Michelle Visage has spoken out about one of the stand-out moments of the current series of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’, Charlie Hides’ lacklustre lip sync.
Charlie got off to a fairly strong start on the show, but wound up in the bottom two in the fourth week of the series, after getting singled out for her performance in the daytime talkshow challenge.
However, when it came to the lip sync, fans were shocked when she gave pretty much the bare minimum while performing Britney Spears’ ‘I Wanna Go’, particularly in comparison to competitor Trinity Taylor, who threw everything into it.
Since her elimination, Charlie has provided a variety of reasons to explain the performance, revealing she suffered a cracked rib in a cheerleading challenge and “couldn’t move”, suggesting she’d “never heard the song” and insisting that not lip syncing was a deliberate “strategy” as she’s more used to live performance.
Michelle has now shared her thoughts on the lip sync that had every ‘Drag Race’ fan talking, and she’s blaming footwear.
Speaking to HuffPost UK on ‘BUILD’, Michelle said: “Here’s the thing. When you go onto that main stage, there is going to be a small chance that you’re going to be lip syncing. I would never wear heels that you can not move in. That’s a big deal, because you know, if you kick those shoes off, you’re going to get ‘the eyebrow of death’ from me. So I think that was mistake number one.”
Mistake number two, she claimed, was not having the determination to stick it out.
She continued: “If ’m a performer I’m still a performer. Don’t make excuses. Perform. How badly do you want it? She didn’t want it badly enough.
“If that were me, even if I were to kick those shoes off, and get the eyebrow of death, I would be doing whatever I could do to make up for that. Because I do understand her not wanting to break her ankles in those shoes…”
Michelle did have praise for Charlie, who she called “beautiful” and “quite a contender”, adding: “It made me sad, because I know what she does, I’ve seen her. So that was a bit of a letdown, but she’s only letting down herself.
Responding to Charlie’s suggestion she deliberately threw the lip sync, Michelle did not mince her words, saying simply: “That’s a lie. Who would ever throw a competition for the other person? No, she fought hard to get in that. She gave up. End of.
“That’s copping out, to me. That’s giving up. I mean, I understand. But that’s your moment. Why would you give it up?
“Every drag queen that applies for the show fights… you’ve heard some of the queens, seven seasons to get on, four seasons to get on, you know?
“If that were me, I would have done cartwheels, I would act like a fool, because Ru and I are an easy laugh that way, I would have done whatever to stay on. That’s just me.”
When asked whether she felt annoyed by Charlie “giving up”, Michelle responded: “Of course! It’s so frustrating to see… somebody just let it all go away. Of course! It’s so close you could touch it.”
Charlie’s wasn’t the only controversial lip sync of the season, with Valentina’s refusal to take off her mask also proving to be a sticking point more recently.
Find out Michelle’s thoughts on that, as well as working with Lady Gaga, her thoughts on Farrah Moan’s roast and her message for the LGBT+ community in her ‘BUILD’ interview, which you can watch in full below: