Melinda Verga might have entered the Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 competition as the first queen from Edmonton, Alberta on Canada’s Drag Race, but she’s departing as a dynamic and layered performer who made quite an impact before leaving the competition prior to the Top 4. Verga helped make Untucked must-see viewing this season, and her winning Snatch Game performance as Manny Pacquiao was absolutely inspired. I sat down to chat with Verga about her Drag Race experience, what drove some of her more emotional moments and what she has planned for the post-Drag Race phase of her career.
Michael Cook: You were an absolute standout this season on Canada’s Drag Race bus past season and came very close to the Top Four! It doesn’t get much better than that!
Melinda Verga: You know, I am never going to get used to that, I just can’t get used to it. Famous for what? I am just some guncle from Edmonton (laughs)!
MC: You had a season of high lows and emotional lows this season on Canada’s Drag Race, but now that it’s over, how do you look back on the experience?
MV: With gratitude. I know that has been one of my slogans this season, but with gratitude. It’s such a dream journey.The high highs, and yes there was a rock bottom moment this season, but overall who could ask for a better journey than this? To have the full experience, to know what it’s like to have a full human experience in this pressure cooker? I think what’s resonating right now with a lot of people, from the comments that I have been reading, is that they are resonating with the authenticity. The truth and the voracity that I was able to show and demonstrate this season. I think that is what people are really craving and missing this whole time. That is who we have managed to make this season relevant and really something that people can relate to. I am grateful.
MC: Untucked this year was unhinged in a very positive way, and extremely emotionally charged. For you specifically, how do you think Untucked became such an emotional powder keg that literally just erupted?
MV: The thing is, what people don’t see is that there is a buildup to that. People don’t just blow up like that over nothing. There are weeks, months, maybe even years of buildup there. What happened to my partner, that was not a one time event on the day of. It started with him losing his job a year and a half prior, but we don’t know why he had some cognitive issues. That just started to evolve into what happened to him in November of that year. I was just about to begin my journey on Drag Race when that happened and I didn’t even know if I should go. My family said “No we got him you need to do this, we need you to do this” so I went. Financially I was not sure if could do it; I could, but I was not sure if I should do it because I also needed to make sure he was taken care of while was away. That built up and I went away. I told him the only time you would call is if something super urgent happened and the whole time it was going through my head “Am I going to get the call”?
Then coming to the show and not having the reception that I felt like I worked so hard for, to then go into the girl group challenge where I was team captain, choreographer and the shrink as well for my team. I was making sure that they were in the right head space the whole time. Then, three of my girls landed in the bottom and one went home. All of that built up leading up to that moment and I felt that despite all of my efforts, nothing was paying off-nothing. I started to question why am I doing this, why am I here. I feel like despite whatever I do, nothing good is going to come out of this. That is when it started to spiral. Then I walked out.
MC: You did rebound though and were supported by your fellow competitors after apologies were made.
MV: Yes…I had time to reflect on what happened, why I was in that state of mind. That time of reflection allowed me to close the door on all of those weeks that I felt defeated and felt that nothing that I did was right or amounted to anything at all. I managed to close those doors behind me and move forward. My number one strategy with Snatch Game was yes, I knew that I was prepared but it was to unclench; have fun with this. You’re here to enjoy the experience.
MC: What do you think your rose and thorn are of your Canada’s Drag Race experience?
MV: I got to experience everything. Even leaving a message on the mirror wall, I love what wrote, Looking back now I would rather be where I am right now then to come so close and not get it. I got to experience everything. So if I end up on All Stars one day, I know what to avoid.
MC: How did you end up starting in the world of drag?
MV: I was thirty-seven at that time I had just come back from Toronto where I had been living for seven years. I had been designing gowns and coaching ladies for big national pageants. I came back here and we didn’t have the same scene in Edmonton, I didn’t have the same opportunities so I was like, I guess I’m going to put my clothes on myself if I can’t put them on other people. I have that background in dance and singing and some in acting and I had all of the elements, so why not try to put it all together and see what I come up with. And here we are!
MC: Coming from an area like Edmonton, Alberta , you probably wanted to see so much of the world and the people out there, and now you have fans that want to see you all over the globe. What do you want to do now post Canada’s Drag Race?
MV: I want to travel! I want to meet as many people as possible. That is the number one reason that I do this, I want to travel the world, meet different kinds of people, experience different kinds of culture and see what I get out to if. Meaning what I get out of it, but what I can put into their lives? See how that flourishes, I am all about paying it forward. I want to inspire other people to inspire other people. That’s what I want to do. At the end of the day, I am not doing this for myself, I am doing it to touch as many lives as I can.
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