What Was Victoria Scone's Reaction to That 'Drag Race UK' Surprise?

Out chats with Victoria Scone & Veronica Green about this past week's bombshell episode of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

Warning! Spoilers for Drag Race UK season three, episode three ahead! 

This week, the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK broke the hearts of many fans by eliminating not one but two queens in the same episode. Victoria Scone's injury from episode one came back to bite her, causing the history-making queen to get sent home for medical reasons. Then, after returning to the competition for a second round, Veronica Green was eliminated for underperforming in the design challenge.

In an interview with Out, Victoria Scone and Veronica Green opened up about their incredibly unique experiences on Drag Race UK.

Out: How are you both doing today?

Victoria Scone: Very well, thank you.

Veronica Green: Yeah, not too bad. Not too bad at all.

So let's get started. Victoria, your casting on the Drag Race UK was a historic moment for the franchise, and it felt like a long time coming. Going into the competition, did you feel the weight to represent drag performers like yourself, or were you able to just focus on your own journey?

VS: Yeah, absolutely, it was definitely, like you said, a long time coming. I guess you would assume maybe I was feeling a lot of pressure and a lot of weight and responsibility to represent, but really I was very focused and had my eyes on the prize. I think we don't hear cis women talking enough about how fabulous they are and being confident in what they do. And I think I'm very good at what I do. I think I'm very good at drag and I was ready to represent cis women and big, fat lesbians. Yeah! Let's go lesbians, let's go!

Veronica, when it comes to you, there must have also been some pressure going into season three after you did so well in season two. Do you think that coming back was something that helped you or hurt you this time around?

VG: I think coming back is a double-edged sword. I think it hindered me in the sense that, look at where I am now, only three weeks in and eliminated early. However, what I do think has helped is, I was able to tell my story of the struggle that I've had coming back to the competition. I went through depression, very, very rough financial situations, and then the expectations to come back with this amazing glow-up, considering that the two seasons are only six months apart...It's an unrealistic goal. And I think being able to tell that story of how difficult it is to even be part of this competition, full stop, is a story that's never been told before on this show. And hopefully, it will help steer the fandom in the right direction. So to realize that, as queens, we're creating art, and sometimes it is very, very hard to achieve that with the high expectations this show brings.

Just a few months ago I was on a call with you and Joe Black after you were sent home in season two, and it was also a joint interview. You talked about going through depression during this episode, and you had also mentioned going through rough times in our previous interview months ago. How was it to go through depression while competing on a show that is all about being fierce and fabulous?

VG: Well, I had come out of the other side of depression by the time I came back for season three, because that all happened in the summer of last year when I lost all of my work. And I didn't know if Drag Race...if we'd go back to filming season two at all. So I was very, very close to bankruptcy. When I say I didn't have any money to spend on new outfits, I mean, I literally couldn't even afford to put food on the table. My fiancé had to support me through that difficult time. I didn't even want to get out of bed, let alone think of improving my room or my looks. So when I did accidentally catch COVID-19 and couldn't return to season two, I tried my best to see the bright side of that and think to myself, 'Oh, well maybe it's a blessing in disguise because the other queens I'm sure have done lots and lots of work through lockdown and for themselves.'And I couldn't compete with that at all. But then they gave me the option to come back to season three. I didn't want to just shut that door and say 'no.' I had to give it a go, and I had to go in with everything that I had, even if it was nothing...because opportunities don't come around for people like me. I've tried to be successful in my career for a long, long time. And Drag Race was finally giving me the opportunity for the world to see me. And I was never going to turn that down. Being eliminated is not a failure to me. It's literally just the beginning of my journey.

I'm very happy to hear that you're in a better place right now. Victoria, you opened up on the show about struggling with your body in the past. How did it feel to deal with those insecurities in the werkroom when certain jokes and certain shade was being thrown around?

VS: Honestly, I am in a very good place with my body. I'm very confident in my vessel, my meat sack that carries me around. And the comments, honestly, didn't personally offend me. I just wanted to make it aware that perhaps the next person that you say that to may not be as confident in themselves. You never really know what someone has been through, and I have been through an awful lot. I've been through down scores my whole life, where there's been a lot of pressure on me to be a certain size that my body just does not want to be, and I don't want to be. And I've hit really, really low points in my mental health and in the numbers on my scales, which is not healthy. Slim for me definitely does not mean healthy, mentally and physically. So I didn't personally get offended. She was right, I was the biggest girl in the room, and happily so. I love my body and I like being fat because I don't think fat is a swear word. I don't think it's an insult. I am fat. And I really love that.

