LAS VEGAS – Day drag on a Friday afternoon. Not ideally when you want to strut down the Las Vegas Strip, but these queens are, literally, on top of the world. The top six contestants of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 17 are having a blast. In town to celebrate the 1,000th show of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live: Vegas Revue,” Suzie Toots, Lexi Love, Lana Ja’Rae, Jewels Sparkles, Onya Nurve, and Sam Star are conducting interviews on the High Roller wheel as it hits 55 stories at its peak. And with only five more episodes remaining, they are, for lack of a better phrase, “feeling their oats.”
During our conversations, the remaining queens reflect on how exhausting it was to return home after their long sequester filming the show, how they felt about one of the most entertaining “Roast” episodes in franchise history, the best advice they received before heading to film, their one big goal once the competition is over, and, much, much more.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
The Playlist: When you were done with the season and got home, how soon did you think “I need to start working on my finale dress or outfit”?
Jewels Sparkles: I took a month where I just didn’t do any drag at all. Literally. I left bunks at “Drag Race,” so I did have no drag. I took a month where I just didn’t think about drag for a month.
Lana Ja’Rae: I got back home. I was like, “O.K., finale time.” I didn’t want to think about it. Later on, I was like “Think about it now so I can get out of the way.” I hate thinking about stuff and stressing out about it.
Lexi Love: I’m so sorry that they just lied to you because we all thought about that. [Laughs.] The second we got the call for the show, we were like, “You know what? I’m going to wait [to do this] for the finale.” And they’d be like, “O.K., but we got to wait for the runways.” And I was like, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. O.K. O.K.” But I think that we all immediately were like, “Oh my gosh, what am I going to do at the last moment?” And it’s trickled in since then. I think the same. Probably about a month, y’know, you give yourself to get readjusted, but maybe we were thinking about that from the day before you even auditioned.
Jewels Sparkles: I guess.
Lana Ja’Rae: Honestly, you always haven’t thought of it.
Lexi Love: You always think about it every time you see them step out, the top four. I’m like, “Ooh, I would wear that. I wouldn’t wear that. I would’ve done that.” Definitely. I think I plan my finale outfit every finale,
Lana Ja’Rae: Honestly. Every single finale outfit.
The Playlist: Jewels, I know you had tons of advice from Trinity and Lana, you had Lux in your ear. Even so, I’m sure you’ve seen tons of interviews with other queens who’ve been on the show and the show was much harder than they thought it was going to be. But was that actually the case?
Lana Ja’Rae: I don’t know. I feel like “Drag Race” itself isn’t really hard. “Drag Race” isn’t hard to me. I think the hardest thing for me is mentally and emotionally, not being with your support system and being stripped away from all of that and being put in a place where you have 14, 13 other girls who are still determined to win and you don’t know who you can talk to and really have that be your support.
Lexi Love: Who has your back.
Lana Ja’Rae: Yeah, because everyone’s there to win, so you don’t know. That’s the biggest thing for me, I feel. And that also bleeds into the challenges and your performances throughout the season, I feel.
The Playlist: What was the best advice that you got before you went?
Jewels Sparkles: The best advice I got?
Lana Ja’Rae: Stay out of your head.
Jewels Sparkles: Stay out of your head. There will always be someone worse than you. [Laughs.] Like, being told that. No, it’s true. There will always be someone worse than you. And there will always, if you walk into every competition, being like…
Lexi Love: Trinity is definitely your family. [Laughs.]
Jewels Sparkles: No, seriously. For example, last week was like, “Oh, I’m not good at this. I’m going to be terrible.” That mindset does…
Lexi Love: Something to you.
Jewels Sparkles: Does something to you! But if you go into it being like, “O.K., I’m not going to be the worst one. In fact, I might be the best one.” That should be your mindset, to be honest, going into each challenge.
The Playlist: Lana, you had a moment during the competition where you were in the bottom two weeks in a row. It’s been four more episodes, and you’re still here. When did you breathe? When did you breathe and think, “Oh wait, I’m OK. I’m not going home tomorrow”?
