me,

38. and if I gotta risk my life to do it,

39. I'm gonna risk my life to do it.

40. Ladies, follow me.

41. This is such a unique season,

42. and, like...

43. I'm so sorry. I put this on "do not disturb."

44. Oh, wait.

45. Oh, it's a state of emergency.

46. "New public health stay at home order in your area.

47. "COVID-19 is spreading rapidly.

48. "Stay home except for essential activity.

49. Wear a mask. Keep your distance."

50. All right, quiet please.

51. We are rolling.

52. Copy. Here they come in three, two, one.

53. 2020 for me was going to be the year.

54. There was so much hope

55. and a lot of really big opportunities

56. and a lot of promise.

57. Miss Paradise 2020

58. goes to Miss Olivia Lux!

59. I did a pageant and I won

60. and I swept all the categories.

61. I was a fulltime drag queen

62. working at Lips of Atlanta, darling.

63. You know, making her coins, making her ducats.

64. Like, I'm just living my best life.

65. Well, hello, RuPaul's Drag Race.

66. Thanks for stopping by.

67. Why don't you come on in?

68. With hopeful hearts and a lot of hairspray,

69. 13 eager queens

70. sent in theirDrag Race audition videos,

71. each with a dream of superstardom

72. and no idea of the impending global threat

73. on the horizon.

74. Hi, I'm Denali.

75. Ice to meet you. Ha-ha.

76. I had this dream to get on RuPaul's Drag Race.

77. It just meant the world.

78. I wanted to get on Drag Race for a long time.

79. I feel like I started watching it

80. when I was in, like, eighth grade.

81. We had just sent in

82. our Drag Race audition tapes,

83. so I had my high hopes.

84. I was like, oh, girl,

85. I'm gonna get on Season 13 this year.

86. I wanted to be cast so bad.

87. Wow! So, no.

88. I had such a good time filming my tape this year.

89. I'm on the New York City subway,

90. and in true New York style,

91. nobody gives a shit.

92. Ooh, child, I'm getting hungry.

93. To have the opportunity to go on a show

94. that you get to showcase your art to the world,

95. I mean, you can't put money on that.

96. It has $100,000 on it, honey,

97. but, you know.

98. In the beginning of the year,

99. 2020 was like the fucking bomb.

100. And then everything went to shit.

101. I think I can speak for myself.

102. No, actually, I can speak for the world.

103. I'm sure we were all gooped and gagged.

104. The first known cases of the Coronavirus

105. were reported here at an open-air market

106. in Wuhan, China.

107. I'm a news buff,

108. so therefore I'm always watching the news.

109. And October 19th,

110. there was an outbreak going on in China.

111. I assumed that it was going to reach the United States.

112. It is 10 times more lethal

113. than the seasonal flu.

114. I knew it was dangerous,

115. and I knew with me

116. recovering from my cancer situation.

117. I could possibly die from it

118. because I was in a high risk category.

119. The number of cases of COVID-19 outside China

120. has increased 13-fold.

121. COVID hit the U.S.,

122. and that's when the chaos reigned.

123. Everyone was freaking out.

124. It was just, like, really scary

125. because I was constantly reading stories

126. about people who looked Asian

127. being discriminated against or, like, assaulted

128. because people were so scared about COVID

129. and blaming China for the virus.

130. I'm not Chinese,

131. but are people gonna be afraid of me?

132. And I just remember it just getting worse and worse.

133. We were put on alert.

134. You don't know quite what's happening.

135. No one's saying anything.

136. We don't have any leadership from the top.

137. We're doing a great job with it, and it will go away.

138. Just stay calm.

139. I don't think so, sis.

140. I was actually at Lips.

141. One of the hosts came in

142. and said, you know that we're gonna shut down

143. for, like, two weeks.

144. And, girl, I was, like, girl,

145. we not gonna shut down for no two whole weeks, honey.

146. I was hosting my party,

147. and I was actually staying away from the audience.

148. I would go up to my dressing room

149. just because I wanted to be very safe.

150. Because I wasn't sure

151. the extent of how dangerous Coronavirus was.

152. I was taking it seriously,

153. but I was definitely thinking of it more as, like,

154. this is my last chance to go out.

155. I need to go to West Hollywood

156. before it closes or whatever.

157. I was doing a show at The Stonewall.

158. It was really, really packed,

159. because I think everyone knew this was it.

160. It was the second week in March that everything shut down.

161. The entire Earth stood still.

162. In New York, the bars shut down,

163. and that life is a very big thing in New York City.

164. And I think at that time, everyone was just, like,

165. okay, like, bitch, we gotta stay home.

