‘That’s a lot of emotion for safe’ realness.
We weren’t there in the werk room of RuPaul’s Drag Race to judge whether or not a queen was being “delusional” in the competition, but that is certainly the edit that certain queens received as their respective seasons aired on TV.
From the very first season of Drag Race up until its latest cycle on MTV, the infamous “delusional” edit has been happening throughout the herstory of the show. Though this particular edit is much less common on All Stars, there’s definitely one special mention that will never be forgotten due to just how “unrealistic” this contestant seemed to be perceiving their journey on the show.
With season 15 of Drag Race coming to an end soon, it’s time to look back at all of the queens who have been edited out to look “delusional” on this beloved LGBTQ+ series.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 airs Fridays on MTV.
Shannel (Season 1)
Shannel simply did not agree with a lot of the judges’ critiques on Drag Race and felt like she was doing much better in the competition than they thought. Though the terminology and understanding of a “delusional” edit was still not entirely clear back in season one, Shannel is certainly the original queen to receive this kind of treatment in the final cut of the show.
Serena ChaCha (Season 5)
On a season with drag titans like Detox, Coco Montrese, Alyssa Edwards, and Roxxxy Andrews, a young drag artist like Serena ChaCha wanted to prove that her age and inexperience in drag didn’t really matter. And yet, the edit of season five showed ChaCha as someone who seemed to have a superiority complex and even told her fellow costars to “go read a book,” implying that her college education made her a better artist and performer.
Laganja Estranja (Season 6)
As far as the season six edit is concerned, Laganja Estranja is one of the ultimate “delusional” queens to have ever competed on Drag Race. Estranja was regularly shown saying that her jokes were funny, her performances were fierce, and her looks were top-tier – though the judges and many other queens in the werk room profusely disagreed with her. All of this chaos ultimately led up to the infamous “I feel very attacked!” moment in Untucked that solidified Estranja as a Drag Race meme legend.
Miss Fame (Season 7)
Miss Fame did not get a great edit throughout season seven of Drag Race, and a lot of it had to do with the judges perceiving her as being “delusional.” After Mama Ru’s several attempts at getting Fame to answer the iconic “How’s your head?” question, the queen was shown always being in her head and not paying attention to the reality in front of her. There were other queens, too, who felt that way – like the Bitter Old Lady Brigade alliance constantly making fun of Fame’s discourse surrounding her “brand” and “aesthetic.”
Thorgy Thor (Season 8)
A significant portion of what we saw from Thorgy Thor on Drag Race season eight had to do with her annoyance at Bob the Drag Queen for doing better than her in the competition. The fans loved Thorgy on the show, but the judges – and other queens in the werk room – felt like she was too focused on Bob and not as concerned with just doing her best in the competition… which culminated in a pretty unique “delusional” edit in the series.
Alexis Michelle (Season 9)
Several queens called out Alexis Michelle throughout season nine for thinking that she was a much better drag queen that she turned out to be back then. Things only got worse when Michelle started getting critiqued by the judges and was shown criticizing her costars for not giving her a “warning” that she didn’t look good. Overall, this “delusional” edit was a pretty tough one to watch unfold.
Milk (All Stars 3)
The portrayal of Milk on All Stars 3 is one of the most classic and unforgettable “delusional” edits in the entire canon of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Generally speaking, Milk was shown saying that she did much better than her costars in basically every single maxi challenge that she was a part of on All Stars. Milk’s overconfident demeanor in the werk room also led to the iconic Trixie Mattel quote, “That’s a lot of emotion for safe,” which has now been used multiple times across several seasons and even international shows within the franchise.
Scarlet Envy (Season 11)
Scarlet Envy was extremely lovable and fans were mostly on her side throughout season 11. And yet, the judges and the queens were absolutely shown feeling like Envy was just too “delusional” on Drag Race about her looks and overall performance in the competition. This was somewhat replicated during Envy’s time on All Stars 6, but that kind of overconfidence wasn’t a major plot point for this queen on the spinoff series.
Jan (Season 12 & All Stars 6)
Whether the judges are right or wrong about Jan, this queen absolutely got the “delusional” edit on both of her Drag Race seasons. On season 12, they got Jan to deliver her iconic “face crack” after losing the Rusical challenge to Gigi Goode. On All Stars 6, Jan was shown being asked to dial her optimistic personality down, then up, then down, getting her to crack under pressure yet again.
Loosey LaDuca (Season 15)
The latest case of a “delusional” edit on Drag Race was given to season 15 star Loosey LaDuca. Throughout the edit of the show, LaDuca was shown passionately disagreeing with the judges, arguing with other queens over who got second and third top placements, and seemingly not understanding when her costars were just kidding around. Again, it’s hard for viewers to judge what really happened in the werk room, but there’s no arguing that LaDuca was the recipient of the “delusional” edit for season 15. A classic case of showing a queen being overconfident in several challenges and about her overall placement in the competition… only to then gag her with the judges’ critiques.