Lana Ja’Rae: I mean, honestly, Lipsyncing on “Drag Race” is very scary. And when they say “Lip Sync For Your Life,”? Baby, it does feel like you’re going to die on that stage if you don’t win the lip sync. So the moment RuPaul was like, “Lana, Shante, you stay” against Crystal because I did not believe I was staying after my wig coming off, bitch, I was embarrassed. I was like, “Send me to the dogs.” Because absolutely not. So when she said stay, I was like, “O.K., I need to clock in and lock down and really come to the competition” because before then I was not taking it for granted, but not believing I deserved to be in the room of “Drag Race” And after that, I was like, “O.K., I deserve to be here because I literally fought to be here in the competition.”
Lexi Love: You got your validation by being in the top finally, which you deserved.
Lana Ja’Rae: Yes! And also being in the top. That is the most beautiful feeling.
Lexxi Love: Isn’t it?
Jewels Sparkles: It’s like that because you work so hard and then not only to do well, not only to get on “Drag Race” is so validating, but do well in a challenge. And then RuPaul being like…”Oh my God, you did that.” There is nothing like that.
The Playlist: Jewels you had an experience with the Roast.
Jewels Sparkles: I did. Experience. [Laughs.]
The Playlist: Lana, you also slayed it and people were “surprised” and stunned. Did you all have pre-written jokes before you went? Did they tell you beforehand it was going to be a Villain Rosast?
All: No.
The Playlist: When did you know Kandy, Plane Jane, and Mistress Isabelle Brooks were going to be the subjects of the roast?
All: The day of.
Lana Ja’Rae: I wrote all my jokes on this set of “Drag Race.” I didn’t walk in with jokes or anything.
Jewels Sparkles: Yeah, it’s very straightforward. You get announced the challenge, you have that day to work it out, and then the next day you come in and get ready.
Lana Ja’Rae: Some girls do prepare things and have things.
Lexi Love: I think the majority of the girls had some material, but nothing geared towards that. I’m telling you, I was convinced there wasn’t a roast this year. I don’t know why, but I was convinced there was no one because they didn’t do one [last season].
Lana Ja’Rae: I was focused on the girl group personally.
Lexi Love: When that happened, I sh*t my leotard. I was so scared. And you can tell by the way, I really put my best foot forward. I still wanted to go last. I still wanted to make a good impression. I still wanted to really try.
Lana Ja’Rae: You did.
Jewels Sparkles: It was not buying jokes bitch
The Playlist: I gotta ask. I think that Arietty has said that you guys have spoken about what happened on the episode or maybe made up. Are you two good now?
Jewels Sparkles: Listen, the past is the past. We only move forward. It kind of felt like a, it was a catty girl fight. It was a catty girl fight. But at the end of the day, we’ve grown from it and we are in a really good place.
Lana Ja’Rae: Our entire cast though, we all love each other. So you have a love for every single person.
Jewels Sparkles: One hundred percent.
Lana Ja’Rae: We’re really family at the end of the day.
Lexi Love: There are people in your life that you fight with and then you never speak to again. And there’s other people you fight with and you’ve worked through it. And those are the people that are really valuable in your life. That’s when you know have somebody that cares about you. So the fact that we all did that and we still, well excluding one or two people that just exclude themselves. I’ve gained 13 family members.
The Playlist: At the beginning of every season, the queens of every cast will hype up, “Oh, there’s drama.” And at this point, I think hardcore fans are like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, O.K. I’m sure there was.” Well, you all really had some.
Lana Ja’Rae: I kind of forgot about a lot of it, honestly. Like, “Oh, there’s drama this season. Yeah, of course.” But every episode it’s like…
Jewels Sparkles: Another drama, another “gate” it. It’s so fierce though.
The Playlist: In some seasons, it seems like the queens who are on it still hold resentments. Maybe they all don’t get along, but you all seem to. Why do you think that is?