166. My livelihood, my jobs,

167. my sources of income are surrounded by people.

168. All of it got canceled,

169. and so I was kinda left out in the cold.

170. I was, like, how am I gonna make money?

171. I became anal.

172. If I gotta go to the grocery store,

173. the plastic bags couldn't come in the house.

174. We had to wash everything down.

175. My other half, he was, like, well, just calm down.

176. And I'm, like, you don't understand.

177. Like, I got to get to Drag Race.

178. I started to get a little worried

179. because I do drag fulltime,

180. so that's my only source of income.

181. And reading the news really made me realize,

182. like, oh, we are in a serious situation.

183. So I was, like, okay.

184. DragRace is gonna probably be filmed 2021,

185. which means we'll probably have to audition

186. all over again, honey, thanks to COVID.

187. While my girls

188. worry about their drag dreams slipping away,

189. a tragedy puts life into perspective.

190. The death of legendary New York drag queen Mona Foot

191. really shook the queer community in New York.

192. When Mona passed away,

193. that's when it really set in for everyone

194. that it was, like,

195. oh, my God, like, that can be me.

196. And I tested positive for COVID.

197. Bitch, it would be my life

198. to get COVID and die before Drag Race.

199. I tested positive for COVID-19

200. a week or two after New York City shut down.

201. And I feel like I know exactly where I got it.

202. I know that it was at that last gig.

203. I was, you know, away from the audience.

204. I still got it.

205. It was the second week in March

206. that I was, like, really feeling sick,

207. more sick than I've, like, ever gotten.

208. And I remember calling my mom late at night

209. She is a registered nurse.

210. She was in New Jersey, I was in Brooklyn,

211. and she asks me all these questions.

212. And I remember rattling off all the things

213. that later on became the, like, checkmark list

214. for COVID-19.

215. The fever, the chills.

216. Later on I had a loss of taste and smell.

217. At that point, my own mother

218. became my personal nurse,

219. and I just, like, fought through it.

220. I remember laying in bed

221. and not being able to breathe and eat.

222. First of all, hold on.

223. I could not taste anything.

224. And you know a bitch like me loves to eat.

225. On top of that, I have really bad asthma,

226. so not being able to breathe was also terrible.

227. I think at one point I thought to myself,

228. like, if anything happens to me in this apartment,

229. I'm gonna be by myself.

230. So, baby, they would walk up in there to a...

231. a "Sleeping Beauty" very much asleep.

232. My boyfriend Eddie is a nurse in Brooklyn,

233. and I was terrified for him

234. because Eddie was around the virus every day.

235. So he and I did choose to separate.

236. We just felt like it was the safest way

237. for us to keep each other safe.

238. Before the Coronavirus happened,

239. I was literally preparing my audition.

240. And he was able to support me so much

241. and physically be there for me, too.

242. For me to not have that ability to reciprocate

243. when he was going through something

244. really trying in his career was tough.

245. I think we were, like,

246. a month and a half into quarantine,

247. and I was just, like, I don't think

248. we're gonna be going away to film Drag Race.

249. Every drag queen was sitting in her living room doing nothing

250. until, you know, they were, like,

251. let's get something going.

252. Let's do some digital drag.

253. Let's keep the community alive.

254. I had so much, I call it "war energy,"

255. flowing through my veins.

256. I had to keep my dream alive

257. and make sure that I wasn't going to get a call

258. from Ru months later

259. gained 20 pounds, like, not doing anything,

260. completely out of sorts.

261. As my mom once said,

262. please move out as soon as possible.

263. Right in the middle of quarantine,

264. me and my fiance, we decided

265. that I was gonna dress up and he was gonna cook

266. and we called it Boozy Bo and the Queen.

267. I made her a really gay cocktail.

268. It's so delicious.

269. Tastes like candy.

270. I kept this, like, fire inside me,

271. and I was just, like, right now people are scared.

272. People are terrified.

273. I wanted to be able

274. to put the world on pause for a minute.

275. I'm walking around the house in pumps,

276. throwing these videos out there.

277. You could never have a show,

278. 'cause you are not that kind of girl.

279. I was going through it.

280. Bitch!

281. I didn't think I was,

282. but, like, looking back, I'm, like,

283. you were just yelling at your plant.

284. While my Season 13 girls

285. were struggling to stay hopeful,

286. another batch of queens

287. provided a much needed ray of light,

288. and also raised questions

289. about what a season filmed during lockdown

290. would look like.

291. Watching the Season 12 finale

292. was kind of hopeful in a way,

293. 'cause, like, you know, they made it work.

