Drag Race star Princess Poppy finally breaks silence after series exit: ‘I don’t want to be famous’
Princess Poppy says RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 left her “burned out” (Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 star Princess Poppy has indicated that she’ll step back from drag following her appearance the show, declaring that she wants “to fall off the face of the planet”.
The San Francisco drag performer, who sashayed away from the workroom in episode three of season 15, remained silent on social media for two months following her early exit from the series.
Poppy’s eventual return to Instagram saw her cryptically share a viral Tyra Banks clip from America’s Next Top Model that shows a contestant quitting the competition after stating she can’t handle the “pressure”.
Now, Poppy has cast more light on her state of mind in a new interview in which she reflects on the pressure of fame and how appearing on Drag Race left her feeling “burned out”.
“I want to fall off the face of the planet. I don’t want to be famous, I want to fade into obscurity,” Poppy told Entertainment Weekly’s Quick Drag podcast.
“That’s not a bad thing. I think people put so much emphasis on success and fame, and it’s OK to not want to be famous. It’s totally valid to not want to be known by a bunch of people. That’s just not what I want.
“I don’t want that for my life.”
Despite insisting that she’s “not quitting drag” and that Princess Poppy “is never going to go away,” she admitted her performances post-Drag Race are likely to become a “lot less frequent.”
“Touring and doing drag all the time is really rough, it’s tough on your body, and if you’re not loving every minute, then it’s difficult,” Poppy reflected.
After a painful performance in the improv challenge that failed to elicit a single laugh from Michelle Visage, Poppy was eliminated from season 15 after losing out in a Diana Ross lip-sync battle against Amethyst.
Poppy says she was already feeling overwhelmed by the impact of Drag Race when the show began airing in January, and removed herself from the public eye shortly afterwards for the sake of her own happiness.
“I feel like I got very burned out from doing the show and the experience. I went onto the show knowing that I’m not great with social media, and I don’t overly enjoy that aspect of the career of drag…. it just became a lot, and I removed myself from it,” she commented.
“I’m glad that I did, because I probably wouldn’t be as happy as I am now without doing that. I want to be left alone, I want to chill, I want to vibe.
“Drag, to me, as a career, wasn’t always a long-term thing. I went into this process knowing that I don’t want to pursue drag full-time, forever.”
Poppy is not the first Drag Race star to step back from the spotlight after leaving the show. Season two winner Tyra Sanchez aka James Ross, who beat Raven and Jujubee to the crown in 2010, later distanced himself from his drag persona and the show, retiring in 2020 before announcing a comeback earlier this year.
Drag Race season 15 is set to crown its own winner this Friday (7 April) when final four Sasha Colby, Anetra, Luxx Noir London and Mistress Isabelle Brooks go head-to-head in the season finale.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 continues on Friday 7 April on MTV in the US and on WOW Presents Plus on Saturday 8 April from 2am BST in the UK.
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