Back in season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Alexis Michelle made herstory after getting critiqued by Tamar Braxton for wearing a green look, and then asking the guest judge: “Well, Tamar, have you watched the show?”
On the show, this question played off as being incredibly off-putting and borderline rude, but it made for a hilarious and meme-able moment that many Drag Race fans still remember to this day.
During a new interview to promote RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8, Michelle was asked by Entertainment Weekly to explain what Braxton’s actual reaction to her was back in season nine. Michelle explained:
“I mean, clearly, it was such a knee-jerk reaction for me. I did not think that all the way through, but at that point I knew I was going to have to lip sync for my life. (…) I was like, ‘Girl, you bombed. Get ready.’ I was just in a defensive, flight-or-flight mode. So when she said that, I was like, ‘Come on, girl. Of all the things that went wrong today, at least give me credit for showing up to Michelle [Visage]’s function, in spirit, for her roast.’”
She then added that, when the cameras went down, Braxton looked at the season nine queen and mouthed: “I’m so sorry.”
To be fair, it’s possible that Michelle just didn’t realize back in season nine that asking whether Braxton had seen the show might’ve come off the way that it did. In the heat of the moment, she was probably just trying to explain the joke behind her all-green look given that it is Visage’s least-favorite color, and that episode was the “Roast of Michelle Visage.”
Michelle is going into All Stars 8 as a top-five contender from season nine who won the Snatch Game during her season but ultimately didn’t impress the judges with her fashion and aesthetic. With even more drag experience now – and a bigger budget! – the expectations are high for Michelle to redeem herself during this All Stars run.
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8 premieres Friday, May 12 on Paramount+.