It’s hard to be a working girl. Morgan McMichaels, who had a short-lived run back on season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race (decades ago in drag queen years) was the first to go home on All Stars 3 after a draggy variety-show number. Morgan came onto All Stars 3 as the no-bullshit queen, announcing she would pick off the strongest queens if she had the opportunity to eliminate someone — a strategy that didn’t sit well with eventual winner BenDeLaCreme. The morning after the premiere, Morgan spoke with Vulture about her elimination strategy, BenDeLaCreme, and why she would have sent herself packing.
So, unfortunately, we don’t get to see a ton of you this season on All Stars. What do you feel like went wrong?
I don’t think anything went wrong at all. It’s All Stars and we know the game and we know what’s up. We know not to expect anything, really, because it’s just so packed with talent. Watching the variety show in person and then watching it on TV, I’m like, “Yeah, that was really good.†Everyone was really spectacular. But I don’t think I did or anything went wrong, I just think that’s the way the cards fell.
Would you have done anything differently?
No, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I like taking risks with my drag and I personally felt like, you know, maybe doing a little lip-sync to a song that I do in the club wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to be nervous, I wanted to take a risk and take a chance, because that’s what gives me the pins and needles, you know? That’s what gives me the thing I like about drag.
How did you feel about Ben’s approach to the elimination? Because she tried to make it seem like everyone was onboard with her choice.
Well, I think that might be a question for Ben because I don’t know. I can’t really make a comment on how she felt like she was judging, because my whole strategy was to send the strongest girl home. I would have sent me home if I was looking at it from Ben’s position. I can’t really speak on their decisions or their choices, but I would’ve sent me home because obviously I felt like I was a stronger competitor than Chi Chi. I felt like I was stronger of the bottom, so from my strategy, my judging criteria, I would’ve sent me home.
Aja mentioned this, but do you think that you should’ve kept your strategy to yourself?
No, I don’t feel like I should’ve kept it to myself because, like I said to the girls, we are friends, we are sisters, so let’s be upfront. Let’s be honest. Did it come back to bite me in the ass? Probably, but at least I knew I could walk with my dignity and say, “I told you exactly what it was going to happen.†I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a hypocrite.
Do you think that Ben knocked you out because she saw you as a bigger threat?
I think Ben made her decision based on her judging criteria, and it had nothing to do with anything but the way she decided to judge and send the girl home. There’s no love lost between us because I adore Ben and I know she’s a sweetheart. There’s a lot to be said for just telling it like it is, and I’m glad that I did.
Do you think Ben is congenial?
I don’t think she’s not. I would never say she wasn’t congenial. I think that Ben, obviously, has created a character of BenDeLaCreme and that’s her. What I like about Ben is she’s I Dream of Jeannie, that 1960s Stepford wife. That’s the character that she’s created, and I love it. It’s very akin to Kasha Davis, and I like that aspect of their drag, whereas I’m not. I’m the polar opposite. I’m the Bette Midler character in Stepford Wives. That’s what I like about the cast of All Stars 3 — we are all so completely different. I think it’s a nod to season one of Drag Race, when it was Ongina and Nina and BeBe and Jade, where the girls were so eclectically different, and I like that.
You had a rough Snatch Game on season two. Who would you have done this time around?
Well, if. I don’t even know if there is a Snatch Game. You’re just going to have to keep your eyes peeled. Ru likes to change it up all the time, but if I was doing a Snatch Game again, who would I do? Oh, there’s so many. God, who would I do if I did another Snatch Game? Maybe Tabatha Coffey, who I adore, a kindred spirit. Joan Collins would be fun. Joanna Lumley. I don’t know. Pink was very bad. Oh, lord. Pink was so bad, and I didn’t know what Match Game was because obviously I’m British. If she said Blankety Blank, I would’ve gotten it in a heartbeat, but I think it was too late and then the nerves had set in. God, it was terrifying. It was terrible.
Who would you have put in the bottom two?
Who would I have put in the bottom two? Shit, who would I have put in the bottom two? I don’t need to think like that, I suppose.
Oh, come on!
I’m trying to think. I really don’t think like that. Who would I have put in the bottom two? Oh Christ, I’m trying to think of the girls and what they were doing. Maybe because I would send the strongest girls home, I would pick the strongest girls in the bottom, and I think the strongest girls were Kennedy, for sure. She’s competition. And maybe BeBe. Oh no, Milk. I’d put Milk at the bottom.
Who do you think’s going to win?
That’s a tough one because after watching this episode, everybody’s coming for blood and everybody is trying their hardest to get this crown. I think they’ll do whatever it takes to get it, so I can’t — there’s no way to even gauge that, not yet anyway. After a couple episodes in, message me, and I’ll be like, “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you who it is.â€
I want to know now!
Well, if I didn’t get kicked off, it would’ve been me.