Yahoo News Heidi N Closet on why she decided to stay after threatening to quit RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8
It's time for Heidi N Closet to once again "worry about Heidi" on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8.
After the season 12 Miss Congeniality winner served not-so-soft and not-so-supple drama when she threatened to quit the AS8 competition on Friday's episode of Untucked, Heidi exclusively tells EW's Quick Drag podcast (below) why she ultimately decided to remain in the competition — despite not earning a top placement from the judges for her dazzling display in the Supermarket Ball challenge.
"At the end of the day, it came down to, was I content with all that I had done there, and what I finished showing?" Heidi explains, adding that a significant portion of what inspired her to remain on the show happened "off camera," away from the spotlight. "I was like, I have a little more to show. But, that day was a very rough day, and it was a very emotional day. I was also taken aback by [Mrs. Kasha Davis] unfortunately leaving us. I was very hurt by that, too. They didn't show how close me and Kasha got, I was walking around calling her auntie and stuff. It was just a rough day."
Toward the end of Untucked, Heidi confided in fellow AS8 competitor Kandy Muse that she was prepared to exit the show after the panel declared her among the week's "safe" group, instead of placing her in the running for the week's challenge victory. "Baby, I'm done. Ya'll are in for a gag tonight, honey. I'm leaving," Heidi said, though she proceeded with filming the rest of the episode.
Paramount+ Heidi N Closet on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8'
Heidi also elaborates on her mindset at the time, revealing that, in addition to other cast members probing her to speak when she wanted to sit in her feelings on the Untucked set, she was also going through deep personal issues prior to leaving home to film AS8 — all of which contributed to her feelings that day.
"We go to Drag Race, we lose our support system that we're so accustomed to, that was weighing on me, there was a lot going on with my family around the time I left as well, because we'd lost my grandmother two years prior, and my family had been really struggling. The last time I was with my entire family, a gun got pulled out," Heidi recalls. "It's been quite the struggle there. We get [to Drag Race], it's just a pressure cooker in the competition and a long day of filming, late nights working on stuff.... it was just overwhelming and, in that moment, I was frustrated as well."
In a further tease for next week's episode, Heidi doubles down on her promise (in a preview released at the end of Friday's episode) to expose secrets that could re-route the entire competition.
"The congeniality crown is going to stay on, but it's going to get a little dirty for sure," Heidi says, before classifying the tea she has to spill involves "betrayal, heartbreak, denial," and "delusion." Paging (Nurse) Mistress Isabelle Brooks with the Drag Delusion vaccine!
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 continues Friday on Paramount+. Listen to Heidi's full interview above, and check out more from the AS8 cast in the complete Quick Drag podcast feed below.
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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