294. They made a way out of no way.

295. Look for me, bitch.

296. I am right on the left side of Dahlia.

297. I'm the boyish bitch in the back.

298. You can't miss me.

299. And I thought to myself, like, okay.

300. Are they gonna have a virtual Season 13?

301. So I thought RuPaul was gonna be setting up in a webcam

302. every single week with Michelle Visage

303. and telling you to sashay away,

304. and you already home.

305. After watching the Season 12 finale,

306. I, you know, was, like, feeling a little bit, like,

307. the world could actually start getting better.

308. - Amen! - Amen!

309. But then it ended up getting worse.

310. George Floyd,

311. the unarmed Black man in Minneapolis,

312. died in police custody.

313. On top of this pandemic,

314. we saw the murder of George Floyd.

315. We saw someone's life being taken away from him.

316. - Say his name! - George Floyd!

317. - Say his name! - George Floyd!

318. No justice, no peace!

319. No justice, no peace!

320. It was the first time in my time

321. we saw this country come together in unity, supporting,

322. saying, hey, this is wrong, and this has to change.

323. Shut it down!

324. It definitely influenced my want to be on the show,

325. because I have to bring awareness to this somehow.

326. If I got on and I have a platform to do so,

327. what a privilege to have some part

328. of making the country and the world better, you know?

329. People ask me all the time if I'm a political queen,

330. and my answer will always be

331. when I walk into a space as a drag queen,

332. as a Black drag queen, that's political.

333. So when I got the Drag Racecall,

334. the first thing I thought of

335. was how you're going to use this platform

336. as a queer brown person, and that felt awesome.

337. I got this call from L.A.

338. I was like, "Who is calling me at this time?"

339. It was a California number,

340. and, like, I don't think I had anything

341. from, like, collections at the time from California,

342. so obviously, it was Drag Race.

343. I'm just kidding. I don't have anything in collection.

344. Take that out.

345. I picked up the phone, and I just heard,

346. "Hey, Denali, are you alone right now?"

347. "Well, I wanna congratulate you."

348. "You're gonna be a Ru girl."

349. Aah! That is crazy!

350. "Congratulations, you have been selected

351. "as one of the contestants

352. on this year's season of RuPaul's Drag Race."

353. And I just, like, wept, drunkenly wept.

354. I literally screamed on top of the balcony.

355. I had a full-on Tangledmoment

356. and just, like, screamed to the heavens.

357. Yes! I made it! It's me!

358. It's time! It's my time!

359. I didn't scream or anything.

360. Like, I just froze in time.

361. Oh, my God!

362. It was just a light out of all this craziness.

363. Like, being stuck at home,

364. not having a job. What a gift.

365. The first thing I thought of

366. was, like, okay, how is this still happening?

367. Like, we are in a global pandemic.

368. But, you know, when RuPaul calls,

369. you just gotta take it.

370. I was, like, how would I prepare to do a season right now?

371. And stay tuned, because the fuck I did.

372. You get the call, and they're like,

373. "You've been selected to go on RuPaul's Drag Race."

374. And you're like, mm, hold the phone.

375. How is this going to happen?

376. And without a beat, the person on the other side of that phone

377. goes, "Well, let's get crafty, queen."

378. Excuse me?

379. Full of drive and determination,

380. my queens soon discovered

381. that their very first challenge is prepping in a pandemic.

382. I'm a leotard kind of girl,

383. so I didn't really have a huge wardrobe.

384. I was trying to figure out how in the world

385. am I about to get all these garments made during a pandemic.

386. All of the easily accessible things

387. that wouldn't be a problem

388. are all of a sudden really difficult.

389. There's a wig shortage.

390. There's not enough lace-front wigs

391. to go around in the entire world.

392. How the world runs out of wigs is beyond me.

393. I don't understand that, but it happened.

394. Fabric stores were closed.

395. Online ordering was moving really slowly.

396. I found my favorite pump.

397. It was available in my size

398. only in the glow-in-the-dark shade of bright lime green.

399. And so what I did was I ordered, like, 10 pairs,

400. and we painted all my shoes.

401. One of the only fabric stores that was open

402. was in Los Angeles, so I'd full be in Santee Alley,

403. which is where the fabric stores are,

404. in my own DIY hazmat suit.

405. This is my uniform.

406. I was lucky enough to be able to, like, find fabric

407. and, like, get things ready to go.

408. I had to do a lot of the work myself.

409. There was a lot of late nights.

410. I had to reuse a lot of my stuff,

411. like make things into other things.

