Drag Race’s Pearl describes ‘heartbreaking’ moment with RuPaul that ‘broke my spirit’
Pearl was a contestant on the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She was best known for coining the phrase “flazéda” and getting into a tense stare down with Ru himself. She overcame a perceived lack of enthusiasm, surviving what looked like she was sleepwalking through the first few episodes to come in as a runner up for the title, losing it to Atlanta’s own Violet Chachki (who was my waitress the last time I went to Lips. True story).
On a recent episode of the hilarious YouTube series Hey Qween, the 27-year-old entertainer, born Matthew James Lent (and one handsome man), spilled some tea about the show and her once-strained relationship with her co-runner up from that season, Ginger Minj. During the interview, Pearl shared for the first time a story that she felt explained her attitude on the show. The first time she met Ru during a shoot for a pre-season promo, Ru said something that broke her spirit. Pearl recalled:
“We were filming a segment, just kind of chatting, banter whatever together, and then the camera went down for a moment and I turned to RuPaul and I said ‘Oh my god. I just want to thank you so much. It is such an honor to be here, such a pleasure to meet you. You have no idea, like what this…’, just giving her that whole everything I wanted to say to her. And she turned to me, and she said, ‘nothing you say matters unless that camera is rolling. And that broke my spirit. And that is the reason why I had one foot in, one foot out the entire time on that show. And maybe that’s me being petty, and maybe that’s me thinking that it should have been something that I never should’ve expected it to be. But in that moment, it was so heartbreaking because I idolized her, worshipped her, and I just felt that it was so disrespectful. I had never even been to LA before: it was so Hollywood, rotted, gross, like how could you say that to somebody that is just obsessed with you?”
[From Hey Qween/You Tube]
Pearl, who obviously got past the slight, also said in the interview that Ru has “got a job to do, and that is nothing to take personally.” Pearl isn’t the only one to have some not so great memories of working on Drag Race, proving that it truly isn’t RuPaul’s Best Friends Race.
Season 4’s Willam has been quite outspoken about the issues he encountered on the show. He recently shared his behind the scenes experience of working on the show with Drag Race super fan Leslie Jones (who had the best reaction when Ru herself asked her to be a judge on a future season).
Mama Ru came through and made @Lesdoggg's @RuPaulsDragRace dream come true! 👑 We surprised Leslie with a surprise message from @RuPaul and her reaction was EVERYTHING
— Access (@accessonline) August 13, 2018
The SNL star has been watching the entire series and sharing her commentary on Twitter. When she was gobsmacked after witnessing Willam’s disqualification, she took to social media to ask “Whaaaaaaat happen?!” and the queen obliged, sharing detailed iPhone notes of what he encountered on the set.
This is hilarious. I worship @Lesdoggg and I’ll tell u it all if u want!
— Willam (@willam) June 4, 2018
Ok but only cuz you asked @Lesdoggg
— Willam (@willam) June 5, 2018
Willam has been sharing even more behind the scenes dish about Drag Race on his new podcast with fellow queen-testant (and All-Stars 2 champion) Alaska. Their Race Chasers podcast is great.If you’re a fan, give it a listen. William also may have shared a major spoiler from the upcoming All-Stars season 4 (don’t click on the link if you don’t want to know).
I get that RuPaul is an entertainer and entrepreneur, and he really seems like a person who could easily put his product over personal relationships. I mean, he’s got his music, multiple television series, a podcast and even a a talk show pilot going at the same time. I believe Pearl was hurt by his first encounter with Ru, but still managed to recognize how much he helped his career. Of course, I’m partial to Ru, because I had the chance to interview him (back in the Drag U days) and he couldn’t have been nicer or more engaging. Anyway, reality breeds drama, and RuPaul’s Drag Race is no exception. Am I wrong to say “Keep it coming?”
Photos:Getty and WENN
