Now that RuPaul's Drag Race has injected charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent into the lagging art of reality competition shows, Logo will debut Drag Race's first spinoff series tonight, RuPaul's Drag U, where queens from the original series return to assist everyday women upgrade to more confident, arguably fabulous versions of themselves. And who better to talk to about "fabulous" than season two's second runner-up JuJubee and season one's runner-up Nina Flowers?
After all, Drag Race wasn't just a funny show for drag queens looking to outdo each other on a national stage in front of the legendary RuPaul -- it was an ebullient exploration of the drag world, the meaning of female impersonation, and the vitality of witty self-presentation. Can Nina and JuJu bring some of that magic to Drag U? They talked about it to Movieline.
Hey, ladies! I'm excited to see you guys with RuPaul again. Tell us, was it different being on TV when you weren't competing, or was there a competitive vibe between you and the other queens when you helped out these women?
JuJubee: Yes, I do miss the competing aspect of it. Helping these women out, I became a pageant mommy about everything, like, I'd sit in the audience thinking, "You can do it. You can totally do it." And the excitement was there for me. It made me reminisce. It was a good time.
Nina: I was only on for a very brief time. I wasn't there for too many episodes -- I just did one -- but actually, no, in my opinion, I didn't think I was competing. I was excited for the lady I was helping on the show, but I never felt that I was actually the one competing. I was just trying to make her absorb all she could, and I was helping her to get through the whole situation.
Were you nervous to mentor other people in front of RuPaul, who ostensibly mentored you on Drag Race?
Nina: I was very excited when I got the call to be on the show, and after being through Drag Race, which was such a great experience and a great time, when I went to Drag U I felt I was prepared. I wasn't nervous at all. Au contraire, I was really excited that Ru was around. I was excited to see the other girls and to work with the ones I'd never met before, because there are some girls from season one and two.
JuJubee: I was a little nervous! I wanted to make mama proud. It challenged me, but like Nina said, I was excited to work with everybody. It was fun to change women's lives.
How did you get along with the women you worked with? How did you find ways to connect with them?
JuJubee: The women I had, I just clicked with. I'm a people person, so I love people. It was just me getting to know them, which really helped me, because I always found something interesting about them or something we had in common. And we just go from there, and I felt like I did a pretty good job doing it.
Nina: Well, I faced a little bit of a hard time connecting with the lady I was helping, who might have felt intimidated. From the very beginning, there wasn't an immediate connection. That made it hard for me to work with her because I was sensing that she was not really comfortable with me. I have sort of a fierce look, and it took some time for me to win her over with my personality and teach her that you can never judge someone by the way they look. You have to get to know people. It turned out really well, and it was a great satisfaction to see her deal with all her insecurities. I did experience a little bit of [a] challenge, but it paid off.
When you got the call to be on the show, did you start thinking about specific things you could teach the women that would be different than the other queens?
Nina: Honestly, I didn't go on the show thinking I would just come and teach them how to be me. In a sense, I felt I was like a competitor -- I went into the show not knowing what the task was going to be. I thought we were going to help women, and I knew the woman I was working with had a really low self-esteem. The first thing that came to mind when I was asked to do the show, I thought, "I think I can help this person to feel better about themselves." I really wanted to work on her attitude, her self-respect, so that was my major goal -- to help this person walk away from the show with the self-respect and love you should feel for yourself.
JuJubee: You know, I think all of us have a common ground that we can help these women with. I'm a really positive person, just like Nina is and a lot of the other girls. That's how I spoke with them. "Girl, you're fine and you look great, but we can make it better." I always started out like that. It was never like, "Girl, what's wrong with you? Let's fix this."
They probably wouldn't have responded well to that.
JuJubee: They probably would've thrown me across the room.
This is sort of a dirty question, but if you guys were forced to give each other makeovers, a complete 180, what looks would you choose for each other?
Nina: That's definitely a hard question! I love JuJubee and the way she presents her art. We're all so different. I don't think there's anything I'd try, she was one of the best from season two. She's got charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. I know she's going to go really, really far. There's nothing I would change, and on top of that, the bitch can sing. She's just the total package. She could do beauty, she could do edgy, she can do whatever she wants. She's amazing. Props for Juju.
JuJubee: I would just make her Asian. [Laughs.] What she said is basically what I think of her. I loved her, and I still love you! I can't wait to work with you! What makes us beautiful is we all work together and learn about each other. I don't know everything in the world about drag or life, and I think working with people like Nina and Shannel and Ongina make this really fun, and now we're like a big family.
Can you talk about the differences you noticed in your seasons of Drag Race? Season two was definitely different than season one.
JuJubee: We had more lights on the stage, and that was quite exciting. I liked that! And did we have one more person?
Niina: I was completely jealous of season two because the set of season two was out of control. It was amazing. The judging, it was breathtaking, much more advanced than season one. The working area was more complete and looked more beautiful -- loved it. In terms of seasons, I have to definitely point out that some of the girls from season two were, like, more into themselves. It brought the whole competition to a really catty point and the competition got really bitchy. I don't know if it was because there were more girls or because they were there for such a long time -- if that makes everyone go crazy -- but I think that season two had a lot more fights than season one. I mean, we're all there for one goal, and drag queens are so competitive, but of the things I'd love to point out, I'd definitely have to say that the cast members from season one were more different types of drag. In season two, they were more the real beautiful beauty queens. In my season, there were beauty queens, but I was more, you know, extravagant. The producers now are going more for the beautiful and more feminine look -- that's my observation. It'll be very interesting what season three is going to look like, how it's going to be.
JuJubee: I'm excited for that.
Nina: Yes, me too!
Did you both also get upset when RuPaul wasn't nominated for the reality host Emmy? I was miffed.
JuJubee: I know!
Nina: That was a big shocker. I thought she was going to walk away with that prize for sure. And not even being nominated? I don't know.
JuJubee: And [a nomination] made complete sense too. It wasn't a far-out thing. I was like, "I'm sitting here waiting, girl."