412. That's kind of, like, the roots of drag, right?

413. Taking something that you already have

414. or taking something

415. that you didn't think could be something greater,

416. and actually, like, making it greater.

417. Preparing your looks forDrag Race is one challenge.

418. Preparing your life is something else.

419. Prior coming to Drag Race,

420. it was really scary for me to bring this up to my parents.

421. Because, like, I still haven't shown them, like, Kahmora.

422. They don't know what drag is.

423. They don't know what a drag queen is.

424. They're really traditional, old-school Vietnamese.

425. And, like, when I came out to my mom,

426. it was really difficult for her.

427. She didn't talk to me for, like, two weeks.

428. But I knew I had to do it.

429. I basically told my parents

430. that I'm gonna be an actor on a TV show in L.A.,

431. but I have to dress up as a woman,

432. like, makeup and hair.

433. To my surprise,

434. they were just, like, you know, you're an adult now.

435. We can't tell you what to do.

436. And, um, I just hope that, like...

437. Sorry.

438. I hope that, like, when she does see me as Kahmora,

439. I hope she is, like, proud of me.

440. I just hope she sees, like, how happy drag makes me feel,

441. and that's all I want, so...

442. Okay.

443. Goddamn it, I didn't want to cry.

444. Ooh, look at the flamingos.

445. My mom flew from Dallas to Vegas for three days

446. before I had to leave,

447. to help me pack and make sure I had everything.

448. And she actually changed her flight

449. so that we would go to the airport together

450. so she could see me off.

451. She always saw a light in me and a star power in me,

452. and there's just something so special about that,

453. about a parent being so proud of their child.

454. The big thing I was concerned about

455. was what if I got COVID because of the flights?

456. I got, like, double-masked,

457. I got gloves, I got the visor, I got the hand sanitizer.

458. I didn't have room for, like, this big feathered headpiece.

459. It was basically my carry-on.

460. I didn't give a fuck anymore

461. about what people thought about me.

462. Like, I'm going to chase my dreams.

463. Like, what are you doing, like...

464. As my queens were taking flight,

465. theDrag Race crew began preparing

466. for a season like no other,

467. with a whole new set of protocols.

468. So we land. There's a PA waiting.

469. The van that pulls up is like a hazmat van.

470. The driver is shielded off from me with plastic.

471. He has on his PPE gear.

472. It's like the scene from E.T.,

473. how it's just, like, you're in this clear, plastic bubble

474. in the back of a van.

475. Elliott.

476. I felt like they were doing everything in their power

477. to make sure that COVID didn't rain on this parade.

478. Before stepping foot on the set,

479. my quarantine queens were isolated,

480. creating their own bubble

481. so they could eventually all come together safely.

482. We get to the hotel, and I hate being by myself.

483. I lost my mind at day one.

484. To pass the time in the hotel room,

485. I did a lot of watching HGTV.

486. Child, I can build an entire house

487. if I want to at this point.

488. I read RuPaul's book Guru.

489. Multiple times.

490. I brought a DVD player and porn,

491. and it's good.

492. I would literally get off

493. to the noise of them slipping the menu under my door.

494. Like, whoosh, and I'd be, like, yeah.

495. We started to look forward

496. to the envelopes coming under the door,

497. because that's how you got your meal requests.

498. Anything that was going on, that was the communication.

499. This was my lifeline. It has my initials on it.

500. QTI, standing for "Queen Tamisha Iman."

501. The red folder comes under the door yet again,

502. but now it's instructions that tomorrow is the day.

503. The competition has begun. Here's your call time.

504. Like, it's real.

505. That was the best news I could ever hear.

506. I'm getting out of this room

507. and I am looking stunning

508. and I'm gonna go see RuPaul.

509. I remember walking into the werkroom

510. and thinking, wow, this is so beautiful.

511. I'm looking all around

512. and seeing all the pictures of Ru.

513. And it wasn't till later when I realized

514. that the werkroom

515. was kind of designed for us that season.

516. Because of the Coronavirus,

517. adjustments had to be made for social distancing,

518. and we had to have, like, a huge room.

519. When I first walked in, I was, like, exploring,

520. and I, like, got exhausted.

521. I was like, "Can I take my fucking heels off?"

522. I was like, "I'm fucking doing laps here."

523. This is, like, huge.

524. On top of the fact that the werkroom was huge,

525. they also put Untucked in the werkroom, which is fab.

526. But then we also had a stage in the werkroom,

527. which actually I love.

528. Ah-choo.

529. She's sickening.

530. You know, I thought about it afterward,

531. and I was like, jeez, just a sneeze is a hot topic. Wow.