Jewels Sparkles: I think because we created from the start a kind of free space, we could say stuff and speak our minds and know that it never came from a negative place.
Lana Ja’Rae: I think literally us going through the Squirrel Games [in the first episode], the hell that that was. That was a very taxing day. It brought us all together. We were like, “O.K. no matter what happens, we love each other.”
Jewels Sparkles: It’s like, “Bitch, you sucked in the challenge. Can I borrow some?” That was the vibe.
Lexi Love: You and Onya and me and Hormona set the tone because we were the first two [contestants] to get into it on the same episode, and by the end of the episode we were all hugging and talking it out. So, we set a tone for everybody that we don’t even have to have that vibe here. And other people wanted to repeat that thing.
Jewels Sparkles: God, there were no rivalries that lasted over an episode. It’s just mini-rivalries.
The Playlist: Do you all have a specific goal after the show? Whether you win or lose, “I want to do this next”?
Lana Ja’Rae: Absolutely. I win a break into the fashion world. That is my goal. Ever since going on “Drag Race,” I was like “Drag Race” is an amazing platform, but “Drag Race” is a place to build stars and allow you to shine outside of ‘Drag Race” because you are a representation of the show. So, going into the show, you already should know what you should do afterward. And that was always my goal. I know I’m not going to be the funniest person I know I’m not going to be a celebrity impersonator. That’s not me. I came to be a fashion model girl and maybe that’s what I did and did and did. And that’s hopefully what I do and will manifest in the future. Fingers crossed.
Lexi Love: But it is. Your audition went wonderfully. We all got to witness it for the world, for the fashion world. You did an amazing job.
The Playlist: And speaking of that, Lexi one of your goals is you want to…
Lexi Love: Specifically, my goal is to be in the “Victoria’s Secret” fashion show as a trans model. I want to do a major campaign for a luxury brand in Europe, and I want to turn into an acting career. I want to be Alex Cosani and Hunter Schafer and really just see how far I can push the Trans agenda in the real world. Let’s keep it going. That’s incredible.
Lana Ja’Rae: Lexi Love for President!
The Playlist: Jewels, what is your big goal?
Jewels Sparkles: So it’s interesting because walking on “Drag Race,” I thought I was going to be very similar [to Lana]. I was like, “I want to do all the fashion stuff.” But after seeing myself on the show, I feel like I can do more. I can feel like I could be acting. I would love to do more Reality TV. I feel like I was putting myself in a box and then watching myself on the show I’m like, “Wait, I can do so much more than I ever could have imagined.”
Lexi Love: Obviously, you’re not, none of us are just drag queens. We’re entertainers.
Lana Ja’Rae: That though.
Jewels Sparkles: No, a hundred percent.
The Playlist: One, last last question. I co-host a podcast where we talk about the international “Drag Race” seasons. If you watch any of them, what is your favorite one?
Jewels Sparkles: Oh, of course. Oh, I watch a lot of those. I love the UK seasons. UK seasons are so excellent. UK season two is one of my favorites of all time.
Lana Ja’Rae: I love the Philippines. “Drag Race Philippines”!
Jewels Sparkles: Oh my god, they’re so fierce.
Lana Ja’Rae: “Drag Race Philippines.” It cracks me up.
Lexi Love: I will say a lot of just the phrasing that they use, it excites me a little bit that they have all of these funny, goofy ways to say things that we say funny, goofy things. That makes it very endearing to my heart. But the UK? The seasons before there was money when money wasn’t involved. Bitch, these queens did not care. They would just jab each other with a knife and just have fun with it. It was so fun to watch. That was inspiring.
Lana Ja’Rae: Oh, and France. Nicky Doll is doing an amazing job.
Lexi Love:
She and
Lana Ja’Rae: She is doing an amazing job as a host.
Lexi Love: Somebody tell Valentina.
ALL: Oh! [Laughs.]