Mirage made a huge splash on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 click-clacking her heels during the Variety Show performance of her original song “She’s Such a B*tch.” In subsequent episodes, fans fell even more in love with Mirage’s drag, aesthetic, performance abilities, and confessional interviews.
Given the incredible journey that Anetra had in season 15, many fans were also rooting for Mirage as the new queen from Las Vegas to enter the competition and bring a new perspective to the series. However, Mirage received a lot of critiques for her performance in ‘RDR Live!’ and ended up landing in the bottom two. As she lip synced against Geneva Karr to “Dark Lady” by Cher, it became clear that Mirage didn’t know the lyrics to the song — culminating in her elimination.
In her exit interview with Out, Mirage explains why she got in her head for the sketch comedy challenge, how she feels about “She’s Such a B*tch” becoming a viral hit song, and how her friendship with Anetra has evolved after her time competing on Drag Race season 16.
Scroll through to read Out’s interview with Mirage, who you can follow on Instagram and X/Twitter. You can also support Mirage by buying her merch on MyBestJudy.
Out: Hi, Mirage! First of all, how are you doing?
Mirage: Good, good. Just getting ready for the gigs.
How would you describe your Drag Race journey?
Fast [laughs]. It was good. I was having a really, really, really sickening time, up until the end. It was, I don't know.
We need to talk about your Variety Show number of 'She's Such a B*tch,' which is now a viral sensation. How has it been for you to see that performance and that song become so popular with the fans?
I love it. I love it. I love it. It's so funny to me, because I thought it was just such a silly, dumb little thing that I made up. So the fact that people are responding to it so positively is more than I planned on, honestly. Pleasantly so. But yeah, it's kind of funny.
We've had other songs on Drag Race become viral on the internet because they were campy and/or fun within the context of the show. But your song… people are actually obsessed with it! I hope that you are getting that reaction.
Yeah! No, honestly, I wasn't sure if it was a joke either for a long time… like, the first couple of days. I started seeing people like, 'Put it on streaming, put it on streaming,' and I was like, 'Girl, relax.' And then I did it, and it kind of took off. I don't know, I was not prepared for that.
As of this writing, 'She's Such a Bitch' has 1.1 million streams on Spotify.
That is really crazy. I guess I'm going to have to go on tour.
Yeah! And an album or EP soon.
I think so!
You seemed pretty confident, at first, about being the host of the 'RDR Live!' challenge. What was your initial thought process for picking that role?
Initially, I wanted to be the Brick because that one sounded like the funnest… just like the silliest, dumbest role. But I was like, I'm not an actress, I have to say. I wasn't trying to do any of the acting roles. So hosting, I thought, 'Girl, that's what drag queens do all the time. How hard can it be?' That's where my mind was at. I knew I wasn't an actress, so I said, 'Let me just host and let the other girls do the real acting.'
The episode showed you having a hard time when the queens started assigning roles for 'RDR Live!' You looked a little thrown off as the other queens were having conversations amongst themselves. We also saw your reaction when Sapphira Cristál told RuPaul that she was going to be the host but changed her mind, so now you were going to do it. What was going through your head at that time?
You know what? To be honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly what was going through my mind. But I remember thinking that it was suspicious that Sapphira Cristál gave up the role so easily, like all of a sudden. That threw me off because I was like, 'Why?' Then I got in my head… like 'What is going on? What does she have planned?' I kind of got in my head a little bit.
Do you think that the casting back-and-forth that happened in the werk room threw you off and had an impact on your performance in the challenge?
I think so. Yeah, it did. I was like, 'Oh, is she going to let me do it now because she doesn't think I can? Now I have something to prove!' In the back of my head, I was telling myself that I know how to do this, that I do this every week. But I don't know. There was something that made me second-guess myself.
You brought up in Untucked that you didn't know the words to 'Dark Lady' by Cher. You told a few people before you went out to lip sync. Was that the only lip sync song that you were completely unfamiliar with? Or were you struggling with a few different songs?
That was definitely the one song that I absolutely did not know at all. And so that's why I was like, 'There's no way. There's no way that this is the one.' I wasn't even planning for it. I said, 'Let me not even think about [that being the song]. Let me not even give it any energy… because there's no way.' Well, damn… it sure was. It was the one.
Were you able to make any good friendships on the show? Which queens are you the closest to?
Honestly, all of them. I really, really, really do talk to all of them. Maybe not every day, but I feel like we all have a rapport where any of us could call each other for anything, and everybody has each other's back.
Since you're a queen from Las Vegas and you mentioned her in your song, I wanted to ask: What has been Anetra's reaction to seeing you on the show?
I think we've gotten even closer, to be honest. Now we have this thing [Drag Race] that you can't really talk to a lot of people about, you know what I mean? So that's been really cool. I feel like we have a different kind of relationship now, in a good way.
What's next for Mirage? Is there anything you'd like to promote at this time?
Well, my single, of course. I'm going to be touring, because I'm a performer at heart. I just want to come out and meet the people. I want to shake my ass. I want to take shots with the people, and the girls, and the dolls. Drag is fun! At the end of the day, we're all here just having a good time and we want to spread the joy, spread the fun.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 airs every Friday on MTV.