Ahead of next week’s grand finale, the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11 reunited on Thursday for an intense 90-minute truth session. Shade was thrown, tears were shed and weaves literally tumbled.
Read on for the episode’s 13 biggest moments, including a few surprising reveals about how the franchise’s first romance began… and how it ended:
* Vanessa Vanjie Mateo coyly confirmed that she’s gotten herself a new set of chompers since last we saw her, but when Ru asked about the work she’s had done to her face, the meme queen snapped. (“If you ain’t filling, bitch, you ain’t winning!”)
* Sadly, Vanjie won’t be flashing those brand-new pearly whites at Brooke Lynn Hytes anymore, as the queens confirmed that they split after four months of dating. It ultimately came down to conflicting schedules, with Vanjie constantly traveling for work. “I wanted the Notebook experience, and I was getting a Post-It,” Vanjie explained.
* Speaking of that relationship, we apparently have Silky Nutmeg Ganache to thank for it. Brooke Lynn wasn’t looking for romance, but she noticed that Vanjie was being flirty. One night at the hotel, Silky told Brooke Lynn about Vanjie’s crush, and the rest is… Canadian bacon?
* Both Yvie Oddly and Scarlet Envy confronted Ra’Jah O’Hara about the mean, elementary school-level insults she flung at them, both in her confessionals and in the workroom. They didn’t necessarily get the apologies they wanted, but at least we got this surprisingly introspective bit of wisdom from Ra’Jah: “Hurt people hurt people.”
* Plastique Tiara’s fellow queens still don’t seem to fully grasp her backstory, saying that her pop cultural awareness varied week to week, based on what was “convenient” for the competition.
* Now for some real drama — Ru asked Yvie and Silky about their multiple confrontations throughout the season, which Yvie attributes to getting frustrated by Silky’s resistance to the judges’ critiques. As for Silky, her anger came from a much simpler place: “I don’t trust you hoes!”
* And what’s this? Some surprise shade from Nina? Let’s watch: Silky revealed that she gained 30 pounds while filming the season — or as Vanjie scientifically explained it, “Munch, munch! Crunch, crunch!” — and she outgrew her padding as the weeks continued. This could have been the end of that, but Nina wasn’t about to let Silky get away with that excuse, so she jumped in to inform Silky that there were spare pads in the workroom for the contestants to make alterations.
* One of the only real apologies of the night came from Silky, who didn’t know the extent of Yvie’s illness when she suggested that she be sent home for being unwell. Tears were shed. It was beautiful.
* And now for something less beautiful… Scarlet called out Brooke Lynn for saying at a viewing party that all of the queens “hated” Scarlet while filming. “I personally did not enjoy Scarlet on the show,” Brooke Lynn said tonight. “You were constantly trying to one-up. It ruffled my feathers. … I wasn’t sad to see you go when you went. On the show, I didn’t care for you too much … and I know a lot of the other girls felt the same way I did. But it was not my place to speak for them.”
* Because no reunion is complete without a little mystery, Ru was determined to figure out what happened to Ariel Versace’s wigs. As she explained tonight, “I moved all my wigs to a separate little section. When I was packing up, I was in my feelings and forgot I moved stuff. I took several weeks to unpack my bags and realized I forgot an entire shelf.” She then awkwardly confessed to Plastique that she didn’t leave it for her. It was a lot of drama over some hair, but it was all worth it to watch Ra’Jah pull out — and launch — the Ariel wig she took home with her. (“The tumble-weave!”)
* The reunion’s most emotional moment came courtesy of Mercedes Iman Diamond, who revealed that her sisters now support her drag career 100 percent.
* Kahanna Montrese said it was “really hard” to have been left out of the opulence phenomenon. Also… who?
* And Nina West redeemed herself with one of the best reads of the season: “Soju, it’s a shame your career hasn’t exploded like your cyst. Tell me, really quick: Did it… K-Pop?”
What were your favorite moments from Thursday’s reunion? And which of the final four queens — A’Keria C. Davenport, Brooke Lynn, Silky and Yvie — are you rooting for? Drop a comment with all of your thoughts below.
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