Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
After two weeks in the competition, Scaredy Kat’s time on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK has come to an abrupt halt.
Scaredy’s lack of drag experience (she confessed in episode one that she’d never performed live before, or really even been around other queens) proved to be a huge talking point among viewers and her fellow competitors, but her elaborate runway stylings did manage to win her a legion of fans.
Unfortunately for her, she was shown the door by RuPaul after failing to impress with her performance in the Downton Abbey-inspired acting challenge, lip syncing for her life against competitor Blu Hydrangea.
Here’s what she had to tell HuffPost UK about her short but sweet time on the show...
How was it watching episode two back?
I haven’t actually watched it yet! I just can’t bring myself to watch it right now, maybe drip-by-drip in the future. I’ve only just got over the first episode. But my girlfriend [fellow drag queen Pussy Kat] has given me the debrief, and it sounds good. I’m happy with what I’ve heard, it sounds exciting.
Is there anything you’d have done differently in the challenge, in hindsight?
Probably my make-up, I’d have blended it out a little bit more. And that wig! What the fuck was that? I actually kept that dress, and it’s in a music video I have coming out where I rip it up and burn it and shit, like a symbol of ‘fuck you Lady Edie’. But apart from that, I gave it my best. I couldn’t have done any better, so I’m OK with it.
Do you think you deserved to be in the bottom two?
I had a massive feeling I was going to be in the bottom. Whether or not I should have been there, I don’t know. I’ll let the fans decide that. But I thought it was a bit dodgy that the whole other team were safe. And that’s all I’m going to say on the subject…
What was it that gave you the idea you’d be in the bottom?
The critiques on stage and then watching it back, I was like – as I said – ‘that’s A-Level drama right there’.
So, you’d actually been feeling confident before you watched the challenge back?
Oh yeah, I was! I was like, ‘oh God, we’ve won that’. And then I heard the other team had forgotten a lot of their lines and I was like, ‘brilliant’. Through to the next round! And then the next day it was like, ‘oh… maybe not’.
A lot of people have suggested that even if the performance in the challenge wasn’t the best, the runway should have saved you. What did you think of that?
I’d probably agree. I thought I did bloody well! I thought it was fun, and Maisie [Williams, guest judge] loved it, didn’t she? I thought ‘maybe I’ll be OK because she liked it and I thought it was quite good’. But I don’t know. It’s crazy being around a load of experienced queens who’ve been working hard all this time, so I can’t be too much of a brat about it, you know?
Your lip sync was your first performance in drag, how did you approach it?
Just throw yourself around as much as possible. Try not to throw up, try not to pass out, try and survive on the minimal stuff I’d eaten that day… I think I’d had a Red Bull and a banana. And try your best to stay on the stage.
Obviously it didn’t play out as you’d hoped, but are you proud of what you delivered?
Oh yeah, definitely. I thought it was going to be way worse! So I’m actually quite happy with it.
I read that you didn’t think you could have handled another day on Drag Race, what did you mean by that?
I think just the anxiety, the not sleeping, not eating, not drinking, not talking… it was wearing down on me, and in that last episode, I was falling asleep in the mirror trying to put my make-up on at one point, my lashes came on and off and on and off. I could barely keep my eyes open, I just didn’t prepare very well.
How did the reality of being on the show compare to your expectations as a fan of Drag Race?
It was a lot more silent than I would have liked. It’s completely silent – you watch it and there’s music and sound effects and stuff, but obviously when you’re filming you’ve got to keep it quiet. There’s a lot of logistical things, and obviously off camera you’re not allowed to talk, but that’s to keep the magic of the show alive *laughs*. It was just really weird and eerie. It was fun doing it, though – it was fun being on stage and fun looking at famous people in the face. But apart from that, it was just stress, really, as you can imagine.
Does any part of you wish you’d hung on until series two to apply, when you maybe had a bit more experience?
You know, a little bit of me does. And then I think again and, because of what I am, and because of what me and Pussy do, it’s more fun this way. When I was auditioning I thought ‘I hope they let me on, because I’m a bit of a mess’, but I think that’s way more fun [than] another one who’s tongue-popping and doing the splits. It’s just dull, isn’t it? *laughs*
Where do you want to take your drag career next?
I want to change it from a drag career into an art career, keep it open, I’m going to do music and maybe a show. Do art exhibitions… just fuck the world up, and see what happens.
Who are you backing to win at this point, and why?
Divina [De Campo], because she’s amazing, professional, and I love her a lot.
And finally do you think that the right queen went home this week?
No, of course not!
New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK are released on BBC Three every Thursday at 8pm.