I'm also very curious to hear from both of you about how difficult it must have been to prepare to go on a show like Drag Race UK while a pandemic is still happening. Veronica, how different was it to prepare for season three in comparison to preparing for season two when COVID-19 wasn't a thing?

VG: When I was preparing for season two, we had four weeks to prepare. I got some funds from my fiancé. He gave me the money to fund my season two journey and I got to work creatively and I spent a whole four weeks creating and getting ready for season two. And then to have that journey cut short was a tragedy. And for season three, completely different runaway categories, but not only that, I was in the middle of the press launch for season two, and I had those season two commitments...so being creative was more difficult. Also, on season two I was almost a one-person band. I was doing all my own hair, I was making a lot of my own costumes, didn't have very many contacts. As you saw, not very many of the queens knew who I was walking in. So I didn't have an outreach of people to call on to do hair, costumes, et cetera. And season three was very similar. I was only just being introduced to the world. There were some designers and wig people that were reluctant to work with me, so I found it very, very difficult. Add to the fact that you've got no money...it's virtually impossible. I mean, even if I did have money, the fabric shops weren't open, I couldn't buy fabric! So everything was so much more difficult. And each of the 12 of us had a very rough time even getting there onto the show. And I just think I had just an extra layer to that, given that my finances were diddly squat and I was in the middle of season two airing. Season two was on the air while we filmed season three. I missed three episodes of my own original season airing to be on season three. So I sacrificed an awful lot.

Victoria, you also had some fantastic outfits that must've taken a lot of preparation. How was your experience coming into this show for the first time?

VS: Well, exactly like Ronnie said, we couldn't physically go to shops to get things we needed. Even little things like nails, things were not seen as...What was the word? Important enough. 

Essential?

VS: Essential, that's the word. Nails and things like that are not essential buys, and especially fabric. So we were ordering fabric online and you don't know what the stretch is going to be, or if the color is going to match the wig that you want to pair it with. So you're just taking risks all the time with no money. And you can't send it back, it's going to take two weeks to get back, and then you got to order another color. It was just risk, after risk, after risk. And I'm a crafty queen, I like making things, so I made the petals from my daffodil look. And I was just flying by the seat of my pants, really, like learning how to work with EVA foam. Ronnie, you did a similar thing in season two, didn't you? With your robot?

VG: I did, yeah. I did.

VS: So it was a learning curve and I did enjoy every minute of it because I love making things, and I love doing wigs. But yeah, it was very stressful not being able to go out and go to shops. And also we were in the middle of a pandemic, so I hadn't been working properly for months, and months, and months.

In episode two, you wore a red dress on the runway that was meant to help you hide your injury. What was the story behind the look?

VS: Oh, that was a backup, backup, backup dress. I basically was categorically told I wasn't allowed to wear heels. So I chose to wear that dress so that I could wear trainers and sort of hide them as much as possible. And they were lovely Choriza [May]'s stinky trainers. Very grateful for her lending them to me because they were red, so they sort of blended in.

Veronica, when it comes to your final look in episode three, you called it a "dark butterfly coming into the light." But you said that you weren't happy with your final design. Do you think that the execution just didn't match the concept in your head? What do you think was missing from it?

VG: I think what was missing from it was just a little bit of editing. I feel like the concept could've been very strong, could have been winning! But I admittedly spent a bit too much time helping other queens. I'm quite infamous, as all the queens will tell you, I'm one of the last to be ready for the runway every single time. My time management is appalling, not just on the show but in real life as well. So that's just a personal struggle that I have. And for me, it was just a battle to get the garment finished. I had time to stop and look at it, but I didn't have time to then fix the problems that I could see. And if I could do it all over again, yeah, I would completely change the execution of it because I feel like the overall concept was really, really great. Just a few details took it into a realm that was unsalvageable. I'm not delusional, it was definitely bottom-worthy out of everybody. But, hey, I again took a risk and went outside the box and I looked eye-catching and very different on stage. When you look so different amongst so many plaid fabrics, there's an extra layer of scrutiny and spotlight on you. And because my execution was off, it just sent it in the wrong direction. But I hold my hands up, I'm the only one to blame for me being in the bottom.

