She may have been the first to depart the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, but the scarlet haired stunner Just May is just getting started. Performing in drag for a decade, May is a massive Geri Halliwell fan, fully showcased in her new single “Just Geri”. I sat down to chat with Just May about her elimination from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 4, her prior experiences as a drag performer, and we manifested a moment with her taking the stage with Ms. Halliwell herself.
Michael Cook: You may have been the first person to go home on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK this season, but your infectious personality is going to make you more than memorable! You truly seemed absolutely thrilled to be there.
Just May: Yeah, of course I was, who wouldn’t be? I was there for a good time, not a long time!
MC: So how do you sum up your entire Drag Race UK experience?
JM: Well, it was about twenty five minutes from start to finish and it was a lovely time (laughs)!
MC: We got to see a large representation of your drag, with you getting to do two separate and distinct runways. What do you think contributed the most to you departing so early?
I went in there being “me” and being me is a worker, I work all the time. This is probably going to sound not in the nature of the show, but I want outfits that I can wear all the time, I don’t want things that I can wear once in a while on the telly. I want outfits I can wear and look great at whatever I am doing a bingo, brunch, hen party, bar mitzvah, whatever it is. I love all of my outfits and I can’t wait for everyone to see them in real life and on Instagram.
MC: Pop Stars are absolutely revered in the UK and original Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is clearly your own distinct and revered diva. What is it about her that makes you gravitate towards her?
JM: For me, the Spice Girls came out in 1996 when I was a mere severn yearn old, about the same age as Krystal Versace was when she won (laughs)! When you are that age, someone like Geri is so impressionable on you and I was like “well this is someone who I can actually see a lot of myself in”. She was constantly being criticized for being the big one, even though she was literally a size eight. Like me, I am just a petite 5’4 with a tiny size eight frame. She was ginger and she was criticized for having a loud mouth and it wasn’t fair. She kind of rose above it and I think I kind of latched onto that; I loved it.
MC: The fans will get to see the looks that they would have seen on the internet as the season goes on, but there are so many signature challenges on Drag Race that you unfortunately, won’t get to take part in. What is one challenge that you would have loved to take a crack at this season?
JM: Well babe, I’m a triple no-threat; I can’t dance, I can’t sing, and I can’t act. My favorite thing is that even though I can’t do those things, watching people watch me do them is. Because you know what, that is what drag is. We’re not really these giant creatures that we pretend to be, so who actually thinks that we would be good actresses or singers?
MC: You made a joke when you departed the show that you couldn’t lip sync. Have you always leaned into the humor in your drag?
JM: No, I’m very strait-laced and very serious. I want people to see me for who I really am, a petite 5’4 woman who is Geri Halliwell. You don’t believe that, I don’t know what you’re looking at (laughs)!
MC: When did you know that drag was going to be the passion that you would follow as a career?
JM: I know Jonbers Blonde and Le Fil a few years because we’ve worked in a collective called Sink The Pink. I joined that probably eight or so years ago and we have known each other for about eight years. With that came a support system and a drag community, and we all uplifted each other. This is at a time when Drag Race in the United States was’t the phenomenon that it is now. We didn’t realize what we were getting into, we were just doing it to get drunk, listen to music and get into clubs for free. Now it is this whole world. This is a whole career, and I think things change about five years ago. It was like, “I’m bad at this, but I’m good at making it bad” (laughs)!
MC: What’s next for you now that you have the Drag Race UK platform?
JM: I have a single out, it’s called ‘Just Like Geri’, I released it right after my elimination. It’s about how I am, just like Geri. It is my love letter to Ms. Halliwell herself.
MC: If you could perform on stage with your idol, Geri Halliwell, what Geri song would you perform?
JM: Well I’ve done “Say You’ll Be There” with Mel C. Myself, Jonbers, and Asttina Mandella from Season 2. Just myself with Geri, I think I would want to do “Ride It”, The underrated pop banger and maybe the song that put her off of music. We actually had “Angels In Chains” from her and “Half Of Me” that was only released in Australia!
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