532. I knew that this was gonna be a memorable season,

533. so I needed a mask to show the world where we are.

534. I was a little skeptical about wearing the mask

535. because, of course, this show is being seen in 2021.

536. I didn't wanna bring back any ideas of 2020

537. by wearing a mask.

538. And people are like, "Oh, girl, she just reminded me

539. of the horrible life I had in 2020 with this mask on."

540. You know, but, hey, it's still going on, so...

541. Walking around that corner

542. and coming through that werkroom entrance

543. is something you're just, like, aa-aah!

544. I had been literally in my apartment not performing.

545. I've had this mask on.

546. I haven't seen anyone's face in, like, a really long time.

547. It was really exciting to see the other girls,

548. because of the fact that you're, like, people.

549. But then you instinctually,

550. because of the situation we're in,

551. were like, am I allowed to, like, go hug them?

552. I wanna hug 'em,

553. but then again, I'm like, I don't wanna hug you.

554. We've been so used to, like,

555. being six feet apart from everyone

556. that even, like, getting close to someone

557. is, like, terrifying.

558. Oh!

559. After doing all of that

560. precautionary COVID-19 testing and quarantining,

561. now we're able to be with one another

562. and kind of be, like, normal again.

563. We get to be with our Season 13 sisters,

564. not have the mask, not have the shield.

565. To be around other human bodies

566. is such a gift that we absolutely take for granted.

567. Because, you know, 2020 ripped that privilege from us.

568. Our season is unique

569. in that we filmed through COVID.

570. It just made us closer,

571. and it made us appreciate it a lot more.

572. Now I want you to twirl inward,

573. and we're gonna cinnamon roll you.

574. I'm a very affectionate person.

575. If someone needs a little bit of uplift

576. and I can offer that, like, through the touch of my body,

577. that touch can be really powerful.

578. Utica is, like, a giraffe of love.

579. It is a big deal.

580. Like, if you have not, like, talked to the outside world,

581. been locked up in a hotel room,

582. and, like, have not talked to any friends, family,

583. and have not been touched,

584. to finally hug someone, it was gorgeous.

585. On set, my queens were safe in their bubble.

586. And to keep it that way,

587. there were rules we all had to follow.

588. So every day on the runway and all over the set,

589. category is Precaution.

590. I felt really, really safe on the set.

591. The Drag Raceteam went above and beyond

592. with making sure everything was done correct.

593. Temperature check when you come on the set.

594. We're always constantly getting tested.

595. The queens, we had to be tested three times a week.

596. Child, that was a traumatic experience,

597. because, you know,

598. getting COVID-tested is very uncomfortable.

599. But it's something that we knew we had to do

600. in order to make sure that everyone around us is safe.

601. I started asking them to take me out on dates,

602. because, girl, you sticking stuff inside of me

603. too much, so...

604. Yeah, I didn't really like the whole testing thing,

605. going in my nose or whatever,

606. but that was the only action that I was getting at that time,

607. so I kind of enjoyed it after a while.

608. Go, bitch!

609. Being on the set and not having to wear a mask while filming,

610. it made you feel special, because everybody around you

611. is looking like a science project except yourself.

612. The camera crew had to be

613. six to 10 feet apart from the cast,

614. and they had Plexiglas in between them.

615. Production could not get close to you

616. unless they were assigned to be with you in the bubble.

617. To try to get close to someone

618. and have them, like, run away from you,

619. I mean, I smell nice, okay?

620. I am fresh.

621. There are crew members

622. who I never actually saw what they looked like.

623. It's hysterical to feel like you get to know someone so well,

624. and have no idea what they actually look like.

625. There's a lot of emotion that you lose

626. when half of somebody's face is covered.

627. If they're talking to you,

628. you can't tell if, like, they're being really stern

629. or if they're being silly, or... you can't tell.

630. It was sometimes difficult

631. to make out what people were saying, because...

632. you know, masks, they can muffle.

633. 10 minutes, ladies, 10 minutes till main stage.

634. One of our story producers, she had a megaphone,

635. so there was no mistaking what she said.

636. Queens walking.

637. Well, that's not what you said in the interview, Elliott.

638. Uh-uh, Kandy, that is not what you said on Untucked.

639. And you're just. Like, oh. Gag.

640. This little fucking megaphone is everything.

641. I want one.

642. Now, I've processed your loan application,

643. and it looks like...

644. There were, like, dividers between each of the judges.

645. Oh, that's hot.

646. Not my favorite aesthetic choice,

647. but it was definitely really important

648. that they're quarantined and separate.

