She's stolen the hearts of the nation in Celebrity Big Brother, helped bring RuPaul's Drag Race to audiences all over the world and now, Michelle Visage is nearing the end of a tour that has seen some of Drag Race's fiercest and fishiest queens hit the stage for a show like no other show on the planet.
Fronting the tour as hostess whilst also getting in on the action and showing off her impressive pipes, Michelle's the perfect icon for the LGBTQ community. Yesterday we caught up with the lady herself whilst she was in London, ahead of tonight's big show at the Clapham Grand (tickets available at http://www.eventim.co.uk). Find out what she had to say below!
You're currently touring Europe with Battle Of The Seasons, this is the first time the show's come to the UK, how have you found the response?
I can't even put into words actually how incredible the response has been because, I knew it would be big when we finally got over here, I just didn't realise it would be that big. The UK has not let me down!
So the Manchester show was a really good experience for you all then?
Massive, massive! And I kept telling the kids, you know they've been here before, they've all played the clubs and stuff like that, and I was trying to prepare them for the love they were gonna feel and hear, and I don't think they were prepared for what they actually got.
What's it like hitting the road with the Queens?
It's everything that you think it would be, touring with drag queens on the bus. It's a reality show within itself, it's amazing, and I'm the mom and they're my children. Some of them behave, some of them don't!
I did see you on Lorraine, where you said the ones who don't behave don't get to come...
Well you know in the beginning we had to learn that stuff. In the beginning we had some other queens and you tried it out here and there and you realise who plays well with others and who doesn't.
The fans will be scrabbling online to look at the line-ups now to try and figure out who you mean!
I know, I know they will but they'll never figure it out because there are a lot of queens who are not on the tour and that's not the reason why.
RuPaul's Drag Race is now in the midst of its seventh season in the States and viewership is still growing, why do you think the show continues to be such a success?
Well RuPaul is an icon for starters, and I think every kid who aspires to be something different and make a name for themselves need only look to RuPaul. So, that's for starters, and then the second aspect of it is because there's so much more to the show than just boys wearing dresses and makeup. This show has heart, it has integrity, it has grit, it has layers, it's really a journey. It's a life-changing show about rooting for the underdogs, because all these kids in their own lives have been underdogs, and all of these kids come out the winners, and that's what it's about, it's about heart.
I do think the show is constantly evolving as well and we learn even more now about the queens than ever before.
Yeah, well it's important to understand how they got to where they are.
We've had some controversial eliminations this season with Trixie and Max...
There's always controversial eliminations, and if there's a queen that they love, a particular queen, and that particular queen goes home, usually they blame me because I'm the easiest one to blame! I'll take the blame, I don't give a crap, but somebody always has to go home. And if you watch the show and you saw the Snatch Game, Max was horrible. It wasn't because Max finally put black hair on, it's because his Snatch Game was terrible. He looked great, he embodied NONE of Sharon Needles.
I guess the huge fan response doesn't ever shock you then?
Oh no I expect it, and I could care less. If they wanna yell at me, they can yell at me all they want. I don't focus on negativity, I focus on the ones that love it and get it.
Which Queens this season do you think really make the most of this chance and opportunity they've been given?
You're gonna have to watch the show and figure that out for yourself, I can't speak for the Queens, you know?
What have been some of your favourite moments of this season so far?
Well this season is really not, it's just maybe halfway through now. I loved, first of all some of the guest judges have been fantastic, so I've loved some of the guest judges we have had. I loved Violet Chachki's corset moment, it was pretty amazing. I absolutely loved Kennedy as Little Richard on Snatch Game. I hate, I hate queens coming on and doing boy drag on RuPaul's Drag Race because I feel like, it's not edgy, it's not different, you can see it anywhere. On RuPaul's Drag Race I wanna see drag queens doing drag, but Little Richard is a drag queen! (laughs) So in essence, even though it was boy drag, it was still drag queen!
A favourite of mine was Ginger's Adele.
Ginger's Adele was fantastic, but you know I wondered watching it if people really know how crazy Adele is. The Brits know how crazy Adele is, Americans have no clue about Adele and how crazy she is! So I definitely appreciated it, it was fantastic!
Who would be your ideal guest judge on the show?
Madonna.
I was expecting that answer!
But I would go with Madonna, Cher, Lady Gaga, Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, Judy Garland, even though she's dead. All the gay icons that we haven't had on yet. They're always welcome!
All on the same panel!
Oh my God, no way! Ru would have a f**king heart attack! No! Me too!
Will we still be seeing a second All-Stars season?
I think that it's inevitable that it will happen, we just don't know when. I think Ru mentioned it a year and a half ago, and the internet went wild assuming that it was happening and then it didn't happen, they were like: 'what happened?' That's because all Ru said was: 'Yeah it's gonna happen', but we don't know when it's gonna happen. But inevitably, it would have to happen, wouldn't it?
Absolutely! And I imagine we're in the same place for Drag Race UK, with things still being up in the air?
Of course. Well, it's up in the air but I know it's gonna happen, it's just a matter of timing for that. But the good thing is, truTV picked up seasons four through seven, so I'm hoping and thinking that because they're gonna be running them on terrestrial TV here in the UK, people like all the women and heterosexual men and moms and stuff who watched me on Big Brother, are gonna be able to now see the TV show that I kept talking about over and over again. They didn't watch on Netflix but now they'll be able to sit down at tea time and watch the telly and see me and go: 'Oh, there's that girl from Big Brother!', and then they're gonna get what it is that I do. And as we get more of those people, then they're gonna understand that this show is so much more than just drag queens prancing around and being shady, and that's how we're gonna end up getting the UK season commissioned, I think.
Well I really do hope it's successful and goes well for you!
Aw, thanks sweetie.
Would you do Celebrity Big Brother again perhaps for an All-Stars season?
I would absolutely do the All-Stars season, they would be STUPID not to have me!
Who would you like to see on there alongside you?
From my season? Probably Katie Hopkins just because after all the garbage she's been talking, it's time for me to confront her face to face, and not just on Twitter, because she's definitely out of line at this point. I love her as a person, but the sh*t that she's been talking is way out of line. Completely overboard. How can you say you wanna be a gay icon and then back Dolce and Gabbana? No girl, that's not the way the world works, no.
If you read Gay Times this month, I call her out, and by the way I went after her on Twitter when she did that, go back and check my feed! I destroyed her with that, I destroyed her with talking about how you can't just run off depression with a good pair of jogging shoes. Trust me, I wanna debate her, I'll debate her in a minute publicly. I will take her down so quickly she won't know what's hit her. Which is why if I go in I want it to be me and Hopkins, if they do an All-Stars.
We know now that you did confront her in the house but we didn't see that in the nightly hour that was shown.
No they definitely did not want you to see me confront her on anything. But that's okay, 'cause I'll make sure I do it every time I see her.
I'd like it to be her and I, I'd like it to be Rylan, I'd like it to be Heidi and Spencer, I'd like it to be Nikki Grahame from regular Big Brother, I'd like it to be Jackie Stallone, oh Pete Burns has to be in there! I would create the best Big Brother All-Stars! They need to let me do it!
What's next for you following on from the Battle of the Seasons tour?
So after the tour is over on the 20th, I'm back here on May 7! I'm doing G-A-Y Porn Idol again. I've got my book coming out November 1st, I'm working on a few projects that I hope get off the ground here, so I won't talk about them until they're done, but you've not seen the last of me on British telly, that's for sure.
Remember to book your tickets for tonight's London Battle of the Seasons show at Clapham Grand at http://www.eventim.co.uk!
Tagged in Michelle Visage