今日吃瓜

As the finale of Drag Race Down Under Season Four fast approaches, this week the fifth queen was sent packing.

Michael James had the pleasure of sitting down with the fabulous Max Drag Queen, a standout competitor who had all the queens running scared from day one. In a candid interview, Max reflected on her experiences, the challenges faced, and the community spirit that defined this season.

鈥�I still wonder if it’s something that I should have done鈥�

Drag Race Down Under was a tough time for Max. Unbeknownst to viewers at the start of the show Max鈥檚 mother had passed away just over four weeks prior to her competing. While she tried not to let her emotions and that experience in her life define her time on the show, she still shared her vulnerability to the nation.

When talking about the experience on the show she expressed immense pride in her performance throughout the competition. 鈥淚 can’t be anything but proud of the work that I put forward. So I鈥檓 just feeling a sense of pride in everything that was shown, especially the emotions and the vulnerability that I think that I was able to showcase.鈥�

The decision to participate in the show after such an emotional time in her life was a tough one for Max and now nearly twelve months on it鈥檚 something she still reflects on. 鈥淓ven to this day, I still wonder if it’s something that I should have done or should not have done鈥� she reflects.

鈥淭here would never be the right answer for something like this. I just kind of have to find peace with the decisions I have made and ultimately, I have to know, at the end of the day that my mum, she would have wanted me to do it. So. I’m just glad that she has been honoured in some capacity and kind of immortalised on this show.鈥�

Community and Competition

Despite landing herself in the bottom and lip syncing for her life three times Max was an impressive competitor and ultimately the lip sync assassin of the season. In fact Max was such a strong competitor that nearly every queen that has exited the show has pointed to Max as the one they never wanted to go up against.

鈥淭hat’s very sweet鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’re very correct for saying that. But it’s very sweet!鈥�

It鈥檚 a very confident statement to make about ones own talent but when quizzed on why she believes that was correct she is calm and confident about her star power and confidence. 鈥淚 think doing this experience and kind of having a year that I’ve had, I’m able to confidently and not with arrogance, I think I’m confidently able to recognise that I I do have a a star power and a star quality within myself鈥� she stated.

鈥淲hen I I go and step onto the stage, I think that transcends beyond just a performance or the three minutes of time that I get on stage to be doing my work. I think that like fundamentally at my core, I’ve worked really hard to be a good person. So I think when they walked in, they were like cool well, this is someone that isn’t going to be here to fuck around.鈥�

Part of what stood out in the narrative of this season was the strong sense of community among the queens. When discussing the relationships formed with the other queens, she confirmed the cast are a 鈥渉appy family,鈥� stating, 鈥淲e do love each other very, very, very much.鈥�

But Max also pinpoints that part of this shift in dynamic on Drag Race Down Under came down to her emotional time on the show and how it bonded all of the queens together. 鈥淪ometimes I think, If I hadn’t been as highly emotional as I had been, and going through what I had been going through, if we would all be as tight knit as we were鈥� she reflects.

鈥淚 feel like my experiences of what I was going through prior to Drag Race and then what I inevitably kind of brought to the show in terms of my outside life gave kind of no room for us to like actually be mean or hate each other鈥� she said looking back at her time with the girls. 鈥淚 think that I genuinely carried in with me this wave of like 鈥榳e’re going to be nice to each other because we don’t know what’s happening in in our like personal lives鈥�.鈥�

It was this element of support for Max that seemed to shift the energy of the room, leaving the queens with no room for anything but uplifting and supporting each other. 鈥淚 understand that this is a competition. I understand this is a reality TV show, but trust and believe if you want to say something like there was no room for it鈥� she says. 鈥淚 mean, we were like shady and catty with each other, but that was instantly from a place of love and understanding.鈥�

鈥淚 do love them. They’re all talented. And I hate it鈥� she laughs.

Memorable Moments With Michelle Visage

This season also saw a shift in dynamics with the absence of RuPaul, replaced by Michelle Visage as a the host of Drag Race Down Under and a guiding voice for the queens there to Mother them and look after them.

