After a split, two-part premiere extravaganza, the 14th season of VH1's beloved, Emmy-winning reality series RuPaul's Drag Race is finally in full swing, and this week, both groups of queens come together as one to kick-start the competition to become America's Next Drag Superstar!
This season is notable for featuring multiple trans competitors -- fierce queens Kerri Colby and Kornbread "The Snack" Jete -- as well as making franchise herstory for including the series' first-ever straight, cisgender, male contestant, Arkansas-based queen Maddy Morphosis.
Out got the chance to sit down virtually with the queens of this season to chat about the competition.
"I've been doing drag for about five years or so," Morphosis told Out when asked about whether or not the reaction she received from Drag Race viewers for being cis and straight was different than the reaction she was expecting. "There's always been some reaction from people when they find out I was straight, but it was always just kind of like, 'Oh, you are? Okay cool.' There was never any issue, no one ever said anything, and I've done shows, pageants all over the place."
She continued: "Going into the show, I thought it was gonna be, you know, a little blip, a little fun fact. I had no idea it was gonna be the topic of so much discussion and such a polarizing thing for people. Definitely not what I anticipated."
Though Maddy's casting did generate a lot of buzz and some backlash, a lot of people vocally showed their support for her, including season 13 finalist Gottmik, who was the first trans male contestant on Drag Race.
During last month's 47th People's Choice Awards on Tuesday night, she shared with Variety that she could relate to what Morphosis was going through.
"When I first got announced on the show, I was flooded with people who did not think I should be on the show or I shouldn't be doing drag," Gottmik recalled.
But she wants to set something straight: "Drag is for everyone."
"It's an art form," she continued. "It's not about your identity."
Season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race is currently airing new episodes on Friday nights at 8pm ET/PT on VH1!
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