Shangela is arguably one of the hardest working drag queens out there. She has no doubt made lemons out of lemonade after being eliminated 1st in the 2nd season of RuPaul’s Drag Race 10 years ago.
The Paris, Texas native is still keeping us entertained all this time later, both on and off television. Her new show, We’re Here, airing Thursday nights on HBO, has been receiving rave reviews by critics and fans alike. It follows her and other Drag Race legends Eureka and Bob The Drag Queen as they travel across the United States and recruit small-town residents to participate in one-night drag shows.
Filming the six-part docu-series had its ups and downs along the way, one of which involving the cops. “There are moments that happened directly in our face,” she said during an interview with E! News. “Like when we’re in one of the cities and the police are called on us. They call 911 and said, ‘There are these men dressed as women outside my store, and I want them to leave.’ I mean, I was like, ‘You called the police on Shangela? I’m so sweet! My sisters, we’re just handing out some fliers on public property!’ We were not even in the store, we were out on the sidewalk. It was a sobering reality that these are situations that local people deal with sometimes on a regular basis.”
Shangela also gabbed about the current season of Drag Race and revealed who she’s rooting for the most out of the queens that are left. “I think that there are obviously some front runners and people who continue to win, but there are some major standouts in this season,” she said. “Someone like Heidi N Closet. I don’t think she should change her name. I think it should stay Heidi N Closet. I love that name. And I think that she really is the breakout star of this season.”
Shangela also weighed in on the Sherry Pie drama. The New York City queen was disqualified from the shw after numerous catfishing allegations against her came to light.
“You know, I would just tell you this. I don’t know Sherry Pie. I’m not I’m probably as familiar with the situation as you are,” she revealed. “But I will say that Drag Race is a show that’s about, you know, fun. And it’s sometimes, for some people, especially during this rough time that we’re all having, you know, where we’re all social distancing and staying in, we need some bright spots in our life.”
She continued, “And Drag Race has always been, for me, at least, one of those bright spots. So I think that the network and the producers of the show did what they had to do to maintain the integrity of this show, and keeping it as light and fun and a bright spot as they could.”