A fan favorite from the moment she appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12, Heidi N. Closet joined the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8 prepared to soar to the top of the competition. In a shocking turn of events, Heidi chose to remove herself from the competition after some surprising interactions with some of her All Stars sisters. I sat down with Heidi to chat about the events that lead to her departure, what she’s learned from the experience, and the exciting projects she has coming up.
Michael Cook: What made you initially want to return for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8?
Heidi N. Closet: The thing is, I feel like I had such an amazing showing on Season 12. Regardless of the struggles that I had, I still could show that it could happen. I think that I showed who the world I was as a person, but this time I wanted to show them what I could do. When I look back, I wanted to make sure that everything that was wrong with me the first time, was correct. The makeup-check. The outfit, correct-you’re welcome.
I mean, if you go back and look at Season 12, the only reason that I was really in the bottom was because of my runways. I am not going be in the bottom again because of what my clothes were giving, it was going to be because I sucked. Not because of someone’s outfit. Those are some of the stupidest, ridiculous, nonsensical reasons to put someone in the bottom. You put me in the bottom because my clothes weren’t good?-okay. That just doesn’t show off talent, I’m sorry.
MC: Your season was aired during the pandemic and more specifically, during lockdown. Literally, the world was so focused on what you were doing and each of you delivered. Your lip sync with Jackie Cox remains one of the most iconic lip syncs in recent memory!
HNC: Thank you so much, “Kill The Lights“!
MC: I think we definitely got to see a different side of you this season, and it seemed to start to emerge when Mrs. Kasha Davis departed the competition. Was it hard seeing friends and competitors depart this time around after developing relationships?
HNC: When we’re there, we’re stripped away from our normal system of support. The first time I went, I was bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready. What I took away from Season 12 was the relationship with the girls, and this is what I wanted to do this time around; honestly I did. I also was going to be upfront, truthful and honest with the girls; and you can’t blame me for feeling how I feel.
MC: Your interactions with both Kahanna Montrese and Kandy Muse seemed to be a large part of your reason for departing the competition. Did you feel that friendship was put to the back burner and people who had aligned themselves with you possibly turned on you?
HNC: Not necessarily. I know that we were all there to do our best It wasn’t even the friendship portion so much. It was very strange to me that that was being allowed to happen at all.
MC: In hindsight, do you look at both competition and friendship differently now?
HNC: Yeah it is, for sure. I now take into consideration the true value of that friendship and do I need to put my full energy into it or not. I think what I got from this experience is that not everyone is your friend and not everyone that you think is close to you is.
MC: What are your rose and thorn of your whole All Stars experience?
HNC: My rose is getting to show off my talents and show the world what I could do. Just putting myself back out there and showing people the growth that I’ve made. The only thorn for me is that I wish the girls would’ve had my back the way that I had their back, but you know, it is what it is.
MC: You are steadily working on your podcast Hall & Closet with RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12 winner Jaida Essence Hall, but you also released a brand new product; a QuickShot! How did that idea come your way?
HNC: It was actually brought to me and I thought about it. It was different and I wasn’t opposed to it. Trevien doesn’t care, but Heidi and her brand had some reservations about it. I thought about it, and I said it had to be definitely classy and it has to have a gap! Tasteful.. (laughs)!
MC: The LGBTQ community has gone through a great deal this year, and as a leader in our community, what do you think is the best message that you can offer our community on pushing back on the rhetoric being spewed at us?
HNC: People are afraid of what they don’t know, and there are a lot of people in this world that don’t understand the queer, trans gay perspective; so they are afraid of us. It’s about educating them and when there are trans topics brought up, a trans person should be the one educating people. We need to offer a space for people to teach and a space for people to learn. I think once we allow that, it will slowly go from there. It will definitely take a while, but at the end of the day, knowledge is power.
Follow Heidi N. Closet on Instagram
