Kandy Muse says she didn’t even want to win RuPaul’s Drag Race. No, seriously
Drag Race stars Kandy Muse and Trixie Mattel (YouTube/Trixie Mattel)
Kandy Muse might have failed to take home the crown during season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, but “The Icon” insists she preferred coming second.
The drag queen opened up about her time on the series during a chat with Trixie Mattel and explained how she struggled with the reception she received from viewers.
The show’s finale saw Kandy battle against Gottmik, Rosé and Symone to claim the crown and the $100,000 cash prize in the grand final in 2021.
Indeed, the top four served sickening performances during a Britney Spears lip sync showdown. However, Symone beat out Kandy which saw the “Ebony Enchantress” become the triumphant Drag Race winner.
During the YouTube chat with her fellow performer, the 27-year-old explained that she had been glad she didn’t win due to the fact she hadn’t been the fan-favourite like some had predicted.
“It was wild because when we left filming… everyone, myself, the queens, everyone thought I was gonna be like, fan-favourite number one at the time,” she explained. “And I was like, ‘OK’, I believed it.”
However, the fan reaction was completely different as she continued: “The response was the complete opposite. I was so confused. Why? And I was like, what am I doing wrong that people are not getting?”
Kandy, who was the series’ first Dominican competitor, was called a bully by some fans due to her outspoken opinions and attitude.
Revealing her reaction at the time, Kandy added: “Am I coming off too strong? Are people not used to seeing someone as real as me on Drag Race?
“I always tell people, if you watch the show back and see how much the girls actually loved me, doesn’t that tell you something? That those girls like me enough to want me to still be there, so why do you dislike me?”
The four finalists of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 – Gottmik, Kandy Muse, Rosé and Symone – battle it out in a series of Britney Spears-themed lip sync performances. (Twitter/@RuPaulsDragRace/WoW)
The backlash caused Kandy to want to avoid causing further reasons for viewers to dislike her.
Speaking her final lip sync, she added: “The reality is I didn’t want to have any chances of winning the show because of the backlash that I would have received.
“So I was like, you know what, not that I’m going to throw it, I’m going to go up there, represent for my country, pull out the flag, and have a good time, but like, I don’t want to come anywhere close… to winning Drag Race because the backlash would be insane.”
Trixie observed: “When you lose, every conversation starts with, ‘You were so good, I wanted you to win.’ When you win, every conversation is about did you deserve it.”
In fact, coming second seems to have been the most ideal situation for Kandy as she told Trixie that fans are much nicer to her now.
