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If any queen was robbed of anything during the 17th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” it was New Jersey’s own Crystal Envy. The 27-year-old drag veteran was one of the most polished competitors who easily could have won her elimination lip sync on the seventh episode. Like many great queens before her, however, the Snatch Game challenge was her undoing.
“I’m really proud of what I got to showcase. I feel like I did what I do my best, and I did it at a 10 at a time level,” Envy says. “I do think it was cut a little too early because I definitely had a lot more to show. However, things happen for a reason, and my time will come.”
Does that mean an “All Stars” appearance sooner rather than later? It would certainly make sense. A queen who will absolutely be on “All Stars” at some point is Envy’s friend and the CAMEO sensation of the season, Kori King.
“I feel good about my run. I mean, I looked hideous, so I’m happy that I left sooner rather than later, I will say,” King says bluntly. “And at least my wife sent me home, so I can’t be mad at that.”
The “wife” in question is the aforementioned Collins, who lasted a bit longer in the competition. The pair found a romantic connection that has lasted for months outside the bubble of the show, but that storyline became almost secondary to King’s big personality and, um, questionable makeup and wigs on the show. Aesthetic choices that some legendary RuGirls could not help but comment about on social media and numerous podcasts. King wasn’t mad at it. She welcomes it.
“No, girl, keep you talking about me. I love the airtime. Honestly, I would never stop someone from talking about me,” King says. “I love to be talked about, negative or positive, so please keep my name in your mouth! I need to maintain relevancy! No, but seriously, I agree with them, so there’s nothing I’m mad at, so no. Yeah, they’re right. I would never take that seriously.”
What was more concerning is that King’s Boston drag sister, the notorious Plane Jane, a fixture on the previous season, never gave her a heads up about her wigline or her makeup before she began filming.
“I think they wanted her to look a mess,” Envy chimes in.
King adds, “The b**ch wanted me to f**ing fail and fail her. That’s why she didn’t want better. That’s why she’s gaining weight. And soon she’ll be the big, big, big, big, big sister. The big beluga whale. Karma’s the bitch.”
We noted we had just seen Jane perform in “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” in Las Vegas and…
King interjects, “And she looked bigger! Not big, bigger!”
Envy still thinks she shouldn’t have been in the bottom during her elimination episode (perhaps low, at worst), but both she and King agree the latter looked terrible when they went home on episode nine. King volunteers, “Oh, absolutely. I looked like s**t. I looked like s**t poo poo do do s**t.”
Envy asks, “Yeah, what was that dress?”
“It was hideous,” King states. “No, I deserved to go home. I deserved to take it. I honestly, I shouldn’t have even walked the runway away at that point was like, you know what? Something was so bad. I didn’t deserve to be on the stage. I didn’t deserve to be on the stage that night, and then they should have just sent me home before I walked the runway.”
“To save you the trauma,” Envy adds.
“Honestly,” King says.
As for what challenges the pair wish they could have participated in, Envy says she would have “ate up” the Rusical. “I would’ve ate that s**t. The f**k up I would’ve ate. My runway was sickening. And baby, I’m just, I love a good theater, and the ‘Wicked Wizard of Oz’ [as the theme]? Girl give it to me.
King says, “I probably would’ve loved to do The Roast. I would’ve loved to roast Plane and Mistress [Isabelle Brooks] and Kandy Muse. So that would’ve been fun.”
Speaking of Snatch Game, how soon before someone does a “White Lotus” inspired Parker Posey?
“In five minutes? It needs the season 18 girls to clock in,” Envy says.
King doesn’t watch “The White Lotus” (or any pop culture TV) and had no idea who Posey was, but maybe that’s cause she’s spending so much time making bank on CAMEO. And at $100 a pop, we had to ask: Is it more profitable just to do Cameos than to get booked for club gigs around the country?
King gets serious for a moment and admits, “The Cameos? A lot more, actually. Yes, yes. But now it is more or less like my side quest at this point. It’s like the game Candy Crush. Cameo is my Candy Crush. How can I improve myself and get to a higher level in this game? I’m like, I will be doing more characters because I want to talk to myself. At this point. Now I’m just competitive with myself, not just Nikki Blonsky, but myself for sure.”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 17 finale airs this Friday at 8 PM on MTV.
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
