This season, the fully stacked cast from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 included (for the first time) real-life twins! Sugar & Spice brought exactly that to their season, along with a healthy dose of talent (and drama). While Sugar’s run on the show has ended, she has departed the show with a healthy dose of introspection and is fully ready to look forward. I sat down to chat with Sugar post-elimination about her Drag Race experience, who she almost impersonated on Snatch Game & what it was like lip synching against real life twin Spice.
Michael Cook: It looks like you’ve brought a third person to our interview today; what a stunning doll!
Sugar: This is actually my Ruveal look, a little mini-me. I wore this on the runway for the Ruveal. She’s just a custom doll for now, but there may be something in the works with a brand that inspires me and Spice a lot; so stay tuned!
MC: Your run on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 may have been cut short, but you have definitely made an impact on the fandom everywhere!
S: You know, I was talking about it the other day. I feel like, life can be fun when you look at things in a different perspective. I feel like I was cast and I got the role of an actor and I was a main character, but I get killed off quickly, like in a scary movie. I feel like I played my role good, it was great!
MC: Now that you’ve gone through the experience that is RuPaul’s Drag Race, how do you look back on it now?
S: You know what it is, I just feel so much gratitude. I feel so proud of myself. Going into the competition, we are all drag queens. It really is all for your ego, you want to prove that you are better than fifteen other people. It almost feels so superficial in a sense, now going through it. I am so happy that I was spiritually, mentally, and emotionally aligned to get through that. You have to listen to “you’re not as good as you think you are” and that is a hard pill to swallow for most.
For me, it was great because I was able to fully swallow it, there is no gag reflex there (laughs)! It was like, that is just the way that the cookie crumbles, in this case a sugar cookie and I love a sugar cookie! In life you have to just roll with the punches and that is what was planned for me, so it is what it is.
MC: Every season, queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race know that Snatch Game is going to be happening and is a very prominent challenge; did you plan to do Trisha Paytas or was it an off the cuff decision?
S: You know what it is, doing Trisha Paytas is such a risk. She’s an internet personality but more so, I think it’s that Ru didn’t know who she was. Looking back you could almost have a regret-because I was going to do Christina Aguilera-like, maybe I should have done someone that Ru knew, or do someone that will appease him in a sense. But I am happy that I did Trisha, she was such an important part of my drag journey, especially in high school. She was my comfort, she always displayed her imperfections. I really related to her, she really inspired my drag character as Sugar, this internet troll that’s a “bimbo”. I wanted to live up to her name; I was having so much fun that day, the irony of that being my demise, I was having the time of my life, I felt like I was rolling on Molly (laughs).
Whenever I get into drag I say “it just dropped”. Right before I went out, Spice and I looked at each other and said “it just dropped”. That was probably our demise, we went too big but it is what it is. I’m happy that I took the risk and I went big. Ru kept saying “show me inside your crazy world, go big go crazy”. You don’t have to tell me to go crazy twice!
MC: So many fans assumed we may see you and Spice in the inevitable lip sync showdown and that is exactly what we got. What did it feel like from your perspective?
S: You know what it was, it just felt so….in a movie, so perfect. It definitely felt almost like you are hired for a role, but you don’t know what the role is. It was fun to live in that moment.
MC: People had a great deal of preconceived notions about Sugar and Spice and then once you both performed in the talent show, you completely surpassed people’s expectations. What did that feel like to finally get that validation from your fellow competitors?
S: It felt great. I think that just in life in general we all want to be validated by our peers. Of course, we’re all human; tell me I’m pretty, tell me I’m talented. It’s interesting, the spiritual side of me, I am all about getting aligned with the best feelings and thoughts. In that moment, it wasn’t until I watched it back, I didn’t even realize how hard that they were being on us. I was almost deflecting the negative energy. I remember the first moment Spice and I first walked in, it had “just dropped” and we were having so much fun! That took me so long in life to get to that point, that I could be on drugs without being on drugs, drag just fuels me that much. To have that full circle moment of everyone saying “hey you guys aren’t as shitty as we thought” that is a good lesson for everyone; don’t judge a book by its cover. We all do it, we’re all human, but for me at least it was a reminder that I don’t want to do it to other people too.
We’re literally hard wired to connect as people, we are here to be on this human experience together. And if we’re not learning from each other…..
MC: Speaking of learning, you now have a drag mother in Season 15 cast member Mistress Isabelle Brooks right?
S: I am fascinated by what lives under the masks that we present to society and I think as drag queens we are all wearing that mask. As vulnerable as it is to be in drag, you have a wall up. I think it was some bus rides and just really talking to Mistress, we realized that we are so much more similar than we realized. With our family and everything, it was like maybe we’re not doing drag for the attention and validation, maybe we are just looking for a connection; that was really powerful.
MC: The experience of being on Drag Race and now being thrust into the public eye can be overwhelming to some. What do you think you want to do next?
S: All we have is how we feel. At the end of the day, there are so many outside sources and we blame those outside sources on how we feel. No, you have to get rid of it, it’s all inward. For me, I just want to continue to feel good. That is my mantra, my anthem for life. What I can do in this moment for me to feel the best. Maybe there is a situation, like Drag Race, there are always going to be bumps in the road, there are always going to be little things. There is so much power in knowing that I am in control of how I feel, no matter the outside source. To continue to feel good; it sounds so Miss America, but that’s what I want to do.
MC: Finish this sentence; Sugar is…
S: Batshit crazy (laughs)!
Follow Sugar on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarsworld/?hl=en
