Contrary to what some may believe, there’s more than one way to “win” a season of Drag Race. You can make it to the final and snatch the title or you can make a moment and steal the hearts of the audience. While Ivory Glaze might not have done the former on season two of Drag Race Down Under, she’s in the midst of doing the latter.
While she only made it to episode three (and on a technicality at that) she managed to pull focus the entire time. Either with her stellar looks, her emotional story, and even a minor medical emergency. She has range, honey — plus all that charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
PRIDE caught up with Ivory to discuss her exit, how to steal a show, that moment on the main stage, her thoughts on returning for a future season, oh, and her truly impressive Rhys Nicholson imitation.
PRIDE: Congratulations on pulling focus for not one, two, but three episodes! How are you feeling about your time on Drag Race Down Under?
IVORY GLAZE: I am feeling all the feels, actually. Look, let’s be real, I went on the show underprepared, a hot mess, and I was like, ‘Oh, bitch, I fucked this shit up. This is gonna look horrible on television.’ I wasn’t thinking about all the other stupid stuff I was doing. So once the actual show came out, I was like, ‘You know what? This ain’t that bad? If I’m gonna be here for a little bit, let me get the screen time and I’ll just wiggle my way into the third episode, too. Why not?’
That’s so funny, because it seemed to me you entered the Werkroom with SO much confidence. Was it more of a ‘fake until you make it’ situation?
It was a fake ‘til I made it. I got the call to be on the show and I got the list of all the looks and stuff like that. But I had just arrived in Malaysia for a family holiday. I was stuck in Malaysia for 10 days on an island. And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m so screwed getting ready for this show. We did our best.’ And I was like, ‘You know what, maybe if I pretend that I’m really good, and I know what I’m doing, then they’ll believe it.’
I think you’re being way too hard on yourself, because I think there are so many different ways to win Drag Race, and the number one way is not winning the crown. It’s winning the fans. It’s winning the audience. It’s making moments and you made moments. I mean, even your two-part exit was a moment because you had a medical emergency. Can you talk a little bit about that moment when you almost fainted on stage?
I’ve never fainted before, so it was pretty scary. I’m standing there. I’m in this, like, ugly gown, my boobs are wonky, I’m looking pregnant. And I’m like, ‘Oh, my God again? Again?’ And I’m not gonna lie. I don’t know what sort of delusion level I was on at that point, but I thought I was going to be safe. So I think what happened was, once my name got announced, I was so gagged, that I just passed out. I was like, ‘nah, nah, I’m out.’ You can see a little bit on the show where I stumbled forward and that was like, slightly conscious then and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m gonna fall off the stage.’ And so I pushed myself backward. And luckily Rita and Bumpa and one of our producers caught me because I was gonna go.
Well, I’m glad you’re okay! So, how did you feel once you kind of recovered a little bit and found out Ru decided to postpone the lip sync? Did you have a plan for if she hadn’t pushed it back?
I thought, ‘This is kind of camp.’ That was my first thought, ‘this is kind of camp, this is fun.’ Honestly, I was actually ready to lip sync. Mentally I was like, ‘Okay, it’s time I’ve gotta go lip sync.’ And I put my little heel straps on to be safe to give me extra security. And I was ready to go and lip sync. I’m so glad that I got a little extra time on the show. And like Ru said, you know, for everyone’s safety, because you have to think of it not only from my perspective, as I just went through all that, but also poor Rita. How can she give a good lip sync when her friend has literally just passed out? Then she’d have to hold back and it wouldn’t be very fun. So yeah, I’m very glad that it worked out this way.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
I’m going to miss how shady you were in the room. I live for a shady queen. So I’m curious, is that room as shady as it seems this season? And if so, who was the shadiest of them all?
We thought we were getting along too well. I was very surprised that it turned out [so shady]. I was like, ‘These these bitches were being really shady!’ I don’t know if I was having fun. In Australia we like to be shady, we like to be mean, we like to be rude and that’s how you show affection to someone. So I thought it was fun. That’s how I talk to my girls back home. Why can I talk to you guys like that? I think the shadiest one is definitely Ashley [Madison]. That bitch is shady as all hell!
Everyone loves Snatch Game. Did you have a character picked out?
I had someone in mind but I’m not going to tell you that one because you never know, right. You might have to pull it out of the bag one day. But I did realize that I do a really good Rhys Nicholson impersonation.
Can we get a little bit of it?
They’re gonna kill me! Okay. [Clears Throat] Hi, I’m Rhys Nicholson and I’m so excited to be here for RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season three! Wow, that’s a bit of a tongue twista!
Oh my god, that was really good! Okay, so, would you go back should the opportunity to do All Stars or a Versus season come up?
I would, but I would only go back after a little bit of therapy — and a little bit of laser. Once I get some laser hair removal and some therapy, I’ll be ready to come back.
