Drag Race icon Alaska addresses legendary ‘tantrum’ after losing season five to Jinkx Monsoon

Drag Race icon Alaska has said that losing to Jinkx Monsoon was actually a “relief”.

Ten years ago, Alaska finished runner-up (with Roxxxy Andrews) to Jinkx Monsoon on season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

As is standard, the queens filmed multiple endings to the season and only found out who had won when the episode aired. Cameras caught the moment on video, showing Alaska covering her face and apparently crying.

Alaska was appearing on Sissy That Talk Show, a series in which host Joseph Shepherd interviews Drag Race alumni about their time on the show and beyond, when she was presented with a picture of her ‘tantrum’.

She explained: “This was not ‘I’m jealous and I should have won’. And I know people probably think I’m full of s**t by saying that.

Alaska, who went on to win All Stars 2, recounted the experience of narrowly missing out on the crown.

“This was a relief, because I had been telling everyone that I wasn’t going to win – and my family, people around me, my drag community in Pittsburgh, everyone was like: ‘You could win!’ And I was like, ‘No, I can’t’.

“And then they were like: ‘You don’t believe in yourself!’ So this was such a relief because I was, ‘Well, now I know, and can it be over now.”

The Pittsburgh native said that in order to amp up the drama, she took eyeliner and “smeared it down [her] face to look even more sad.”

Alaska also credited herself with influencing the reactions of queens on Drag Race today.

“What a visceral moment. Drag queens don’t do this anymore.”

“People on Drag Race don’t behave this way because of me, because I showed them how rotted and childish it looks if you cry when someone else wins.”

Alaska currently co-hosts the Race Chaser podcast with fellow Drag Race alumnus, Willam.