Coco Montrese on All Stars, Janet Jackson, & Stepping Outside Her Comfort Zone

With a new season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars comes the return of some of our favorite queens in Drag Race herstory. Now that their careers are underway, we get to see who's really become star quality.

This week's season premiere saw the queens putting their talents to use. In a talent show that showcased singers, dancers, and gymnasts, we were treated to an entertaining display. Roxxxy Andrews came out on top with her burlesque routine, alongside Tatianna who captivated with a surprisingly hilarious spoken word performance.

But in an interesting twist, RuPaul decided not to eliminate any queens this season. Instead, she turned the responsibility over to the winner of each challenge. Winning the lip sync for her legacy against Tatianna, Roxxxy was faced with the heavy decision of sending home one of the bottom three queens. Sparing Phi Phi O'Hara and Adore Delano, she voted off Coco Montrese whose dance routine failed to impress.

We caught up with Coco following this week's episode to talk about life as an all star.

Out: What was it like returning to the work room and being in front of the judges again?

Coco Montrese: It was kind of nerve-wracking, especially with the judges this time being your peers. That was pretty interesting. But I was happy to be there.

Was there any queen who you were surprised by how much they've changed since their original season?

Tatiana, she was on season two. I mean, she was beautiful in season two but gosh, to see her now. Wow, she's amazing.

You and Alyssa are on much better terms now. What was it like working with her and the rest of the queens again?

It was a sigh of relief to have her there. Throughout my career, Alyssa and I have been friends, and she was just a great support system. So it was really great to have her there and be there behind me, pushing me.

You stepped out of your comfort zone for the talent show. Do you regret doing that at all?

No, I don't regret it. In this industry, in order to have longevity, you need to take chances and you need to be able to evolve and not be the same. I don't want to be predictable and I don't want to be the Coco Montrese that does Janet Jackson. I wanted to be unpredictable. So I don't regret it. Of course I wish it turned out a bit better. But hey, that's a part of being an entertainer. You have to grow.

So the judges were kind of harsh this time. If the tables were turned, what would you most want to call them out on?

Not so much on how harsh they were on me. I'm older so I can handle it. There's a certain way you can tell someone that they're awful and they'll want do better and they'll leave the room with a smile. And I just felt like that's the part where Adore, I was just a little bit more protective of her and how harsh it came across for her because I know her personality and who she is. It was just a lot for her to handle.

Did you feel betrayed at all when you got eliminated?

Not betrayed. Disappointed? Yes. Betrayed? No. I put myself in the same shoes as her and no, I wouldn't have wanted to do the same thing either. I wouldn't want to be in that position every week to make a decision like that.

Do you think it should've been someone else?

That's hard to say. It depends. We talked about it. What are we going base this off of? How are we going to do this? And that type of thing is hard to say. I was out of my element. It may not have been that bad, it may not have been that good. It may have just been mediocre. But it's not something that I always do. I think I judge that differently from someone who says "I'm a singer. That's what I do." And then you sing in eight different keys. I'm not saying I would have chosen someone else but it is what it is.

The episode left off with a cliffhanger. Is there anything you can tell us about what's to come?

We're all just going to have to watch and see

What do you have going on that you're most excited about?

Everything. Janet's out having her baby right now God, I wish I could be out having that baby if I was her with her billionaire husband but I'm not. So I'm actually out still touring, still doing lots of big corporate events, still working in the Vegas show, which is amazing. I'm doing corporate events at the Bellagio as well. I'm doing a lot still and traveling the country. RuPaul's Drag Race has given me a great outlet to be able to do that. So I'm very very happy.

In all of Drag Race herstory who do you think is the hottest boy?

I would have to say Pearl is really cute. She's got that James Dean look.