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Joella on being a meme queen, fan fave & reviving Untucked because it ‘was so boring for so long’

Joella on being a meme queen, fan fave & reviving ‘Untucked’ because it ‘was so boring for so long’

Joella
Courtesy of MTV

The outspoken queen might not have snatched the crown, but she is ruling over the fandom. “A curse was lifted because now everyone is, like, obsessed,” she tells PRIDE.

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Joella is that girl.

Despite being a known “icon of the local LA drag scene,” last week’s episode of Drag Racesaw the queen sashay away from the competition — and forever into our hearts, with a quilted look that was instantly iconic. That moment exemplifies exactly why Joella was a total scene-stealer this season. Pure camp, pure delusion, and utterly unforgettable.

joella episode 4

Courtesy of MTV

In just four episodes Joella served as a reminder of why Drag Race remains essential viewing 17 seasons later. Her mixture of confidence, emotional outbursts, and quotable commentary is pure gay culture.

She didn’t just win the hearts of the fans, but those of her fellow Drag Race alumni. Everyone from Raven and Raja, to Bob the Drag Queen and Monet X Change, to Alaska and Naomi Smalls have sung this queen’s praises. After all, it does take nerve, which Joella has in spades. Need proof of that? Just look at how she read her sisters, not just in confessionals, but directly to their faces. Miss Congeniality? I don’t think. But breakout star? Why yes! Her approach was a throwback to early seasons of the show where the queens were not afraid to be candidly catty — and when, if you weren’t watching Untucked, you really were missing half the story.

PRIDE caught up with Joella to talk about her time on the show and how she’s feeling about the fan reaction. A surprisingly self-aware queen, Joella revealed how vulnerable watching her now infamous monologue makes her feel and why she feared she would be misunderstood before the show aired. But of course, that’s not all. Joella also dished up plenty of shade and explained why keeping it catty is how she finds and honors her drag tribe.

PRIDE: How are you feeling about your time on Drag Race?

JOELLA: It’s honestly insane. Because I just didn’t think that my reaction would be this big. I didn’t think that I would have this many moments to shine on screen. I’m extremely grateful to the Drag Race team for allowing me to really just shine so much on TV. I’m also just extremely grateful to the fans for doing a complete 180 on me. Because, oh my god, girl, I was really worried. When promos dropped, I was like, ‘Oh god, the fans are not liking me one bit.’ Then as the show went on, it was like a curse was lifted because now everyone is, like, obsessed. For the right or wrong reasons, I don’t know, but at the end of the day, it was a complete 180.

It’s a known fact that you are the slaysian queen of Los Angeles and iconic in the local scene! How has the local scene reacted to your time on Drag Race?

Listen, so when I say I’m a local icon, I’m not talking about, like all of LA. I’m talking about the local drag scene in LA. I was very well-known in the local drag scene.

I’ve seen their posts and their stories and I think everybody’s just getting a good laugh out of it. Something that everyone loves about me is my personality and the fact that I carry that delusional drag queen persona and vibe.

I love it! I think you should embrace the title and not walk it back one inch! There are moments in Drag Race where you can see as it is happening that, ‘Oh, this is a part of Drag Race herstory, this will be quoted forever’ and your ‘local drag scene’ moment was exactly that. I know you were in your feelings at that moment but now how do you feel about it?

It’s so funny, but actually, whenever I see a video of it, I can’t watch it back, because it was actually the most traumatic moment of my life when I was giving that monologue. When I watch it back, especially with the way people are reacting to it... I can’t watch this. But I do understand how funny it is. Girl, if I saw another girl through this, oh, my god, I would have it on repeat. It would be so hilarious. But I think, because it’s me, I just can’t. Girl, when that was happening my whole entire world was falling apart. That was the moment I realized that I probably was not going to do as well in Drag Race as I wanted to.

There’s winning the crown, and then there’s being the most memorable part of the season. It was giving Melinda Verga, and she may not have won the crown but people live for her!

I started watching that season [of Canada’s Drag Race] because of her, because of that moment.

Honestly, that was kind of my mindset. I was like, I’m about to have this mental breakdown, and I’m gonna allow myself to have this mental breakdown in front of America. I’m not going to be in the background. In the [design] challenge when we were in the Werk Room making our outfits, I was just thinking, whatever you do, don’t hide. I feel like Lucky [Starzzz] was kind of hiding behind the table and trying not to be seen. I would walk up to the cameras and just start looking around. I was like, I’m giving them clips to use in a storyline and putting me somewhere because I need to be in the story no matter how bad or good I do on Drag Race.

That is just, honestly, really smart. And it paid off, you really were front and center. The other thing I love about you is that you are not afraid to be outspoken. Like Acacia Forgot was not ready for that read, Lana Ja’Rea was not ready for you to keep it 100 with her. Where does that shady confidence come from?

I’ve always just loved being honest. When I care about people, I’m honest with them. Sometimes I do withhold the truth from people that I feel can’t handle it, but I really thought Lana could handle it.

That cutthroat-ness of my judgment of drag, and the way I talk about drag, kind of comes from my drag mom [Reina] and a lot of drag queens. Girl, when we call each other on the phone and we’re talking behind closed doors, that is exactly how we talk. And if a drag queen tells you that they don’t talk like that behind closed doors, they are fucking lying, or they really don’t do drag. It’s a catty mess.

When I watch Untucked and I see those queens that give me that catty mess, oh, my god, the way my soul just connects with the TV. I’m like, these are my girls. This is why I do drag. This is me. This is my tribe. I knew I had to give my tribe the entertainment... and I needed to revive Untucked because, oh my god, Untucked was so fucking boring for so long, and I knew when I got on that I had to become the Drag Race girl that I’ve always wanted to see on the show.

See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. I knew I would ask you that question, and you would keep it 100 and I love it! So, what’s next for Joella?

There are many things in the works. I will just say, keep up with me on @TheJoellaDynasty on Instagram for all my life updates, period.

The Advocates with Sonia BaghdadyOut / Advocate Magazine - Alan Cumming and Jake Shears

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Rachel Shatto

EIC of PRIDE.com

Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.

Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.