Shannel has revealed a juicy unaired moment from last week’s episode of Drag Race All Stars 9, which saw RuPaul ‘going off on me for 20 to 30 minutes’.
On the latest episode, the eight contestants – Angeria Paris VanMichaels, Gottmik, Jorgeous, Nina West, Plastique Tiara, Roxxxy Andrews, Shannel and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo – acted in a dramatic scene with RuPaul, based on an iconic campy television series or film.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Nina West were deemed the top All Stars as the week, respectively earning their third and second Beautiful Benefactress Badge, with Shannel remaining as the only queen this season with zero wins.
During critiques, RuPaul told Shannel that she didn’t feel her “connect” in the scene, to which she responded that she’s “struggled in the competition”: “I was on this show so many years ago, there comes a time where you start to feel like, ‘Maybe I just can’t keep up with everybody.’”
RuPaul then attempted to lift her spirits as she said: “Lemme tell you this: we all have this voice, but we don’t let it drive the car.
“Bitch, you are one of the most famous drag queens in the world, and you have been for over 15 years. You are so fabulous, and that’s the only thing you have to remember.’”
At the most recent All Stars 9 viewing party at Roscoe’s Tavern, Chicago, Shannel told hosts Naysha Lopez, Batty Davis and Kara Mel D’Ville that she “f**king wishes” the entire interaction with RuPaul made the edit.
“Ru must’ve spent 20 to 30 minutes just going off on me. Not necessarily in a bad way. Obviously, you can see from the episode that I was down, I was frustrated,” she revealed.
“So, Ru spent 20 to 30 minutes trying to kind of build me up, right? Trying to be like, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re doing great, blah blah blah.’ He was going on and on and on and on – literally.
“He finally looks at me and he says, ‘Do you understand what I’m saying to you?’ and I said, ‘Meh.’”
The return of the unfiltered Shannel from season one caused Angeria to “hit the f**king floor”, while the rest of the contestants addressed her after filming to say, “‘Only you would look at Ru and go, ‘Meh.””
“I wish they could’ve aired that because it was f**king priceless. I was so done because in my head I was like, ‘Sure, I may not have been amazing in the challenge, but it wasn’t the worst thing ever,’” she continued.
“So, in the moment, instead of looking at it like Ru is trying to help me and do me a favour, I was just so frustrated that I was like, ‘Girl, bye. I’m tired. Let’s punch it. I need some chicken fingers.’”
Although Shannel acknowledges that RuPaul was trying to “better” her in the competition, she explained that it was “hard to be the only one in a competition that hasn’t won anything at all”.
Her storyline is eerily reflective of her stint on season one, where she provided viewers with one of the most iconic moments in Drag Race herstory by calling out the panel for her lack of wins and ‘negative critiques’.
“Since day one, I have been judged really hard, and I’m very frustrated that you can’t see the personality, Because I am so fucking real, you have no idea,” she said in season one, episode six.
“And I don’t feel that I am being understood here. I am beautiful. I’m a beautiful person internally and on the outside, and its so, so frustrating to me that that image does not seem to be conveyed.”