RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 has one queen that can easily be described as polarizing: Silky Nutmeg Ganache.
Silky’s presence took over the season premiere back in February, to the point where the majority of the Drag Race fanbase only discussed her antics and nothing else both during and after the show aired.
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She entered the werk room on a very likable level which then shifted to an OMFG what is this queen doing when she hoisted and spun guest judge Miley Cyrus to her non-stop chatter while the other girls were getting their lewks together and overall “look at me” kind of attitude that drove many of us nuts by the time the show ended.
That premiere was over two months ago, and a lot of the fans of this show (and friends of mine) are sort of torn when it comes to Silky’s personality and how she’s coming across on television.
She is far from the first queen to give us this kind of split debate over if she’s lovable and over-the-top or annoying and self-absorbed. Many in the past, especially Eureka O’Hara in seasons 9 and 10, were similar in how they presented themselves. It’s kind of like beets, licorice or other uniquely flavored items we purchase at the supermarket: we either love them or hate them. There’s usually no middle ground when it comes to them, and the same can be said for Silky.
The Chicago-based queen has gotten a major edit over many others she’s competed against. Queens like Shuga Cain, A’Keria C. Davenport and even Nina West have paled in comparison when it came to their camera time this season. It really has been The Silky Show (she referenced this in episode one), for better or worse, but it still makes me think that the producers might be force-feeding us to really like Silky to the point where it doesn’t come naturally.
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I’ve said this in the past, but Silky to me reminds me of Jaidynn Diore Fierce’s hyped up cousin. Silky has said she’s like Latrice Royale, while some of the fanbase has shaded her and said she’s more like Mystique Summers Madison. Can I also just quickly point out that Mystique was and is a fierce queen, and that people should really brush up on getting to know someone outside of a show that aired a decade ago to see how much she’s blossomed? S M H.
Jaidynn was fun like Silky without ever stealing focus from the other queens. I think that’s what makes her annoying in that way is that she’s blissfully unaware of her self-centeredness on a show where you are heavily judged in the court of public opinion for how you behave on a 42-minute edited program (plus Untucked).
Her ego has also gotten in the way of excelling in certain challenges, notably the face-kini runway last week. Silky’s decision to not wear makeup was slammed by Michelle Visage, and rightfully so. The 28-year-old has also gone on record to say that she doesn’t plan on elevating herself any further than she has for the rest of the competition when Shuga asked everyone this on a recent episode. And then there was the reading challenge, which I would prefer to simply fast forward through as it was the first time I’ve seen RuPaul get visibly frustrated during something that is supposed to be funny and silly.
On the flipside, the b**ch has done incredibly well. Her performance as TS Madison in Snatch Game was on the ball and freaking hilarious. She also made me LOL during the LADP challenge and has aesthetically been pleasing to the eye on the runway for the most part. She and Nina are also the only two queens left in the game that have not lip synced for their lives just yet. Not only that, but Silky has the best track record left of the six remaining queens, having only been in the low group twice.
Something that the audience hasn’t really seen from Silky yet, to the best of my knowledge, is a truly emotional moment. We get this from so many others, like Brooke Lynn Hytes’ emotional message from her mother on Untucked but have yet to see this from her. I hope that this does happen at some point so that the fanbase can see another side of this larger than life (no pun intended) character, because this show has a way of making you hate then love then hate then love a queen all within a matter of a season or even an episode.
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If anything, Silky has saved this season from being boring. Season 11 has given me season 7 vibes throughout, although I do think this group of girls is better collectively than the ones during the Katya/Trixie/Violet days. Silky’s still the name on everybody’s mouth, and that will continue as the show progresses all the way to finale night, whether she makes it there or not.
Bottom line: Silky is hella entertaining and has been interesting to watch from start until now. Am I #TeamSilky for the win right now? No, but I understand her presence and personality and appreciate that she is who she is through and through. Come through authenticity!
This is the opinion of one contributing writer and not that of Instinct Magazine or other Contributing Writers.
She was hella annoying. Too self centered, too loud, too mean.