After a herstory making double elimination on her own season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Choriza May’s return to the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World competition was, in many ways, a full circle moment. The queen with a love for gloriously vibrant colors hit the ground running and fans and her competitors both quickly fell in love with her. While she has now departed the competition, May leaves with her head held high and her infectious personality and love for her fellow competitors intact. I sat down with Choriza to chat her love for her fellow competitors, the full circle moment that she ended up having with one of them, and the feeling of competing against so many legendary performers!
Michael Cook: There is something undeniably charming about you and the fans loved seeing you back on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World this season.
Chorizo May: Thank you so much! I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the accent. Or maybe that I don’t know what it happening around me most of the time (laughs)!
MC: I think some of it can be credited to the fact that you truly always seem ready to take on absolutely anything and don’t balk at any challenge that comes your way.
MILP: You know for me, it is really the only way to get through life, at least for me. I had such a beautiful time on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 and coming back it was one of my worries that I would not have as much fun. It made me think about it twice before coming because I really wanted to have a good time and keep a lovely memory from Drag Race. And you know what?- I had an ever better time. Drag Race is hard, we know that. Drag Race is full of twists and only one person wins. You can’t only have fun if you’re on top; that’s a death sentence. You have to have fun doing it and enjoy the process and enjoy doing it with such incredible drag performers.
MC: Part of the fun of UK vs The World is getting to see the competing queens enter and see how each of the queens is subsequently excited to see the fellow competitors that they are going to be battling against. This season was no exception, you looked thrilled to see so many of the competitors!
CM: Absolutely you are so right, you are one hundred percent right. I just remember turning around and seeing Mayhem Miller, who I love and adore. I truly love her and I was like “Wow when has this happened, how am I competing with such an icon”!? Then I saw Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha, we were friends before the show even started so for me it was just fantastic to get to share the experience with her.
Everyone there, it was a dream. I always tell this story the first time I met Scarlet Envy she was on a tour there with Mercedes (Iman Diamond) and Shuga Cain in the UK. I just started doing drag five years ago & I was a local girl here in New Castle and I opened for them. I remember Scarlet telling me after I finished my performance “You’ll be on Drag Race one day”. Little did I know I would be on Drag Race one day and the second time, I would be dancing the tango with her. The world is wild.
MC: it is so true; you can literally be a local girl and then simply apply and be plucked from obscurity and you can be a superstar and make your career anything you want it to be
CM: Absolutely it’s a great platform to showcase who you are as a performer. I am so grateful.
MC:Your elimination during your first season of Drag Race UK will go down in herstory, and on UK vs the World Season 2 you truly got to participate in so many challenges and experiences. What do you think is the biggest change from your first season to competing this time around?
CM: I think all the nerves and all of the fear were kind of out the window with the exception of the girl group challenge, I was very nervous that day. I got to enjoy everything a lot more, I feel very honored that I got to do Snatch Game twice. It’s terrifying, but honestly if you are able to do that in front of RuPaul twice, you are honestly pretty much capable of doing anything in life. I think I enjoyed the challenges a lot more this time, Even something like dancing the ballroom or the tango which is so out of my comfort zone, I had a really beautiful time.
MC :Speaking of the girl group challenge, what do you think it is that made you so nervous? It was not evident to viewers at first, then when you started getting the critiques, you acknowledged the nerves yourself.
CM: You know what, I think we’re all human and our moods go up and down. Even before the night of the challenge, I had been feeing a bit out of place. I had managed to be in the top three during Episode One, but I had not managed be in the top two; it was a low moment for me and it really got me. I think I let that take over my performance and that is why it was so difficult for me to watch.
As a performer, I am so used to shaking anything off and going on stage. That day for some reason, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it and it showed, I was mostly sad and disappointed about myself and not being able to get through that. I was so grateful when Marina (Summers) gave me another chance to come back stronger and I think that I did and I think I performed a lot better.
MC: The UK contingent this season definitely changed up what their original standings were on their original seasons. It also seemed like the bond and alliance that may have formed quickly between the UK queens dissipated, do you think that’s fair to say?
CM: I think there is a very easy explanation for that. We walked in there knowing each other, we live in the same country and its very small country and we get to work together. As the competition moved forward, we got to go and fall in love with the other queens as well. So when we got there, the first thing for protection and for comfort was to go with the queens that you know and the queens that you know that you can trust. That trust though, also builds with the international queens. Those barriers and frontiers that separate us really fell very quickly when we were on stage with the same passions and the same dreams.
MC: Who did you get to work with on UK vs The World that you are absolutely bowled over by and truly adored getting to work with?
CM: There are a few, but I think that I really have to highlight Marina Summers. I think props to her and flowers are due; what a queen. It goes to show that representation matters. The world is getting to know that Filipino drag is gag-worthy and she is doing that by herself; I think that is important. There are many people who only watch the English-speaking seasons and I think that they are missing out on so much.
I am a fan of everyone and seasons like Drag Race España, I think it is one of the best seasons, a top two season. The talent, and that is coming from queens who don’t get half the budget for shows that other queens get or the opportunities. The fact that the Spanish queens as an example, are just succeeding so much and making such beautiful seasons, it shows why seasons like UK vs The World are important. You get to see a little showcase of that. After that, people go watch the other seasons and watch the international queens in their own element.
MC: A handful of queens have performed for RuPaul in the past, while for others, it was there first time. Did you feel at least comfortable with the advantage of having been judged by her in the past?
CM: Yes, absolutely. There is something about me and it truly is that I don’t give a flying fuck about anything. No one really intimidates me in a way that I would be scared. I am confident in my skills and treat everyone the safe. I think that even if I am doing a show for a few people, for three thousand or for RuPaul, I am the same person. I do remember especially though, the first time, during the Snatch Game challenge, or the Dragoton challenge or the girl group challenge, I was shitting a little bit. I mean, in front of RuPaul, Michelle (Visage), I mean as much of a sweetheart as she is, she has resting bitch face (laughs)! It was intimidating so I can see how some of these queens might be intimidated by it.
MC: The world is literally at your feet right now. Could we be seeing a new era of amazing music from Choriza May post Drag Race UK??
CM: Well I am going to fulfill your wishes, I just released my new song “Eat That Ass” and it is part of my EP called a Party In Hell. There are three more songs coming; one is a ballad called “Burn A Little Brighter”, the other is a campy song, and then there is a Spanish remix of “Party In Hell”. All of this music I am going to perform at my first solo one woman show across the UK for now, tickets available now! And I am coming to LA and have a a few gigs planned around America. so it is very exciting!
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