Lemon tells us how she really felt going home first on Drag Race: UK Versus the World

“That wasn’t very BFF necklace VIP guest list” is to put the first-out elimination of Lemon from Drag Race: UK Versus the World mildly. The UK is in mourning. Canada is in mourning. The WORLD is in mourning. Lemon is a queen that spent the last year winning over all of our hearts. She was incredible on Canada’s Drag Race season one – a stand out in the Snatch Game and a sickening girl group verse. And on the subject matter of verses, her legendary viral feature on Priyanka’s single Come Through elevated Lemon from a fan fave to a global fave. Lemon is a straight up rapstress, and seeing her go home first on Drag Race: UK Versus the World is sitting right with a grand total of no one.

We caught up with Lemon to discuss how she’s feeling after the episode.

‘Did I think it was fair? I mean…’

Hey Lemon! Great to speak to you in one way, but gutted in another! How are you feeling about your elimination? Was it fair?

I feel amazing because of the reception I’ve been getting, I’m very thankful for my fans. My Zesties! They’ve really had my back. Do I think it was fair? At the end of the day, the rules are that Ru and Michelle pick who is in the top and who is in the bottom. Is it the choice I’d have made myself? No.

Going on from that, you said you were so crushed on the show about leaving. How long did it take to start feel okay about going home within yourself?

I’ve had a really hard time dealing with it. When I left I felt like maybe I don’t have any talent. Maybe I’m not good at drag. Maybe I don’t perform well.  Maybe these judges were totally right. I was just so lost, I’ve handled criticism my entire life from when I was a competitive dancer so that wasn’t the problem. But I really just felt like my number was awful, done to death and that I was a throwaway. It was hard to deal with at first.

But then, I have a very sweet little best friend. You might recognise her, her name is Priyanka. She text me and said she was writing an album and that she’d love to do a song with her best friend in the world. I sat down with Pri, wrote and released a banger song [Come Through] and then the reception to that was absolutely outrageous. That reminded me that I absolutely am that bitch, I’m absolutely sickening. A panel of four people might not have lived for me that night but millions and millions did.

That’s so nice to hear, Lemon, because we the fans had no clue when stanning Come Through that it was such a healing thing for you after filming Drag Race: UK Versus the World!

It was really crazy. Especially because it was a rap song, which was what sent me home!

How was it getting to come over to the UK to film?

It was amazing. It was a dream come true. I also felt so privileged because we got there, all got tested and then isolated in our hotel and then we all walked in and every time someone would join it was like, are we allowed to hug? Are we allowed to touch? And it was all safe and we could be as close as we wanted. It felt like going away to summer camp where the pandemic didn’t exist.

Did it feel surreal doing the entrances on the main stage rather than the work room?

No, bitch, are you kidding! I wanted to walk that runway as many times as possible!

‘One of my looks had 100,000 Swarovski rhinestones’

What were you most looking forward to showing that we didn’t get to see?

My butthole! No, I mean, all my flawless costumes. I won’t tell you what the theme is, but my look for next week had 100,000 Swarovski rhinestones.

Are you gonna put the looks on Insta?

I sure am! I love sharing collaborations between me and photographers and designers. The people I was so lucky to work with getting my runways ready for the show, I really want to show off their work. They’re incredible and talented people, it would have been such an honour to wear it on TV but I still have so many eyes on me that I get to show the looks off too.

What was it like to get to meet all these queens you’d not met before?

It was so much fun! Cheryl Hole and I have actually been friends for years. She came to New York when I was starting drag and we hit it off immediately. A couple months later she came back and told me she’d just been cast on season one of Drag Race UK, and me, her and Jan all had a Kiki talking about how maybe we’ll all take over the world together. And it became a reality! We were just wasted in a bar in Hell’s Kitchen, but we were right!

Were you nervous to meet Ru and Michelle?

Honestly, I wasn’t. I felt like the calibre of drag that I brought was to the standard they’d normally have liked. I was excited to be like, don’t you think I’m pretty? And they didn’t!

It’s fine, the world did! If you were choosing the tops and the bottoms of the night, who would you have chosen?

People are gonna think I’m shady if I answer this question! I dunno. If we were all judged on the criticism that I got, that my number was unoriginal, then everyone should have been in the bottom except for Jimbo.

I don’t understand why yours was unoriginal, but the other lip sync numbers weren’t. What’s the difference?

It’s hard for me to decide, because I don’t know what the criteria for the evening was. So, if I was to pick the bottoms I’d pick every single girl because no one was original.

‘I am the queen of being delusional – I’m absolutely obsessed with myself’

Lemon, it must be so nice seeing fans after Drag Race: UK Versus the World premiered go on Twitter and rave about you being robbed.

I am the queen of being delusional. I am obsessed with myself and think I’m perfect in every way and that every thing I do is flawless. So, when all this happened, I thought… Maybe I’m a little too delusional? But all the reactions from fans proves I’m right! It’s an honour. Everyone who liked my performance, buy tickets to come and see me. I promise, I’m even better live.

What were your Snatch Game plans?

I was going to do Tim Gunn from Project Runway. I was READY to go. I think I’d have absolutely ate Snatch Game up.

And finally, do you think RuPaul heard Come Through and was too nervous to share a song with you so wanted you in the bottom?

WELL! I’m just saying, I didn’t need a new feature!

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World airs every Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Three on TV, or catch up on the premiere featuring Lemon on BBC iPlayer. For all the latest Drag Race memes and Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Featured image courtesy of BBC.

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• Choriza May and River Medway break silence on RuPaul’s worst decision in Drag Race history

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• Victoria Scone and Veronica Green break silence on their shock Drag Race UK exits