“Drag Race’s” Michelle Visage knows the secret to winning the reality competition show. That is “to make Lou laugh.”
And she should know too. Visage has been a judge on the main show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” for over 16 years. RuPaul isn’t just a colleague, he’s her best friend. She has said it many times before and repeats it with every queen. She says, “You’d think after a few seasons they’d figure it out.” However, she observes that queens tend to overthink. “It happens all the time. You want to make Lou laugh, but you overthink it. But then you peel it back and you realize, ‘Oh, this isn’t as hard as I thought.'”
Myki Meeks understood this mission. Meeks didn’t get off to a great start this season, but got her revenge after her fellow queens put her in the bottom of the “Rate a Queen” twist. And yes, she made Lou laugh a few times. In the end, Meeks rose to the top and was crowned the winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 18.
Here, Meeks and Visage look back on the season and pick the show’s best moments.
Briar Blush faints
In episode 4, Briar Brush faints when guest judge Law Roach says, “You look like a WWE wrestler.”
“At the time, this poor girl couldn’t take care of herself and was under a lot of stress,” Meeks said. While Blush recovers, Vita and Mia momentarily wonder if she’s lying.
Mr. Visage recalls seeing it.
Mikey Meeks and Drew Barrymore’s Snatch Game
By the time he took on Snatch Game, Meeks was ready and confident. “This was my fourth time auditioning for this show. I didn’t have any expectations for the first two. I took it for practice, but I’ve auditioned for the role of Drew Barrymore almost every time because I thought I made a good impression.”
This time, the format was a little different, with the “Snatch Game Island Edition” featuring queens competing in a date-style show. Meeks said, “One of my biggest strengths is physical comedy, and being able to bring that essence to Snatch Game took my impersonation to another level.”
But that wasn’t the end. The moment went viral, and Barrymore invited Meeks onto his show for a sit-down interview. “Airing the current season and having one of the contestants appear in the daytime is next level. It felt very special and it helped make Lou laugh during Snatch Game. What could be better than that?” Meeks added, “If we can make Lou laugh during Snatch Game, we’ve checked something in her heart.”
The visage note that makes Ru laugh is really the key. she says: “If you listen to ‘What’s the Tee?’ – our previous podcast – People want it to be much harder than it is. Mikey embodies Drew and did what he wanted to do with Drew. If you can’t embody someone, just don’t do it, do Drew’s cousin, or do something else. There’s a way to make it work even if you’re not an imposter. Most people aren’t, so you have to find a way. Work smarter, not harder. It doesn’t have to be as hard as people want it to be.
Discord Adam’s Walk
Adams’ walk became another iconic moment on the show. It became a running gag and generated tons of GIFs. Mr. Visage humored this, saying, “Not only is it funny, but I like it so much that in that moment I might as well pay to see more. I say, ‘Did you see Walk?'” “Please say Walk?” And Lou starts laughing. ”
Juicy Love Dion
Visage revealed that he was in awe when Dion did a handstand while lip-syncing with Jane Dont. While the two faced off, Dion unveiled his costume. “I can’t say it anymore, but I’m a kid in a candy story. I love what I do,” says Visage. Be prepared for Visage to show you her “mean face” when she’s not happy. But when she’s happy, “I can see my face light up.” Although Dion has finished in the bottom two a total of four times, Visage admits, “But I get so excited to see that bitch lip sync. She’s amazing.” He added: “I wasn’t thrilled that she came in last place.”
Maiki’s change in confidence
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Visage has seen many queens who are not strong from the beginning even when they appear. “That’s not a bad thing. It’s just getting over the nerves and realizing that you’re surrounded by people who are just as great as you, and thinking about how you’re going to play and what you’re going to do.”
Visage added, “I had no idea this bitch was this fierce. And once she got it and saw it click, I felt like she got it.”
After the “Rate a Queen” twist, Visage recalls the moment he saw Meeks change. “The climb started out of concern for her and citizen Stephanie Miller, and it was Snatch Game.”
Meeks says, “From that moment on, I was pretty much on top every episode after that. That’s when I knew I was going to get to the end.”
When the frontrunner, Jane Dont, was sent home, Mr. Meeks found himself suddenly the frontrunner.
Visage said, “Front runners are tough when they come out of the box and all the guns go off and the targets are on them. And they often, but not always, begin to succumb to the pressure.”
And that’s when it clicked for Meeks that she could win and become an American drag superstar.