I see that, I see that. Since you've touched on it, Charity Kase pointed out in Untucked that you helped Krystal Versace quite a lot in the werkroom. In the end, she was in the top three and you were in the bottom three. Do you regret that decision? How do you look back on that?

VG: No, I don't regret my decision at all. Season two, I refused to help my partner Tia [Kofi] with anything. She was on her own. Whereas this time around, I was a little bit more giving and I wanted the season to be good. I wanted everyone to showcase the best we could possibly be, because a good season of Drag Race brings joy to viewers. And I helped a lot of queens that episode. And as you can see, Scarlett [Harlett], who I helped, won. Krystal was in the top, and Vanity [Milan] was in the bottom. So once again, I'm just proving that I'm not a mediocre queen. That I'm either tip of the top, cream of the crop or crash and burn in the bottom, you know? And I helped those queens also be on the positive and the negative side of the spectrum as well. So I don't regret it. It just once again proves that I am willing to take a risk and throw myself into the fire. This time, it just didn't pay off for me.

Victoria, I also wanted to talk about your final moments on the show. When RuPaul asked you to step forward on a runway, what was going through your head? Did you have a sense that the injury might take you out of the competition, or did you expect that you'd be fine?

VS: Oh, I was completely in denial of how injured I really was, as well as taking as many painkillers as I possibly could. I was definitely pretending that I wasn't as injured as I was. You saw exactly what happened. I didn't know that Ru was going to call me forward at that moment, and I kind of thought that was the end there and then. We got a glimmer of hope that perhaps the doctor would say I'm well enough to stay, but it turns out, unfortunately, it was a partially torn ACL. Luckily not a full one, but yes, I was definitely not well enough to stay, and rightly so. I wouldn't have been able to have given you my best ability. I wouldn't have been able to perform as well as I could have with two good knees, for sure. Everything happens for a reason, and whatever reason that may be, I would love to know, universe! Please tell me! But yeah, it happened for a reason for sure.

What has been your experience dealing with the Drag Race fans? I know there was a little bit of controversy when the cast was announced, but that was just a blip in the radar. What has been your overall experience with dealing with the fandom?

VS: It's been incredibly positive. I prepared myself for the very worst, absolutely, just as we maybe do as humans. You never know how you're going to be received. But yeah, it's been incredibly positive, and even more so now that the actual episodes are out and people have seen me and see what I can do. It's a shame [that] it took me getting onto a TV show for people to recognize me and to really recognize cisgender women in drag. But that is the nature of the beast of Drag Race. It's a beautiful thing and we're all benefiting from it. But as I said, I want to see women being instilled about how good they are more. We are fabulous in what we do, and our gender does not define how good we are at drag for sure. I do love being a woman in drag. I love it and I'm proud of it.

Now that you have this Drag Race UK platform, I wanted to hear what's next for you both. Victoria, you can go first. Is there anything you'd like to promote?

VS: Yeah. So I have a bit of a Halloween tour in a few weeks, and then a solo tour in January. Lots going on. And I'm just manifesting that I will get on Strictly Come Dancing next year.

And Veronica?

VG: My latest single in collaboration with Myleene Klass, called "Nothing To Lose," is out right now. So you can download the stream now on all the available platforms. I've got a couple of TV things that I filmed that are coming up. Couple of them I can't mention, but they are coming out very, very soon. There's a Bailey's TV advert that myself, Tia Kofi, and a lovely queen called Asia Thorne are on at the moment. It is airing in America and Australia at the moment. I'll be on the season two tour next year, and the season three tour next year. And in between, there are talks of a possible one-person show touring around the UK. It's still in its infancy, but yeah, very much on the table. And I'm looking to record some new music and get my own musical on the stage. So yeah, I've got lots of things going on in the works. Oh, and I'm also talking to a couple of publishers about some books. So a few things are in the final stages of negotiations and fingers crossed things will go off without a hitch.

VS: I would just like to say, please buy my merch. Thank you very much.

VG: Yes!

New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will premiere every Thursday at 11am PT/2pm ET in the US and in select territories exclusively on WOW Presents Plus, day-and-date with its local airing on BBC3 in the UK!

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What Was Victoria Scone's Reaction to That Recent Drag Race UK Surprise?