649. I was like, this is a COVID season. Perfect.

650. For Season 13, we had to rethink everything.

651. Planning every challenge became its own challenge.

652. Thinking about going into Drag Race

653. and knowing how all the challenges function,

654. but knowing that we had the pandemic,

655. it made me question so many things.

656. Like, how is the makeover challenge gonna work?

657. How about Pit Crew?

658. What about, like, stage productions

659. where we have backup dancers, and they're all over us

660. and touching us and lifting us and doing all these things?

661. Pit Crew is a part of Drag Raceculture.

662. The Pit Crew is lovely.

663. Bring back my Pit Crew.

664. For the RuPaulmark challenge, I was April Fool,

665. and she, at the end, finds her prince.

666. But I had to act like he was there,

667. but it was full just greenscreened,

668. and he was not actually there.

669. I had a scene with this lovely prince man,

670. and he wasn't even there.

671. But then I found it's Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman.

672. He is so cute,

673. child, I'm living my life when I'm on set.

674. I met him and he wasn't even there.

675. How does that happen? COVID.

676. In normal Drag Racefashion,

677. when there's not a pandemic, you get a lot of guest judges.

678. This time, they had to have people, I think,

679. that were close to the show,

680. people that have been, like, more quarantined.

681. We had Loni Love, we had Ts Madison,

682. Nicole Byer, Jamal Sims.

683. It felt like a good old family reunion.

684. And they get to see you from, you know,

685. the start to the finish,

686. instead of just popping in,

687. trying to judge me on my one look.

688. Now at least they could, like, see me in a couple,

689. and decide they love me even more.

690. So obviously, because of what's going on,

691. we couldn't be having people

692. come into the werkroom all willy-nilly.

693. So one of the people that did come up

694. on the lovely little screen where Miss Paul usually is

695. was Anne Hathaway.

696. Hi, queens!

697. Oh, my God!

698. So to be able to just, like, look at her,

699. just chatting with us in her living room, it was really cool.

700. Hi, Anne. I'm Olivia.

701. I met Anne Hathaway.

702. You can't tell me any different.

703. She was there in the room.

704. Hi, Olivia.

705. She said my name.

706. I met Anne Hathaway.

707. We get to film with Ross Mathews.

708. And we're sitting there, and Ross just turns to me

709. and is just, like, you know, aren't we just so lucky

710. to be here and to be doing this?

711. And I was just, like, it's kind of amazing.

712. Because, like, I'd be locked in my apartment right now,

713. staring at my ceilings.

714. And here I am filming a huge competition.

715. Oh, Lord.

716. Girl.

717. I loved getting out of drag at the end of the day.

718. It was just, like, a little party.

719. It was maybe the most fun I'd had in so long.

720. We'd be trying on each other's wigs.

721. Hi!

722. Having the kind of moments with the queens

723. just reminded me how fun it was being backstage,

724. getting to, like, kiki and just have fun.

725. - We're breastplate sisters. - Okay.

726. I was, like...

727. And it was hard for them

728. to shove me back into isolation after that point.

729. I was, like, we were having so much fun,

730. leave me in the van.

731. Once you go back to your hotel, you go back into your rooms.

732. But, you know, you can't go into the other girls' room

733. and kaka with your sister.

734. So while we're filming, I have no access to Internet.

735. There's no phone in the room.

736. I have hotel television,

737. and it's majority, like, sports and news.

738. So I'm just seeing every single day COVID cases rising,

739. and I have not talked to any friends or family.

740. And what if...

741. what if one of my friends or family members

742. has passed away from COVID?

743. I don't know.

744. I was very concerned with all the happenings back home.

745. Like, my mother is an amazing nurse.

746. My mom being on the front of the lines,

747. I was concerned for her.

748. We all have someone out there that we really wanna keep safe

749. and wanna make sure that they're okay.

750. For leaving in this opportunity, it's, like...

751. it's tough.

752. It's tough to kind of push them out,

753. to really focus on the work.

754. I was going through a lot,

755. and just, like, a lot of things going on in my head.

756. You have to be very focused,

757. and you have to not let all the negativity

758. and all the things creep into your head.

759. Like, even I was very conscious

760. of, like, don't watch any of the news.

761. I just really wanted to stay focused on the competition.

762. I was just, like, I'm just gonna take this time

763. to be, like, hey, you're here on RuPaul's Drag Race,

764. and have fun and calm down.

765. In a year like 2020,

766. it was more important than ever

767. forDrag Race to create a space

768. where my girls could focus on staying safe

769. and snatching a crown.

770. Yes, there are all these worries

771. about what's happening back at home and in the world.

