If you're only watching what's happening on television, you're only getting half of the RuPaul's Drag Race story!
There are so many things that have sprouted from RuPaul's Drag Race. All of the fashion designers who have been able to build out their businesses. So many live events and tours. And of course, there are all of the recaps.
For years these recaps were primarily hosted by fans. But with an influx of programs hosted by and featuring contestants, an increasing amount of tea has seeped into it all. And for the recent All Stars 8 season finale, there was quite a bit.
Here are three things that we didn't see on the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season 8 finale.
Production allegedly tried to rig the finale lip sync
One of the most popular recaps is Roscoe's viewing party in Chicago hosted by Naysha Lopez, Batty Davis, and Kara Mel D'Ville. In addition to Naysha's on-set experience, the show routinely has Ru girls come for the recap, which builds out the possibility for tea. And with Naysha having competed on this season, there's been quite a bit of tea.
According to Lopez, there were some big things happening in the finale.
"So I have a little bit of tea," Lopez said in the most recent viewing party video posted to YouTube. "Right now they're about to do a lip sync. We had the song already for the lip sync so we knew which song it was going to be or whatever. They had been preparing with this song. All of a sudden this producer, her name is Mandy, hey girl. She comes up to Jimbo and Kandy and says, 'Hey ladies, we are going to change the final song. It's going to be 'Milkshake.'"
Earlier in the recap, Lopez had revealed that in order for Leland to produce their tracks, each of the final three queens were asked to submit songs that they liked to perform to. Kelis' "Milkshake" was one of the songs Jimbo had selected.
"So Kandy, she has something in her hand, she throws it down, she says, 'Call my mother. Call my mother, right now.' Screaming at the top of her lungs to call her mom. She was going home," Lopez recounted. "Fuck the show, fuck everyone. You want to crown Jimbo then crown Jimbo but you ain't going to have a finale. Fuck you and blah blah. She goes off on everyone."
According to Lopez, they immediately reversed the decision and the finale song was "Do You Wanna Funk?"
Kandy Muse had a lip sync reveal we never got to see
In the episode, we are given a hint that Jimbo sewed a little surprise for her finale Lip Sync for the Crown. On Instagram, she explained in detail how she created the entire look while on set at the show in order to blow Kandy Muse out of the water. Apparently, Miss Muse had plans of her own that were thwarted by production.
"I was going to do this on season 13 at the finale, and then I [didn't] have the time, and I was going to do this for the finale of All Stars. Have you ever watched The Monster Ball, when Lady Gaga comes out from the floor during 'Paparazzi' with the fire tits?" Kandy said on an Entertainment Weekly podcast. "I planned to do that with the silver outfit I had for the finale, but, apparently, to have fire on television, you need a license!"
Ruined by government overreach once again.
Naysha Lopez's acceptance speech that never was
This year, in addition to crowing a winner for the season, All Stars crowned a winner of the Fame Games. Supposedly based on runway looks, the fan-vote competition got an extra layer of complexity when it was announced that the winner of the variety showcase would be able to multiply their fan votes. In Naysha's opinion, it made the whole thing pointless. So she said as much.
"I was like there's no way I'm going to win this, girl," she said of the moment when they all had to film acceptance speeches. "So when they crowned me I was like, 'Yay! I'm not going to win this but I'll pretend like I'm going to.' And I was just walking with the scepter with this stupid walk."
"It was so awkward."