Following every RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, the Observer gets the scoop from one of the contestants. Last up: Alaska Thunderfuck
Observer: Were you surprised by how many of the queens were from season five?
Alaska: Sure I was, a little bit, but I also wasn’t surprised because it was a great season. There were so many amazing queens that could have been there and I hope they’ll be on season three of All Stars. I thought it was a really good lineup.
Who were you most surprised wasn’t there?
I really wanted to see Shangela, Porkchop Parker and Laganja Estranja. I’m glad they weren’t there because I didn’t want to compete against them. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.
So who were you not surprised to see?
I was sure Katya was going to be there, and Alyssa Edwards. Tatianna was the surprise. They gave us a list of queens for the reading challenge, and they gave us a few fake names to throw us off. I didn’t even write a read for Tatianna because I didn’t think she would be there at all. But there she was! She looked stunning and she did really amazing.
I think people really got to know her as a performer and she came through pretty hard.
She’s really fucking good at drag, really beautiful, and really nice. I really love her. I mean, I sent her home twice but that doesn’t mean I don’t like her.
What is Alyssa Edwards like off-camera?
Honey, unlike the song “Same Parts” by Tatianna, what you see with Alyssa Edwards is always the truth. She is literally a walking catchphrase factory. She is like an oil out of the ground. She is reality tv, and I absolutely love her.
Roxxxy came on the show to change her reputation and she seemed to have succeeded.
The truth is, on season five it’s not like she was a bitch. She had one bad day, and got into a fight with America’s sweetheart Jinkx, so everyone took that and ran with it. I’m glad she got to come back and be who she really is, which is a sweetheart, really generous, really kind. But also an amazing drag queen. She’s from the House of Andrews, they invented glamorous drag as we know it.
Your song “Your Makeup is Terrible” is excellent. Can you tell me how that song came to be?
I had the catchphrase from the Red for Filth perfume challenge. So before there was a song there was a t-shirt with that in plain text. So I was like, I should probably write a song to go with that. I downloaded a free beat online and I sat in the airport and I just listened in my earphones and I made it up. People really liked it when I performed it so I went into the studio and recorded it. I guess the rest is herstory.
When you’re writing a song like that, are you cracking yourself up? Because it’s so funny.
It was like the Joker. I was like Heath Ledger pretty much.
Now that you’re in the drag queen hall of fame, can you settle a very specific question: Is it “read to filth” or “read for filth” or both?
Honey, it is both, it’s all. It’s read to filth, it’s read under the cement, it’s read to dirt. Girl, all of them.
The last of episodes they showed you really having a rough time of it. Did you sincerely think you were going home in the second-to-last episode?
I know it would have been so much better to have a meltdown in the first episode that no one would remember. Instead I did really well in the first episode. Normally if I was feeling that way I would go by myself and I would have that moment in private. I’d get upset, then pull myself together and move on. The thing is, we were there to make a tv show with a camera crew on us all the time. I didn’t have the luxury of stepping away from it. So yeah I was feeling that way, I put so much pressure on myself to do well the whole time, I didn’t want to give them any footage of me fucking up, at all. When it finally happened it was completely out of my control and I got really upset. I think we all feel that way sometimes but luckily most people don’t have a camera on them when they do.
It seemed like this year the queens were very much aware of the cameras and acted accordingly. Was that something you all thought about?
Yes, we were all very aware of that. I was, definitely. I watch it back now and I wish I had smoked a joint and chilled out. I still could have won and had a really great time but instead I was super-focused. But whatever, I won anyway.
What’s your thoughts on Phi Phi and that whole situation?
It’s a really high stress situation and I think that we all deal with competition in different ways. I think that she did go in wanting to keep control of it and control her competitive nature, and maybe it didn’t happen and she got upset. I can’t be mad at her; the same thing happened to me. I think the better thing to do, personally, is run with and just say, “Yes, I’m a bitch. I’m the queen of the snakes. I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it!” I mean, that’s how I deal with it but everyone deals with things in different ways. But the truth is, every interview I have, people ask me specifically about Phi Phi O’Hara. So did she make an impression? I think definitely yes.
Congrats on your win! Thanks for the taking the time to speak with us, Alaska.
Please make sure you say that Black Lives Matter.