772. But you're also at RuPaul's Drag Race,

773. filming the TV show that's about to change your life.

774. Truth be told,

775. being able to shoot RuPaul's Drag Race this season

776. was a gift to all of us, each in our own way.

777. Walkthrough this year was a bit different.

778. Because of COVID, I wasn't sure how it was gonna happen,

779. or if RuPaul was even gonna be able to, like, get close to us.

780. She was also in her own bubble quarantining.

781. Bitch, if I was going crazy in my own hotel room,

782. I can imagine RuPaul was going crazy, too.

783. So I'm sure Miss Thing wanted to go to the werkroom

784. and kiki with us and, you know, talk to someone.

785. If you were closer to me, I'd slap you.

786. The walkthroughs with Ru,

787. I mean, you kind of never know what to expect.

788. Did your mother disco?

789. What's that tattoo?

790. Have you had sweet, passionate love?

791. Is that a real dimple?

792. Have they changed the carpet at the Gay 90's?

793. - Yes. - They have. Okay, good, good.

794. It was so crazy, how long we were all talking with her.

795. Both of us were so excited to talk to someone else.

796. Burt Reynolds in Hooper,

797. the tight pants,

798. you could tell what religion they are.

799. Let me just say that.

800. They were really intimate times

801. when you were able to connect with Ru.

802. You're so limited to human interaction,

803. that, like, this felt like even more special.

804. I work in corporate fashion.

805. They actually, like, don't know I'm here at all.

806. - Shh! - Right.

807. You can just tell she really wanted

808. to make your time with her personalized to you.

809. I think the way you talk is genius.

810. I walked outta there thinking RuPaul's my homegirl.

811. I was like, girl, me and RuPaul gonna go get lunch after this.

812. I fucking love it.

813. Oh!

814. I just squirted hand sanitizer on my face.

815. For confessionals, we were sitting in a chair like this,

816. and there was an iPad in front of us

817. with a storyline producer, and that's how we would talk.

818. It was like a Zoom call.

819. I mean, it's hard when it's, like, a screen moment

820. as opposed to a full human in front of you.

821. Uh...

822. The interviews? Like, when you're out of drag,

823. that's, like, sometimes the most emotional, raw moments.

824. And, like, I'm sitting here, like,

825. "Can I have a tissue," talking to a computer.

826. I think she's... I think I'm muted.

827. Looks like it.

828. Dealing with, you know, the wifi,

829. and, you know, technology was a B-I-T-C-H.

830. It would freeze sometimes.

831. I would be in my conversation,

832. because, you know, I get really animated

833. and really dramatic...

834. So sometimes I would really be into it,

835. and she didn't catch any of it.

836. But we got through it. We pushed through it.

837. For my queens,

838. the show isn't just a race, it's a marathon,

839. and this season more than ever,

840. my girls worked their padded asses off.

841. Thank you, ladies. You may leave the stage.

842. Every week after the main stage critiques and everything,

843. we walk in between stages

844. with our masks and shields in full drag.

845. And all of production would be standing on the side.

846. It was literally a parade.

847. They would be clapping for us

848. and con-drag-ulating us, and it was so cute.

849. Especially if you won that week,

850. because you'd be, like, in the front.

851. You'd be like, "Oh, my God, thank you."

852. Every time we'd get off a challenge,

853. it's, like, they would applaud.

854. It was just kind of like that we know you're tired.

855. We know this has been hard.

856. But, like, you're gonna make it.

857. To me, the people working on the show

858. were just as important as us doing it.

859. I mean, they're risking their lives to be here, too.

860. It was just, like, they're my angels

861. and they looked out for me and they took care of me.

862. I felt really, really safe

863. because everyone was really strict and aggressive

864. on the bubble and COVID protocols.

865. I was, like, is this low-key kind of the perfect place

866. you could possibly be for a pandemic?

867. A lot was on the line,

868. because the thought of being sent home,

869. I'm like, I don't wanna go back to just watching movies

870. and pigging out and eating a bunch of food.

871. I didn't wanna sign back up for that.

872. I wanna do this.

873. I wanna be here. I wanna, like, express myself.

874. I wanna do my art on this stage.

875. At some point you have to go back into the real world,

876. which is terrifying,

877. because you know you are 100% safe here.

878. That's the thing.

879. And was I 100% safe before I came to the show?

880. I wasn't.

881. Every time we make a season

882. ofRuPaul's Drag Race,

883. it's a special event for the cast and the crew.

884. And this year,

885. we appreciated it like never before.

886. Drag Raceis kind of a little bit of an escape

887. during this crazy time.

