10s across the boardroom: An exclusive roundtable with the season 10 cast of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
In 2016, Mic sat down with then-President Barack Obama. In 2017, Mic sat down with then-presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. And now, in 2018, Mic sat down with the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10.
“We are here to break down special counsel Robert Muller’s Russia investigation,” I told the queens as stone-faced as possible before admitting, “No, we’re here today to talk about Drag Race.”
Ten of the 14 queens — Aquaria, Blair St. Clair, Dusty Ray Bottoms, Eureka O’Hara, Kameron Michaels, Mayhem Miller, Monét X Change, Monique Heart, The Vixen and Yuhua Hamasaki — sat down with Mic to discuss the upcoming season, their favorite moments of RPDR seasons past, the humanization of drag queens in popular culture, makeup tips and oh so much more. We’ve also got a special question from All Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel.
“The best advice I got from Bob [the Drag Queen] was to authentically be you,” Monét X Change said. “The reason why RuPaul looked at your tape and was like, ‘Oh, I want that girl’ was because he liked what you had to bring, what you were presenting, what you put on that tape. So don’t get caught up in the cameras and trying to present something to the world, just be authentically you. And that’s in the end what’s going to ring true and make your brand your brand.”
“And get you sent home,” Yuhua Hamasaki added with a devilish laugh. “Sometimes it’s best not to be yourself,” Aquaria joked. “Bianca [Del Rio] said, ‘Be yourself and if you weren’t there for a situation, don’t answer,’” Kameron Michaels said.
Eureka O’Hara shared this bit of advice she received from season nine contestant Valentina: “She said, ‘Eureka, I want to tell you something, sissy. You have a huge heart, but you also have a big mouth. So you need to calm your mouth down so the world can see your heart.’ And she was right. Sometimes you don’t always have to be the one that says something, so learn how to not say something when you want to.”
“So, question: Why didn’t you listen to her?” Monét snapped back.
This is just a sample of the more than 30-minute whiplash induced by watching the girls volley compliments, words of support and occasional insults (always with a smile) at one another during our round-table. (Note to Reddit sleuthers: Asia O’Hara, Kalorie Karbdashian-Williams, Miz Cracker and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo also stopped by; they just weren’t present for the group roundtable discussion. Read nothing more into it than complex scheduling.)
Watch the full interview here:
