RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist spills wild behind-the-scenes production secret
A Drag Race star just revealed a secret about RuPaul’s “RuMail” appearances. (BBC)
RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star Art Simone has spilled some surprising tea on what really happened when RuPaul appeared on the werk room’s TV screens during her season.
Only a few things are certain about a queen’s RuPaul’s Drag Race appearance: they will make an entrance with a witty quote, they will stomp the runway at least once, and they will officially be welcomed into the Drag Race history books.
But one other certainty – that contestants will see Mama Ru on one of those big TV screens in the werk room – apparently isn’t all that certain.
The segment, dubbed “RuMail”, involves RuPaul being dragged up as she addresses the queens and gives them hints on the week’s upcoming challenge, before saying: “Good luck, don’t f**k it up.”
According to Drag Race Down Under finalist Simone, though, RuPaul isn’t always in drag for the pre-challenge VTs, and sometimes appears on screen in a tracksuit.
Speaking to Melbourne drag performer Kat Zowthabag on YouTube, Simone also revealed that sometimes, the queens don’t get to see RuPaul at all.
“Sometimes, they just make you react to a blank screen. All our RuPaul videos for the first chunk [of Down Under season one] were her out of drag, just in a tracksuit, because they hadn’t been able to film them yet,” she said.
“All the things with our season that were absolutely rotted and strange, I love them, because we got to experience Drag Race like no one else.”
The queens in season four of Down Under, the first episode of which has just aired, did get to see RuPaul in drag on the tape, Simone pointed out.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that they won’t get to see her in person, however, given that Mama Ru has stepped down as the show’s host, and handed over the duties to Michelle Visage, who, according to viewers on social media, is doing a pretty good job.
Drag Race Down Under is streaming on BBC iPlayer and WOW Presents Plus now.
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