Sashay Away: Robbie Turner on Roller Skates, Contouring, and the Maya Angelou of Drag

This week, RuPaul had her queens travel over the rainbow for their challenge, giving the ladies from Little Women: LA a drag makeover inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Naomi Smalls snatched a well-deserved win for her and her partner's Scarecrow inspired look. But unfortunately Robbie Turner's Cowardly Lion getup did not impress the Wizard... or Marc Jacobs. After lip syncing against Derrick Berry, Robbie was sent home.

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Although it's sad to see her go, it's exciting to hear what she's been up to. We recently spoke with Robbie about roller skates and Carol Burnett. Find out what Robbie would have done differently with a second chance:

Out: How did you catch RuPaul's attention?

Robbie Turner: Gosh, I think you'd have to ask her. (laughs) I don't know. I kind of took a cue from her books. Keep working, build, don't get stagnant and plateau. Keep pushing for something bigger and better. I hope that's why.

How would you explain your inspiration or your creative process?

I like to honor women. That's the biggest thing. I was surrounded by strong women growing up, and it was kind of paying homage to my mother or my grandmother who basically raised me. So that's kind of who I try to be in drag.

Did you have a favorite queen from a past season?

Oh my gosh. Hands down, Latrice Royale. She's like the Maya Angelou of drag. I could listen to her talk about anything. She's so sweet.

You also know Jinx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme from Seattle right?

I do. Yea, and Magnolia. Jinx and Ben are very close. Magnolia, as far as I know, is friendly with them. I've never really been around when Magnolia was in town. But yeah, I'm fairly close to Jinx and Ben. So it's nice to hear from them when they're not touring Australia or wherever cell phone towers don't reach America.

What was it like seeing yourself on TV?

It's kind of a surreal experience. It's almost like you're watching someone else. It's like it's not happening to you if that makes any sense at all. It's exciting and it's ridiculous. It's new, and now that I know what I look like, I would definitely make some contour changes. (laughs)

That roller skate lip sync was pretty epic. Do you skate regularly or was it just something you remember from as a kid?

I'd been to a roller skating party for my friend like three years ago, and that was the last time. And before that, it's been even longer. So I hadn't skated but I used to be a competitive skater once upon a time in a former life. It's not like riding a bike but it's a lot of fun. I was really surprised that I seemed to be the only one that knew how to roller skate within the whole cast. It's like, did no one grow up in a roller rink? I was impressed that no one could really skate standing and everyone needed to like fan at the air. I guess I'll teach a class.

You should. "Drag Queens on Wheels" or something.

Could you imagine?

What would you say is harder? High heels or roller skates?

Well, skates are definitely harder because you can't really go in any direction. You can only go forward or backwards. And even looking at the lip sync, I jump off the stage but the skates are so heavy, it almost looks like I fall off the stage.

Yea, that's what I was wondering. I wasn't sure if it was an accident or not.

I highly doubt that RuPaul, the queen of all queens, would have the same reaction if I fell off the stage. It was more amazement when you see the clip, not 'Oh, that bitch just fell off the stage.' (laughs) But it was a lot more exhilarating in person I think. Everyone in the room, even the other girls were like, that was insane. And Cynthia was dancing her ass off. There was no way I could dance against Cynthia. Are you kidding me? She's like our dancing queen.

If you had a second chance, what would you have done differently?

I would have liked to have seen what my face looked like on TV before because I lightened my makeup a lot which makes me mad. I was thinking, oh you're on TV, you're on a HiDef camera. It was a learning curve. You don't really get a great representation when you're on the show so you don't really know how that turns out. And it's so hard. You literally get in your head for something that you're very much prepared for, which can get to you really quickly if you're not careful. You're thinking a million things and sometimes you're focusing too hard on something silly when at the time, it seems crucial.

So if I talked to myself now, like if I was going to reenter the competition, I'd be like, 'Calm the hell down. You're gonna be fine. Just focus and trust yourself.' But RuPaul is beautifully intimidating. She's really made something of her career and you want to impress her, and when you feel like you're not, it's like a roller coaster going down and backwards. So you're trying to backpedal and it's even more intimidating but you're doing it to yourself. She's not doing it. That's the crazy part.

What have you been up to since you left the show?

Well, I work really heavily and consistently in the Seattle area but I'm now touring the country which is kind of a dream come true. I'm in San Francisco right now and I'm flying back to Seattle to start rehearsals with my cast for my Hard Rock Cafe show that opens at the end of the month. It's like the The Carol Burnett Show so it's all sung live and heavily danced, and comedy sketches that I write. So it will be really exciting, and the hope is to bring that around the world. It's cute. You'll have to check it out.

Definitely. So who on the show are you rooting for now?

It's so hard. I'm closest with Naomi and Kim Chi so they have my heart. I want them to succeed so much. I was really excited for this last episode as silly as it is because I go home, but to see Naomi finally be the Naomi that I know, honestly like a mother hen, I got tears in my eyes. And people were like, 'Is it because you're going home?' No, Naomi won. She so deserved it. She worked so hard and she was beautiful. It's nice to see that turning point in your sisterhood.

Do you really want Bozo running your country? Thomas Roberts and Vivica A. Fox guest judge. Catch all new episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race Mondays at 9/8c on Logo: