Monet X Change Dishes on Planning Lip Syncs, The Vixen and Pussycat Wigs

· Updated on May 29, 2018

Everybody get out your sponges and get ready to soak up Monet X Change. The New York queen, who delivered the very best lip sync of the season and one of the best in the show’s history, sashayed away on Thursday’s episode of Drag Race. But she’ll always shantay in our hearts due to her trademark humor, wit and of course her pussycat wigs.

Monet X Change took some time to talk to INTO about her tenure on the show and her upcoming Target sponge line. (That’s a joke.)

Back on day one, what was it like to walk into the workroom and see so many black queens on this season?

It honestly was amazing. RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the most inclusive competition shows and to see so much chocolate representation was amazing.

Also, what about the number of New York City queens. Did you feel relieved to see them or did it make you nervous?

It was very comforting to see the NYC queens because we are all so different and it was really cool to see the five of us represented.

You forged a friendship with Eureka during the season. What made you two vibe?

I recognize her desire to make people like her. We are all drag queens and we are all flawed, and I love that Eureka wears all her flaws on her sleeve.

You were somewhat of a lip sync assassin this season, and I’m wondering, what for you goes into planning a Drag Race lip sync versus just one you would do at a normal gig?

I am trying to find the nuanced thing to do in the number and I try and read what the viewer is reacting to and give more of that so they will have a good time.

You have the most iconic lip sync in Drag Race season 10. Have you performed “Pound the Alarm” since you did it on the show and do you do the fake death drop move?

If you want to know that you have to come see me live!

I wanna talk about The Vixen. You were one of the queens on camera who was very vocal that you believed she was being too negative. Do you think it was the stress of the competition? Have you been able to be closer since the show wrapped?

It is the stress of the show and the frustration she was having because of her performance on the show. You get caught up in the moment of trying to win and show RuPaul how fierce you are and I think she just took that out on Eureka.

What did you make of the judges harping on you for your pussycat wigs? Do you feel like there’s a bias toward like a pageant-y aesthetic among the judges’ panel?

I really appreciate RuPaul’s guidance and help getting me outside of my comfort zone with my looks. However, I do think that short hair is beautiful and I love that my pussycat wigs help portray that.

It often felt like you were giving them 100% Monet X Change and the judges were just asking that to be tweaked to their liking. Were you thinking at all during the competition of like, staying true to yourself but changing to play the game?

No, being authentically myself is what got me there. They wanted me to try something but at the end of the day, what I went with in my suitcase was authentically me and that’s what I delivered. I alway appreciate their direction and will take some of the feedback with me as I move forward in my career.

You were in the bottom two twice in a row. After that you enjoyed a long streak of being in the top without winning. What do you think changed after your lip syncs?

I think that I remembered why I was there. Miz Cracker left me a note saying “10 Things I love About Monet” and that note helped set me back into the reality of the show.

I want to talk about this week’s challenge. Did you feel you were judged too harshly for the “drag family” resemblance between you and Tyler?

We didn’t really get terrible critiques and we weren’t judged that harshly, which is why I was surprised that we were in the bottom.

I saw last night you brought a bucket of sponges with you to Roscoe’s. Are sponges now officially part of the Monet X Change brand?

Absolutely. We are going live at Target starting next week, official line of Monet X Change sponges! If only…

Now that there are five queens left, who is your favorite to win?

Miz Cracker. She is my friend before the show she is my friend after the show and I think she is fucking fierce and cool.

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