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BenDeLaCreme Spills The Tea

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23 March 2018

By Jack Mitchell

Being a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race irrefutably comes with emotional baggage.  As Shangela often put it with her onslaught of Game of Thrones references, shock eliminations and unexpected departures –  namely BenDeLaCreme’s – are merely part of the narrative. However, I can speak for everyone when I say this series of ‘All Stars 3’ pulled our favourite Cath Kidston tablecloth from beneath our best porcelain, spilling the tea everywhere!

BenDeLaCreme’s succession of wins pinned her as a favourite to win along with Shangela, who also accumulated an impressive streak. It was often hard to decipher whether DeLaCreme’s discomfort with eliminating the other queens was genuine. Comments from her ruthless sisters cast doubts over whether this humility was an act to overcompensate her desire to win. After winning the challenge and eliminating herself by writing her own name on the fateful lipstick, she shattered the competition, giving Morgan McMichaels a shot in her place. This sparked outrage among fans criticising her of “backing out” early in the knowledge she would eventually lose to Shangela.

Drag Queens stood in a line in the Drag Race workroom
Drag Race came to a shocking conclusion with Trixie Mattel (second from right) winning and Shangela (blue dress) getting “the chop” prematurely.

Finally, Miss DeLaCreme has spoken out on Facebook over her actions in the wake of the Season 10 queens embarking on the competition:

‘I left the competition because, in a situation where I had felt trapped choosing between “success” and what felt right, I had an epiphany. I saw an opportunity to make a statement to the producers, and in turn to you, the viewer. And also to myself. Stop accepting what “authority figures” have told you you have to do’.

Miss DeLaCreme is openly critical of the show’s adherence to reality TV conventions. She states that the producers put the queens in an uncomfortable situation that doesn’t reflect the inclusive nature of the drag world.

‘The creators set up impossible situations for us to navigate without any of the support systems of the real world’

In her full statement (which you can read here), she says the producers ‘aren’t monsters’, but are only doing what they believe will appeal to fans. She asks if they really want the queens to be put in difficult situations like those we saw on All Stars 3. She raises questions over the show’s ethics  in placing the final decision of elimination in the hands of the queens themselves. After all, giving the eliminated queens power to decide the final lip sync meant Shangela [arguably] lost on grounds of jealousy or favouritism.

Personally, Trixie (the winner) was always my favourite, but Shangela was definitely deserving of the crown. Whether you agree or not, I’m sure we’ll all still be tuning into Season 10. It aired in America on the 22nd March and is available to stream on Netflix in the UK tonight (the 23rd). Watch the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suPAag6_i8

 

 

 

 

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