Yahoo News Darienne Lake jokes that RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 queens will 'burn in hell' for voting her out
There's a special place beneath the cool, refreshing waters of Darienne Lake reserved for the queen's RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 sisters who voted her out of the competition, the season 6 alum jokes to EW in her elimination interview.
After a well-played performance in Friday's TV trailer comedy challenge, Darienne received positive critiques from the judges for both her acting chops and her revealing runway, but ultimately landed in the bottom two against teammates Jaymes Mansfield and Alexis Michelle — the latter of whom dropped a major bombshell when she told the judges that she didn't like Darienne's concept for the group's sketch.
In her exit interview with EW's Quick Drag podcast (audio above), Darienne shares how she felt about Alexis' revelation on the Main Stage, building confidence to wear her sexiest look ever, and teases that her fellow AS8 queens will "burn in hell" for voting her out. Read on for our Q&A.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We've seen so much strategizing, between Heidi and Lala, but also Heidi, Kandy, and Jimbo. Did you attempt to strategize with anyone in secret?
DARIENNE LAKE: I think some of the other girls were also involved in the alliances…. Going into it, being so close to Kasha Davis, we were sort of in an unsaid alliance. We weren't next to each other in the Werk Room, because the spy goes on one side, and [the other] spy goes on that side, and we come together in the end. It's like velociraptors; it's not the one you're looking at, it's the one in the bushes that's going to attack you.
Clever girls.
Clever girl, for sure. Going into it having an alliance against you, with votes that went towards me in the first episode, those are clearly the girls in the alliance. I don't blame them, it's a great way to strategize…. I didn't come away feeling that camaraderie like I did on season 6, being so close to Adore, Bianca, Courtney, maybe because I wasn't there long. Reflecting, you can't get close to somebody and create a bond or friendship when they're ready to stab a knife in your back in an alliance. I love with both feet on the ground, I need to enjoy the experience, but if somebody has an ulterior motive, like, I'm already in an alliance so I can only get so close to you, that's what prevented me from being like, "Oh my God I want to call you and text you, I miss you!"
So, Jaymes is in on this alliance, too, is what you're saying?
Or part of some alliance, yeah. I mean, she was a guest in my home, how dare she! [Laughs] We did a show before COVID, to have fun. I still like Jaymes. I've always liked her. I think she's funny.
Paramount+ Darienne Lake on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8'
We'll keep an eye on Jaymes through the season. I want to ask about Heidi, who said in the Werk Room that Kandy confided things to her off-camera that could burn down the competition. What was the reaction in the room, and do you know what this tea is?
I didn't know what the tea was at all. I had no idea. I wasn't in that alliance, I wasn't close to those girls, so I wasn't privy to that information. You hear rumors afterwards…. who knows. It's all rumors. I believe nothing of what I hear and only half of what I see. Unless a queen is going to call somebody out, I'm always like, say names!
Your runway look was so different from what we've seen from you. You looked beautiful, but when it came to judging, the scoring didn't make much sense to me. You seemed to get positive critiques on the Main Stage, we didn't see a negative critique for you until after the Alexis situation. Did what Alexis said surprise you?
Oh, absolutely it surprised me. It's like when you walk into a crosswalk and a bus hits you — especially if somebody throws you under it. Of course, it's a shock. I also felt like I was defending my position. You didn't tell me to make a comedy, you told me to make a trailer, and a trailer doesn't give away an entire ending. I felt great about the look as well. I felt nervous about the look, because I'm not somebody who shows their legs, especially because I'm misshapen, after having the melanoma and cancer removed. There's a dent in my leg, and always having people comment about my body and my legs, that was a huge hurdle for me to overcome. I felt like some of the other girls helped me feel that confidence and not give a f---.
Do you think what Alexis said made it a bottom three instead of a bottom two?
I don't think what she said made it a bottom three, but I think it had an impact. How could it not? I know she said it to save her own ass. Some things are better left unsaid. The captain goes down with the ship, and I guess I was the captain.
You voted for Jaymes to leave?
Because she voted for me. As much as I don't hold it against you, I don't forget. I vote in the way of, I support people who support me. To my knowledge, Alexis hadn't voted for me.
I'm sure people are wondering why you didn't vote for Alexis.
I think it's because Alexis was like, "I'm not voting for you," and she did vote for me in the end. It was like, "I'm not going to vote for you." Jaymes was probably going to vote for me because she already voted for me, so my best bet was that. Let them all burn in hell! I'm blocking them. Block and report for spam.
You haven't blocked anybody?
No, I haven't blocked anybody. I'm not Jaymes. You heard about that, right? They haven't gotten blocked, but I know that some have gotten unfollowed. You can go through Instagram and see who's been unfollowed…. I don't care, it's not that big of a deal, it's a television show, entertainment program, it's not a real-life documentary. It's a fun experience to build our careers, have some fun, throw some shade, and show off fabulous things, and prove to people that it doesn't matter if you go home first or excel past episode 4. I'm in the top four again: top four girls to go out first! [Laughs] I'm not going to cry myself to sleep about it. It's frustrating, but I get frustrated with myself.
Paramount+ Darienne Lake on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8'
When it was revealed that the group voted for you and you'd be leaving, what were you feeling?
I was like, son of a f---ing bitch. I was just frustrated that, especially after the first episode, a lot of the girls thought I'd be in the top. Even AOC enjoyed my Billie Eilish look. A lot of the girls thought I did well. You can't [use against me] that I've been in the bottom twice if you really don't think I deserved to be in the bottom in the first place. But they were [voting] like, I don't want the fandom to be mad at me, so I'll just do by track record or alliances. It's a bit of a cop-out.
You heard people say that they didn't want the fandom to get mad at them?
Everybody feels that way at some point, except me. There are some people who aren't going to like me, I'm not here to please them.
We have the Fame Games coming up, so we haven't seen the last of you.
Or, is there something else? I don't know…. I am a pathological liar. I'm only 27 years old. Who knows? Maybe somebody breaks an ankle, their ankle goes cleek and they'll need a replacement.
What can you tease about your runways ahead?
Expect stuff you've never seen before, and, also, there's a look that means so much to me on a personal level, to the point where I could show emotion or break into tears about it because it means something so special to me. There are other wild and crazy, unhinged things that I can't believe got the go-ahead in the approval. There's one look that's like, they approved that?
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions with the cast, special guests, and more.
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