LaLa Ri says she should have seen Alexis Michelle‘s betrayal coming on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 8.
The drag queen went through major whiplash after winning the Episode 7 challenge and lip-sync, and then being swiftly eliminated in Episode 8. It was made worse given that LaLa’s elimination wasn’t due to poor performance. She was in the bottom two with Kandy Muse following the sewing challenge, and while her Season 13 sewing challenge elimination is one of the most memorable in Drag Race history, this challenge was a redemption arc for the competitor. Her dress, while imperfect, held its own. And she thought she could rely on Alexis, whom she had saved from elimination in Episode 7.
To pay her back for the save, Alexis promised to reciprocate the kindness should she win the Episode 8 challenge and lip-sync. Alexis did, indeed, take home that week’s top prizes, but she broke her promise when selecting LaLa’s lipstick. (Alexis called it a “lose lose situation” in a response to the fan outcry on Twitter. See the full response here.)
Here, LaLa breaks down her shocking elimination and how she knew things would go south.
You were eliminated on another sewing challenge, but I think this is a much different context. Frankly, I think your dress was better than Kandy’s. Alexis’s vote seemed strategic, not based on the performances in that particular episode. Would you agree?
LaLa Ri: I definitely agree with that. Going into the sewing challenge, I knew it was possible that I would be in the bottom because I knew that Alexis was a seamstress, Jimbo is a seamstress, and Jessica [Wild] is very good making garments as well. So it wasn’t a surprise that I was in the bottom. I can sew, but I’m not a seamstress. But it was a shocker that she sent me home after I saved her last week. But at the end of the day, it’s a competition. You cannot trust these girls. I said early in the season, you cannot trust a drag queen. And that proved my point.
It was crazy how quick of a flip it was. Have you seen the fan reactions to your elimination on Twitter? People are pretty sad.
I have seen a lot of them. It warms my heart to know that I have so much support from the fans. I love them for that. I’m trying my best to stay off of social media because I haven’t watched the episode quite yet, but yeah, [the fan response is] lovely.
i’m glad that @lalari got to make these memorable moments, show us new sides to herself and leave an inedible impact on #allstars8.
she’s an electrifying performer & when she’s shining she shines bright. her elimination this week was untimely after having two excellent weeks. pic.twitter.com/XHpwgzaTq9
— mikey ♉️ | #teamluxx (@whatsafastgame) June 23, 2023
It’s just hard to see a queen go home when they didn’t give a bad performance in the episode, but I guess it’s part of the game. As you well know, Alexis didn’t protect you after she promised she would. You were kind to her onstage in that moment. Did any part of you want to call her out for the betrayal right then?
Not necessarily. I didn’t want to show [host RuPaul] that I was a sore loser, because I’m not. Did I want to wait for her backstage in the parking lot? Yes. [Laughs] But at that moment, it’s a competition. And I don’t want to be a sore loser, especially in front of Mother Ru. So I’ll just take my loss with grace and leave with my head held high, honey, and know that I was huge competition to these girls and they need to be out of there. Because it’s the top five, and we are getting down to the nitty gritty. So you want the girl that you feel is going to stand in your way, out of the way.
And you were on an incline; you weren’t showing signs of getting worse in the competition. What is your relationship with Alexis like now?
I love all my sisters. Doing Drag Race is an experience that a lot of people don’t understand, and to do it with your core cast is just a great experience. I have nothing but love for her. I got over it. It’s a competition, somebody had to go home. Somebody has to win. There’s no bad blood.
What was your gut telling you she was going to do in that moment? Were you completely blindsided by her decision?
To be completely honest with you, I was shocked, but not too shocked. I had a feeling that she was going to save Kandy, and I prepared myself for that. I never expect things. I prepare myself for the worst, and I prepared myself to the fact that she would be sending me home.
It got me thinking about the fight in Episode 5 after snatch game with Heidi N Closet and how she had asked Alexis to vouch for her. Alexis said Heidi was right, but then she flipped her story. What were you feeling in that moment watching Alexis start to defend Heidi and then switch?
