Friday night brings the big finale of “RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race” Season 2, and going into the last round of competition, it really is anyone’s game.
Poppy Love (aka Backstreet Boy AJ McClean), Thirsty Von Trapp (aka “Ugly Betty’s” Mark Indelicato), and Chakra 7 (aka “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” alum Tatyana Ali) are running neck and neck as they compete for the crown.
“AJ not only came out of the box really strong, he remained really strong,” judge Michelle Visage told TheWrap when we spoke with her and co-panelist Ross Mathews on Thursday (you can watch our conversation above). “Poppy, you know, we’ve said this on the show — she’s one of those queens that we know is going to kill it every time.”
“But I will say when you start out that strong, as Poppy did, the pressure to keep that up is high because now we know how good you can be,” Mathews added. “But the thing about Poppy is all season long she kept that level for the most part. And so going into the finale, she’s in a really strong position.”
Indelicato’s Thirsty Von Trapp faced some tough rounds earlier in the season, but has started to peak, at what the “Drag Race” franchise judges often like to call “just the right time.”
“Yeah, it’s about momentum,” Mathews explained. “We sort of are learning who you are in the first few episodes. But if you don’t kick it into high gear in those last five, four episodes of the season, then you’re never going to make it to the end and you’re not going to win. [Thirsty] has found the right mojo at the right time. She’s come into her own. She’s defined herself as a queen. Maybe in the first week or two, I wouldn’t have seen her taking the crown necessarily. But now, watch out.”
Ali’s drag persona Chakra 7 has had her ups and downs across “Secret Celebrity Drag Race” Season 2, as well. But as her last performance showed, she has reached peak fierceness.
“It’s about the journey most of the time. Sometimes there’s a clear frontrunner from the get,” Visage said.
“When there’s a journey, you get invested in somebody,” she continued. “Somebody else, you know, you feel comfortable at all times. Somebody you feel comfortable, but there’s a journey – that was Chakra, I think, and she really just surrendered to the process.”
For Mathews, Chakra’s attention to detail in all aspects of her performances, is a major reason she’s stood out.
“What I love about Chakra … is that she always did these fully thought-out performances that were so comprehensive, so intelligent – from the color and the design, to the song choice to the theme of it all,” he said. “She just performed so smart. And I love that kind of performance because I just melt into it.”
“RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race” took the competition to a new level for Season 2, turning the show into a weekly drag queen showdown with the celebrity contenders mentored by Brooke Lynn Hytes, Monét X Change and Jujubee, and given critiques by the judges – RuPaul, Visage, Mathews and Carson Kressley.
For the first several episodes, the show only gave clues about the celebrities competing in drag (unless you could tell who they were by their voices), unmasking them only when they were eliminated. Some of the stars who took part were actress Loretta Devine, pop singer Taylor Dayne, “Mean Girls” actor Daniel Franzese, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” alum Thom Filicia and “Glee” alums Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale – the latter of whom nearly made it to the final round.
“It shows that our umbrella welcomes everybody and it doesn’t matter what type of person you are, what type of celebrity you are. If you give into the art of drag not only are you welcome, but the sky’s the limit,” Mathews said. “Look what these human beings did on our show, you know? Who would have thought these people who we know so well could do all this? And that’s just because drag is so limitless.”
The finale of “RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race” Season 2 airs Friday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on VH1.