888. I think it's really needed right now.

889. We can still thrive.

890. We just have to be safe,

891. and we can still make really dope art

892. and get the job done.

893. We bring happiness to a bad situation.

894. Who else would be brave enough to do that

895. then men playing in heels, playing in wigs?

896. At the end of the day, I just wanted some sisters.

897. I wanted a sisterhood, and I'm glad I got it.

898. To be on Season 13,

899. one of the first TV shows to film during a global pandemic,

900. baby, iconic.

901. This is something really special

902. that no one has ever experienced.

903. I have a bond with these girls

904. that no one has ever experienced,

905. I played my part,

906. and I created this beautiful story

907. with these beautiful girls,

908. and I would never take it away for anything.

909. Going back to New York

910. and coming home to my boyfriend was so, so nice.

911. I cannot tell you how pregnant I am.

912. It is wild.

913. Eddie and I have matured as a couple very quickly

914. because of this year, in leaps and bounds further

915. than we would have if we weren't in a pandemic

916. and if I didn't get cast on Drag Race.

917. Oh, my God, like,

918. he just did, like, the Drag Raceof healthcare.

919. Werk.

920. You've been away in this fairytale world

921. of filming a TV show,

922. and now you're coming back into the reality of life.

923. But the reality of life

924. is that there is still a pandemic happening.

925. Step back into the world where you're not in a bubble,

926. you don't know what people have been doing,

927. and that was kind of weird.

928. When I get home, I'm home for a couple of months.

929. I took the COVID test. It comes back positive.

930. So I'm instantly scared, because I'm, like,

931. oh, it's gonna sneak up on me and kill me.

932. I don't know what's about to happen.

933. Nothing changes. I didn't have a cold,

934. I didn't have anything that was related with it

935. other than testing positive.

936. So it does go to show you how unpredictable COVID is.

937. It is the invisible monster,

938. and you have to treat it as such.

939. I'm hopeful that we're moving in the right direction

940. as a country,

941. and that vaccines are gonna be able to be distributed

942. to a point where numbers are low enough

943. that we can see the fans,

944. and that we can interact with our communities again,

945. and just feel joyous and feel celebratory.

946. I'm definitely very hopeful for a world that is COVID-free,

947. but I'm also hoping that we remember all of the lessons

948. that we learned during this time.

949. You know, the power of technology,

950. the importance of safety and taking care of one another.

951. But also, I'm just hoping

952. that my vaccine is administered by a Pit Crew member,

953. and I choose the anal option.

954. It was exciting to be pioneers of filming in COVID,

955. but there's all these things

956. that made it frustrating and difficult at times.

957. But we've come out stronger on the other side of it.

958. I can do anything now.

959. You know, I will admit in previous years,

960. I was very oblivious to politics.

961. But, like, now that I'm given this platform,

962. it is really important

963. for me to speak up against those injustices.

964. Me kind of living my truth about drag,

965. I need to do the same about these issues.

966. We're on a show where millions of people watch,

967. and we are able to change people's minds,

968. and we are able to inform people,

969. so that's what we should do.

970. And I think now more than ever, that's what drag is.

971. The resilience of a drag queen, it's so inspiring.

972. You can throw anything at a queen,

973. and you won't see her shake.

974. She will stand strong in her heels.

975. Queens attempting to walk!

976. I've survived Corona. I've survived Trump.

977. I've survived cancer.

978. I'm not gonna tell you what else I survived.

979. Just trust me, I've survived some things.

980. Whoa!

981. Even in one of the hardest times that we face right now,

982. we're gonna put on a brave face

983. and we're gonna go to that front line

984. and we're gonna give it to you.

985. And we're gonna do it what? Sickening.

986. Corona can't keep a good queen down.

987. During this pandemic,

988. everyone has dealt with their own set of challenges,

989. and in the face of so much devastating loss,

990. it's hard to see the meaning behind it all.

991. That's why now more than ever,

992. it's important to be kind to yourself and to others.

993. Because with love and understanding,

994. we will get through this together.

995. Do you need help?

996. The world is in chaos.

997. You know, try your absolute best to, like, share and enjoy.

998. You deserve it.

999. Treat yourself to an amazing life.

1000. Go make a hat.

1001. Go, like... Go give cats massages.

1002. Whatever, like, gives you that, like...

1003. That feeling, go do it.

1004. This COVID situation coming out of nowhere

1005. and taking so many lives away from people who had dreams

1006. I'm sure that they wanted to accomplish,

1007. only shows you that, girl, you gotta live, sis.

1008. Live, girl.