Now we finally know why RuPaul told Pearl: ‘Nothing you say matters unless that camera is rolling’
There was noticeable tension between Pearl and RuPaul on Drag Race season seven. (YouTube)
Michelle Visage has clarified why RuPaul gave Pearl that infamous put-down.
Visage was taking part in a Q&A at a live screening of the Drag Race UK final on Thursday, November 22, when the subject of Pearl and RuPaul’s supposed beef came up.
The Drag Race UK finalists were asked by an audience member what they found most surprising about their time on the show.
Divina De Campo said that for her, it was “the fact you’re not allowed to talk to each other.”
“If the camera’s aren’t rolling, you don’t speak,” she explained, according to Attitude.
“You don’t speak in the van, you don’t speak in the workroom, you don’t speak anywhere.”
At this point Michelle took the opportunity to clarify one of the most legendary dramas in Drag Race herstory.
“[That] is where that quote from Pearl came from, with Ru,” she said. “That whole drama with Ru saying: ‘If the cameras aren’t rolling it doesn’t count’. Because they want the magic.”
Pearl said RuPaul was ‘so disrespectful.’
Drag Race fans were shocked last year when Pearl explained why she had sometimes appeared down-spirited while competing on season 7.
Speaking to Hey Qween‘s Matthew Lenk, she said that she had tried to thank RuPaul for inviting her onto the show, only to be dismissed.
“I turned to RuPaul and said, ‘Oh my god, thank you so much. It’s such a honour to be here, such a pleasure to meet you, you have no idea.’ Just giving her everything I ever wanted to say to her,” she said.
“She turned to me and she said: ‘Nothing you say matters unless that camera is rolling.'”
Pearl said that the exchange was “so heartbreaking” and affected her mindset throughout the rest of the competition.
“I idolised her. I worshipped her. I felt like it was just so disrespectful,” she said.
Drag Race UK queens defended RuPaul.
Speaking to PinkNews earlier this year, the Drag Race UK queens dished the dirt on their relationship with RuPaul.
“Of course there is a degree of separation, otherwise it becomes a weird dynamic,” Divina De Campo said.
“I don’t go in there to be friends with RuPaul, that’s f***ing weird. If you expect that you don’t understand what TV is about.”
“You do hear stories that she’s very cold,” Baga Chipz added.
“But for us, she wasn’t like that. She was so lovely to me.”