I should’ve known then! [Laughs] That was my answer not to trust her, darling! In the back of my mind, I was thinking about that moment [during Episode 8]. I was like, “Well, she was kind of flip-flopping there with with Heidi, so who’s to say she won’t do the same here, and it wasn’t it was something against Kandy. I don’t know her issue with Kandy or how she feels about Kandy. She and Kandy had an argument [in Episode 7], so I’m like, girl, you still saved her?
(L-R) Kandy Muse, Jimbo, Lala Ri, Alexis Michelle and Jessica Wild on the runway in ‘Drag Race All Stars’ Season 8 Episode 8 (Credit: World of Wonder/Paramount+)
Watching the episode, it seems like she saw you as more of a competitive threat than she saw Kandy.
That’s honestly how I feel. We all know from watching past seasons that towards the end, it’s is more performance-based challenges. They knew my weakest thing was sewing. Clearly, I’m a great performer, so let’s get the performer out of the way. She may never admit it, but I truly feel like they started to see me as a threat, especially after winning that last episode and doing so well in the Rusical before that. They understand that I was a threat, which is smart. Get the performer out of the way who’s like the best performer in the cast.
And what whiplash. You go from winning the week before to being eliminated the next.
Ugh, listen. That was a lot. That was a lot to process. I’m on a high, and then boom. I never landed on a low, though. I was still on a high even when I left. I remember saying, “I feel like a winner because I had the best time of my life” the entire time I was there, which is true. I had the best time of my life. So even with me leaving, I was still happy because I came there with a purpose to have fun, to showcase who I truly was as an artists and give the full LaLa Ri experience that I talked so much about on Season 13. So with all that I was able to do to deliver, I still left on a happy note.
There was so much improvement between your Season 13 sewing challenge and this one. How do you feel about that?
Oh, amazing. Even though I went home on a sewing challenge, I felt amazing. I looked beautiful. I felt beautiful. And I was able to say that I actually constructed and sewed a garment myself twice in the season. That was a huge personal accomplishment for me.
Kahanna Montrese said in an interview that she had an alliance with you, Kandy, Heidi, and Jimbo. Is that accurate?
These alliances. I honestly feel like, in this season, we were just throwing that word “alliance” around because it was such a fancy word that they use for All Stars. I honestly feel, truly in my heart, that everybody was truly just for themselves. They were just saying that they were part of an alliance. I don’t really feel like we were, because I remember saying in one episode that I was going to based on how I felt. I don’t care who you are. So I honestly don’t think those alliances were a thing. It was just like, OK, girl. Let’s just say it just to say it.
When you see people in reality competition shows say they’re in an alliance, that usually comes with protecting the people you’re in alliances with, and I don’t think we really saw that here.
Right, no one was protecting anybody.
LaLa Ri in her challenge-winning performance in the ‘RuCrimes’ sketch on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Season 8 Episode 7 (Credit: World of Wonder/Paramount+)
They might as well have just said they were friends before All Stars.
Exactly. [Laughs] Like, girl. Just say that.
What was your favorite look from this season?
It would probably be the first episode, the signature runway [challenge]. The red number with the train. Oh my god. I absolutely love that look. And also the looks I made were favorites of mine because I made them. But my overall favorite was definitely the first episode, the red moment.
I loved your performance in “JOAN: The Unauthorized Rusical.” Did you have fun filming that?
Yes, that was super fun. One of the challenges that I was looking forward to the most, that I didn’t get the chance to do in my original season, was the Rusical. So I was super excited to be able to do the Rusical. I had so much fun.
The Rusical and Snatch Game are always my favorites of any season.
Snatch Game was a lot of fun. Snatch Game was hard! I don’t ever have to do Snatch Game again, and I’ll be just fine, OK? But I did have fun with it.
Do you have any regrets for this from this season?
Oh! I should’ve sent Alexis home. [Laughs] No, I honestly have no regrets. You live and you learn, and like I said earlier, I had the best time of my life. I’m so grateful to RuPaul for giving me another chance to show my talents. And I’m even more blessed now. I’m working even more now. I’m doing more things that I get the chance to do during Season 13 because of COVID. So I have no regrets. I’m living my life. I’m blessed. I’m happy. And I can’t wait to continue to just keep on elevating.
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Season 8, Fridays, Paramount+