This was evident during the time Max first revealed her struggles with the death of her mother and Michelle comforted her on the main stage. When speaking of her time with Michelle, Max revealed there was so much more to their time together than viewers got to see. 鈥淚 think the on camera and off camera Michelle were a little different鈥� she revealed, but in a very positive way. Whilst it might have been her job to support the queens on the show, she said it was much more than that. 鈥淚 feel like, you know, people are there to do their job and they’re there to judge and keep the show going, essentially. But the most I felt of a mothering figure from her was when the cameras weren’t rolling.鈥�

鈥淪he was very, very kind to me and very, very sweet and some of the things she said, I’m really I’m sad that they didn’t make it to camera, but I will forever cherish some of the things that she said to me.鈥�

While Max is keeping many of those memories for herself, she did reveal one of those conversations the pair shared.

鈥淥ne of the things that she said was that in all of the franchises that she’s been a part of and been able to watch that I was one of the best lip syncers, like I was one of the best performers she鈥檇 ever seen.鈥� And it wasn鈥檛 a comment Max was taking lightly. 鈥淪he’s seen a lot of fucking drag! So to have her say that and say it so genuinely and not for camera and not performatively it just felt like THAT was my win.鈥�

Another significant figure this season was Isis Avis Loren, the drag mother of Max, who also served as a rotating guest judge. Whilst she appreciated her presence there Max definitely felt as though it may have changed her time on the show. 鈥淚 think that everyone might have thought that Isis being there was going to mean that I had like a clean sweep or like an easier run or that the 鈥榥epotism鈥� of it all kind could come into play鈥� she said.

However Max it felt as though it was the opposite. 鈥淚f anything, I do feel like I was being judged a lot harsher than the other contestants because Isis was there鈥� she said. 鈥淪o if I ever happened to do this show again in any capacity, it’d be interesting to see what that would look like without Isis unless they did like an All Stars one sort of thing and we did teams.鈥�

鈥�Interesting鈥� Challenges and Changing Things Up

Max tackled some of the season鈥檚 more unique challenges this year, including this weeks acting challenge which was delivered in a much more isolated format. However while it looked like the queens were separated from each other during the challenge Max points out that they all knew what was going on.

鈥淭he walls are very thin at Drag Race so we knew, all of us knew Nikita was going to be in the bottom that week. We knew that Vybe was not feeling very good about her performance. Mandy鈥檚 was a big swing and a choice.鈥�

However despite their confidence in the outcome for Nikita and Vybe, the other queens all thought it was going differently for Max. 鈥淎ll the girls, all the way through to untucked, were convinced I was in the top this week.鈥�

Despite the confidence from the other queens Max was under no illusions as to her fate. 鈥淚 was not, by the way鈥� she continued. 鈥淚 was very aware that I was being sent home. Because you know, three lip syncs and blah blah blah, but, yeah, it was a very interesting challenge that’s definitely a word I would use. Definitely interesting.鈥�

And Max certainly had some thoughts on the change to the challenge format.鈥淚 just wish that we changed it up in a way that was kind of like, good. It wasn’t a great challenge, like ultimately it was a weird one. It was very very weird.鈥�

Ultimately it was a change that did come at the expense of Max鈥檚 time on the show, however she was also there for other changes this season, including the changes to the iconic Snatch Game. Named instead this year as I鈥檓 A Celebrity Impersonator Snatch Me Out Of Here the queens were split into two groups to compete in the iconic challenge, something Max found interesting, but not necessary.

鈥淚 again appreciate the swing to want to change up such a staple challenge but do I think this was necessary? No.鈥�

鈥淒o I think that there was much reference to the fact that we were like in the Outback? No.鈥�

鈥淟ike it was kind of just the set change, like there was nothing actually different about it. Again, I think this was another really interesting challenge. It’s crazy how all the interesting challenges I seem to be lip syncing on. But you know that’s OK. That’s OK鈥� she laughs.

But the upside to lip syncing as a result of these challenges was the chance to perform songs in front of the artists who created them and Max revealed she鈥檚 had two big names slide into her DM鈥檚. 鈥淚’ve had Ladyhawke and Peach PRC both message me and follow me and and just say nothing but really really kind things. So I am counting my wins鈥� she gushed.

It鈥檚 a fantastic way for Max Drag Queen to close out her time on the show. After a stellar performance during an incredibly trying time in her life she still managed to shine and make a lasting impression on fans worldwide.

Drag Race Down Under continues for just two more weeks with the second last episode airing on Friday December 14 and the Grand Finale on Friday December 20 on

Watch this conversation on YouTube!