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The queens of the orange bracket, Phoenix, DeJa Skye and Olivia Lux, brought the heat to the first round of challenges in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10. The season is still in play for them to potentially make it to the final round, but for now, Blavity’s Shadow and Act was able to catch up with them again about their time on the show.
Phoenix said that everything about Drag Race has “completely changed” since her time on Season 3.
“It is such a very different show. When we walked into the werkroom on Season 3, it had started picking up and people started realizing what it is. And we kind of knew what was going on, but you know, you kind of walked in just very unscripted and kind of like, ‘Here we are what’s about to happen?’” she said. “Now, going into the phenomenon that Drag Race is and the pop culture icon that this show has turned into, you walk in a little bit more prepared and a little more ready for what you’re getting into. I mean, it’s a very different ballgame now.”
“It’s so cool. Like, I sometimes forget how big Drag Race is and getting messages from literally around the globe. It’s just a really cool feeling,” she continued. “You’ve got people across the world that you’re like, oh my gosh, ‘You know who I am,’ you know? And you’re like, ‘Well, duh, you’re [on] the biggest television show in the world.’ So, you know, it’s moments like that that are just really cool. And, you know, as someone who just loves drag for people all over the globe to be understanding and loving your art form as an artist, it’s a good feeling.”
Skye said that Season 14 was her pastel moment, but this time, she was back to showcase more of her talents.
“Obviously, besides the obvious physical [weight loss] change, I’ve been able to have a pretty cool career. I’m based here in Las Vegas now, so I have a pretty steady gig. I’m at Las Vegas Live, then I’m at brunch, so I’ve always been a showgirl and a workhorse at heart,” she said. “And same with Phoenix. We [did] four to five times a week performing. I mean, we did drag prior to Drag Race, and that’s what you did. You were just a hustler. You were just a working girl. So I don’t think much has changed in that aspect. But I think the main thing that has really changed is that I’m a lot more eager to try new things.”
“On Season 14, I came in with a very clear aesthetic, you know, pastel and very colorful, and I think for All Stars, my goal was to just show many different sides and not to be just pushed into the pastel box,” she continued. “I definitely wanted to just branch out and show different sides of me and my main focus was I’m known for my makeup, so I wanted to make sure that my makeup was the focal point of my entirety there.”
Lux said how coming into the werkroom, now outfitted for a bracket-style game, “gagged” her at first, but she quickly got on board.
“To be honest, I was very nervous at first ’cause [of] anything that’s different–I’m a creature of habit, right? And we also, I think, see a lot with any sort of reality TV as [something] you know what to expect, so you can plan ahead. But right off the bat, to know that you’re not gonna get an entrance line, it already throws you for a tizzy,” she said. “You know, you’re already like, ‘Wait, this is so different than that I even envisioned to walk into the werkroom where you’re very used to where everything goes. You know, the mirrors, the tables, the chairs. To walk in there and to see a scoreboard had me gagged, because I’m like, ‘Oh, the game really truly is on.’ And…honestly, I was so down and game to play the game, you know?”
One of the defining moments from Phoenix’s time on All Stars is when she comforted Skye in the second episode. The queens had just come back from doing the improv challenge “Murder on the Dance Floor” with RuPaul, and Skye felt like she wasn’t doing as well as she hoped. She described her moment with Phoenix as “the moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
“It was amazing. It really did help me,” she said about Phoenix’s kindness. “We are our hardest critic. We are our biggest fans, our worst enemies. And so going into something like that, I knew I was so good at improv from Season 14, and I can kind of volley and stuff. I think what was happening for me was the simple fact that RuPaul was in character as well and there was no clear direction. So rather than it be like, ‘Oh, that was good or that was bad,’ I just started spiraling with, ‘You’re doing terrible. You’re just bad. You’re doing terrible.’ I didn’t want Ru, who is someone that I look up to and respect, to regret having me on the show. And I think that’s where that stemmed from.”
“I think it has to do with issues with my father as well. I think that just having that insecurity just all kind of came crashing down along with the fact that I was still healing,” she continued. “So I was just in a lot of pain mentally and physically, and so I just think it all came crashing down and hearing from someone like Phoenix who was going through something similar the episode before and her getting out of it quickly, I was like, ‘I can do the same.’ And I really cherish that moment and hearing from someone that I had just met give me words of encouragement, you know? She didn’t have to do that. And so I really do respect her and I love her, I can’t thank her enough for that moment.”
Phoenix also talked about how she empathized with Skye in that moment as a person who can also get too far into their head.
“Well, I think that you can be a confident person and be secure and in your artistry and who you are as a person. But I think that we all have moments in our life [when] we get in our head and we can allow our internal conversation to completely take over. And I get it. I know what that feeling’s like and I know that if that internal conversation gets too far in, it’s hard to pull yourself out of it. I think that sometimes you just need someone else to help pull you out of that,” Phoenix said.
“I saw DeJa kind of falling into it and I think that she was in it for all the wrong reasons. I don’t think that she really fully understood how well she was doing. And you know, I think that sometimes you just need to uplift someone and it can make a huge different. I just wanted to note how great she was doing. I understood her headspace at the time,” she continued. “You know, we’re not just characters on a TV show. We’re human beings that are being ourselves on a TV show. And so as a human being, those are real life moments that we all deal with. And if someone says that they don’t, they’re lying. We all deal with those kind of self-destructive moments at times. So as a human being, I felt the need to reach out to someone else that I knew was going through something that I understood and I’m glad it helped her.”
Phoenix also took her own lesson away from helping Skye and from taking part in All Stars 10 as a whole–that she is a force to be reckoned with.
