Suzie tells EW in her candid elimination interview that she also sent one to season 17 sister Lexi Love and “Drag Race” alum Willam.
Tootsie Scooter — officially known as the divine Suzie Toot — has scooted her final toot on the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 stage.
After a season filled with colorful tussles with her beloved season 17 sisters, Suzie bowed out of the competition after Friday night’s Las Vegas showgirl challenge, but she tells Entertainment Weekly in her candid elimination interview that isn’t her final curtain call.
The BFA-weaponizing theater queen/tap-dancing diva is just getting started, and she’s laying the foundation for excellence by fittingly — as her castmates long joked about with regard to her old-timey aesthetic — reaching into the past. Suzie tells EW that, after ruffling the feathers of alums like Willam and Trinity The Tuck (grandmother to Jewels Sparkles and drag mom to Sam Star), she’s gifted them with hilariously shady shirts that read, “F— Suzie Toot” so they don’t forget her name.
Before RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 continues Fridays on MTV, read on for more on why Suzie sent the shirts to the performers, plus she gives a moving explanation of why she and Lexi Love butted heads on set.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Do you feel that you won the lip-sync?
SUZIE TOOT: You know what’s funny? I felt [on set] that I won it, destroyed her, mopped her, and that everyone would be outraged. Watching it back, I was like, “No, Sam took it!”
You got emotional in Untucked and said you were gobsmacked by the critiques. Do you think your elimination was fair and the critiques were justified?
I do, absolutely. Especially after the makeover episode, when I was the first person to be called safe and — I’m using air quotes — “make it” to the top four, I felt like I’d earned it. I was in the top four in my mind. Anything that was contrary to that was inconceivable, and I couldn’t hear it with any form of critical thinking. My drag has changed so much, I’ve evolved so much as a queen. Suzie Toot now would’ve mopped that challenge. I expected to be vindicated, but, watching the episode, they’re kind of right.
Did you feel uncomfortable in the showgirl aesthetic, doing a Las Vegas-style showgirl number?
Yeah. More than anything, it was the prompt, because it was Vegas, but in your unique style, and I didn’t bring a single feather with me. I latched on to the unique style part. The song is “Gift Shop,” so I thought I should look like my merchandise if I’m leading people to the gift shop!
Your relationship with the cast had fans talking. It never seemed overly contentious, but many hinted at discrepancies. Can you explain that, and why you think you bothered them so much?
It’s fascinating, because most of it was in fun and in jest. I love those girls. That’s how I joke with my friends back home. Because I can come off as grand, I can become a target in a comedic sense, and the girls understand that. When you sprinkle in genuine jealousy or, especially in the first half, when the safe girls were so rustled by the fact that they were safe and I was doing well, there were definitely digs that lived in the world of comedy but blurred a line.
Fans pointed out that Lexi seemed particularly bothered. What don’t we know about your relationship together, and what are things like between you now?
Lexi and I are very cool. We’re friends. I love that monster! She spelled it out in the makeover episode and told me recently that she had college scholarships for theater. She was doing theater before her life took a major turn, and I think she saw me as what she could’ve been if her life were different. It’s a profound thing, and difficult to capture all of that on television.
Was there anything you heard in the confessionals that surprised you?
Not to keep doggin’ on Lexi, but the absolute biggest surprise is, because it’s caught on camera at Roscoe’s, was when Lexi said I was the CEO of the kumbaya committee, because I’m fairly certain that that week, she explained what kumbaya was to me, and told me that I certainly was not a member! In the confessional, suddenly I’m the C-E-hoe, which is crazy. [Laughs] It’s hilarious, it’s so good.
Since you brought up Roscoe’s, what are your thoughts on Trinity The Tuck’s comments about you there, when she said she’s “not feeling” you and that you’re “the only onle” she doesn’t follow? Have you two talked it out?
I have not had a conversation with Mrs. Tuck. I don’t harbor ill will at all. I’m coming out with merch that says, “F— Suzie Toot,” and I did send one to Trinity, because I thought she’d appreciate it. I think I’ve learned her taste by now, and I think she’d like it. (When reached for comment, Trinity tells EW she “of course was happy to accept the gift and add it to our merch giveaway” on her I Live for This podcast, and that, when it comes to Suzie, she admires “her humor and how she carries herself when it comes to people’s opinions” in a “very unserious” way. “I think she is going to go on to do some amazing things as she is very talented,” Trinity adds. “Though I might have my opinions of the character from the show, I wish her well! I do in fact follow her now.”)
Did you get her address through Jewels and Sam?
Through my management! It’s so funny that Jewels and Sam have this connection to her.
To clarify: Suzie Toot sent a shirt to Trinity The Tuck that says, “F— Suzie Toot” on it?
[Laughs] Absolutely! I sent one to Willam, I sent one to Lexi. I want it to be a big thing. People say it all the time, so I figured I’d give them a uniform to wear.
There was also a Werk Room conversation this episode about the biggest boot of the season, but we didn’t see your answer. Who takes it, for you?
The two names thrown around were Joella and her iconic mattress, and Lucky Starzzz’s elimination look. What I brought up is that Lucky made that outfit here, and Joella brought hers from home. Therefore, the scale 100 percent tips in Joella’s favor. She has to be the boot of the season. Lexi and Sam both had some dogs— outfits, so some of their stuff was in contention!
What’s next for you?
It’s only the beginning of the millions of things I want to do. There’s a one-woman show. We have dates set for Provincetown that we plan to take it all over the country and perhaps internationally. There’s also a Suzie Toot YouTube channel that’ll be coming out more regularly once the season is over. A film is in the works, it’s being made right now!