“I know that I am good at what I do,” Phoenix said. “You don’t have a career that spans almost 25 years not being good at what you do. And I need to try to not let that inner saboteur take over and second-guess myself. Seeing that play out on international TV made me go, ‘Stop doing that to yourself.’ You know, I am almost 25 years in it. I am 44 years old. I am like, ‘You should be getting past this. You should be secure enough to not let those moments take over and potentially ruin opportunities for you.’”
Lux’s time in the orange bracket was defined by alliances, alliances and more alliances. The biggest alliance, the Melanation Station, involved herself, fellow Miyake-Mugler house member Aja and Skye. She said that her main goal for the alliance was making sure that a queen of color made it to the semi-finals. But she also wanted to showcase her unique talents so the audience could know that just because she and Aja were part of the same house, that didn’t mean they would have the same approach to drag artistry.
“It’s hard because drag, a lot of it is about individuality and uniqueness, right? And your point of view and perspective. So although I wanted to share with viewers that I’m a part of a ballroom house and Aja happens to also be a part of the ballroom house, I absolutely wanted everybody to know that we’re separate artists here and we’re doing our own thing,” she said. “But it is important to look after each other. I think the first alliance of two or more was me, DeJa and Aja, being the POC girls. That was very important to us to make sure that we’re presenting the POC [and] the Black community here, and hopefully securing at least one of the three spots for our community.”
“We already know that there was a lot against us. It’s [infamously] noted that in terms of the fan base, the Black queens get a lesser following typically on normal seasons and things like that, right?” she added. “So we just wanted to uplift each other truly in that alliance, and when I watch reality TV or when I watch anything, honestly, I’m rooting for everybody Black and everybody trans, period, you know? So I think it was still the same energy when walking in. That’s exactly what it felt like.”
Lux also had the uphill battle of proving to fans that she had grown from her season. She mentioned how some fans online didn’t understand or accept the fact that she was now acting more like herself instead of the perfect persona she said she put on for Season 13.
“The thing that I learned is that I felt so present when I was there. It was really nice hearing [from] my friends and people that know me personally share [that] on this season, it felt like they were getting a FaceTime call with me. It felt like I was speaking ‘on voice’ as they say in theater where it sounds so real because you know, it is you, it is actually you. And I think for myself, the thing I learned was the way to access that for myself,” she said.
“I think to the fans, it was a big jarring ’cause it did feel like a totally different kind of vibe from Season 13. It makes sense to me–Season 13 was my very first time doing anything of that magnitude. Lights, camera, action, camera on your face, smile for the cameras, and try to present your best self,” she continued. “This time around I’m not trying to present always pristine and clean and the best version of me, but the realest and rawest version of me because I’ve worked on myself so hard. I’ve worked on myself so much in that time, and I trusted myself this time around. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned, that trusting yourself will get you far.”
She also added that she feels the fans who don’t get her now that she’s being truer to herself must have not followed her growth, which she put out for the world to see online.
“The thing is, it wasn’t a quick change-up. Those are the same people that don’t come out to my show. These are the same people that don’t follow me on social media when I’m on Live. …These are the same people that have said this feels like a complete 180 [even though these] are the same people that have not interacted with me since getting eliminated on Season 13, and that was almost five years ago,” she said. “So it definitely shook me a little bit at first, then I was consistently reminded by people who have supported me, that have been with me along the journey, that they’re extremely proud of the way that I’m carrying myself and I’m presenting myself the realest and rawest possible.”
Stubborn fans can either get with Lux as she is now, “or not,” she said. “And both are very valid options.”
“I don’t want you at my show if you’re not for me, to be completely honest,” she said. “I think that should be the golden rule for everybody. You know, not everyone is gonna like you or what you do or what you put out there in the world, and that is so okay.”
As far as what’s next for the queens after this season, Phoenix said, “Baby, the same thing I was doing before Drag Race–more drag.”
“You know, my thing is, I don’t just work on stage. I produce shows and events all over Atlanta, all over Georgia, throughout the South. I love the business side of what I do and I’ve been doing this [business element of drag] for almost 15 years now,” she said. “I was the first person in Atlanta to ever even start bringing Drag Race girls here and I run the entertainment for nightclubs–this is gonna be my sixth nightclub in Atlanta that I’ve run.”
“I work with multiple pride organizations, [including] South Carolina and Atlanta Pride. I work on finding funds for smaller Prides to help grow their Prides into something that can become a little bit more mainstream. I work with youth Pride organizations. You know, I’ve always tried to take my drag and use my platform for better. And I think our community right now needs that more than ever. So what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna continue doing what I’ve always been doing,” she added.
“What’s next for me is, honestly, I am hoping to travel more,” said Skye. “I would love to go on tour again. I would love to come to Atlanta [referencing Phoenix]. I just think developing my craft more. I don’t see myself going anywhere–you know, I’m Effie and I’m telling you I’m not going.”
“Honestly, I’m really excited to continue designing,” said Olivia. “On my social media, I’ve been designing a lot and sharing my latest designs for press week. I challenged myself to make all of my looks, so all the looks for All Stars 10 were created by my two hands, including my promo look, the big L-U-X. And, you know, did I want a design challenge in my bracket? Yes. Did I get one? No. Did I want a Rusical in my bracket? Absolutely, as a professional equity actor that has done stage musicals in between my time of Season 13 and All Stars 10. But you get what you get, you don’t get upset and you turn it the f**k out. And I’m so glad I was able to do that and showcase some of my many talents.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 is now streaming on Paramount+ with new episodes dropping each Friday.
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