SPECIAL THANKS TO IMOGEN REID AND AOIFE KILBANE AT THE BBC

RuPaul Charles chose violence on this week’s episode of Drag Race UK when he chose to eliminate, not one, but two fan-favourite contestants from the competition. (It was H&M, all over again.) For their latest maxi-challenge, the queens showcased their best celebrity impersonations for the Snatch Game before stomping down the runway in fruit-inspired couture, while Scottish icon Lulu made her debut as a panellist. After receiving grim critiques for their performances, Choriza May and River Medway faced the lip-sync smackdown for the first time to Lulu’s classic version of Shout. In one of Drag Race’s most shocking – and controversial – moments to date, RuPaul send them both packin’. Like we said, he chose violence! It was the first time the host introduced the cruel twist on the British spin-off, which has only occurred twice before in the herstory of RuPaul’s Drag Race. 

“I don’t think it deserved to be a double elimination and I’m gonna be totally honest with you, I don’t think I should have been in the bottom at all. I think there were much better contenders than myself for the bottom two,” Choriza May confidently tells GAY TIMES of Ru’s decision, before adding: “It was very uncalled for. I felt that was a very disrespectful thing to do for the both of us, a double elimination can mean a lot of negative things for a queen’s career. We have been working so hard to that point. It was so hard to film a show like that too, in a pandemic, preparing for it, everything. I did feel, ‘There’s no need for this.’ I did feel very disrespected. I felt really bad for me and my sister.”

Immediately after her elimination, which has sparked outrage online, we spoke with Newcastle’s spiciest, meatiest and silliest sausage about RuPaul’s actions in the latest episode, as well as her overall experience on the third season of Drag Race UK. Choriza also discusses her incredible debut solo single, My Pussy Is Like a Peach, which been on repeat in the GAY TIMES office and is now – in the words of RuPaul – available on iTunes. Stream now for healthier skin, etc!

Before we talk about anything Choriza, I need to talk to you about My Pussy Is Like a Peach.
Yes, bring it up in the conversation because I need the promo. Do you like it?

I’m absolutely fucking obsessed with it. It’s so camp. It’s infectious. Tell me about the song, please!
Well, well, well, well, I’ll tell you something. What came first? The outfit or the song? Actually, the song came first. It’s something that I always used to sing in my shows here in Newcastle. It’s a Spanish song and I used to sing it and have fun with it. When I translated it to English, I realised it rhymes and it was very funny and people here loved it. So, when we got the themes for the runway and they said ‘fruits’ I was like, ‘Stop it. Is this made for me?’ I get to wear a massive peach on my head and wear it like a big billboard. Just like RuPaul promoting her songs at any given point I was like, ‘I gotta use the stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race to sing My Pussy Is Like a Peach.’ Guess what? We did, it’s a bop! The song everyone was waiting for. RuPaul once said a very inspirational quote that has stuck with me, ‘Now available on iTunes.’ You can download it, stream it on YouTube. My Pussy Is Like a Peach. My outside is fluffy and the inside is juicy.

For this song, I will accept nothing less than a UK chart-topper and a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Adele is shaking.

She’s shaking.
She’s gone. Sorry Adele, you’re great, you have been a great inspiration but my pussy is like a peach, you have nothing against me. Sorry.

Easy On Me, who?
Easy on my peach!

Please talk to me about the video, because it’s absolutely brilliant. And I was so excited to see some of the stars from Drag Race Espana in there! 
I like to do like a big production of it. I already did the short film for Love is Blind, that little story that I told about in the show. When I thought of releasing a song, my first single, I always thought it’s going to have to be something big, we need a big music video and we need it to be fabulous, we need to be uplifting. It was going to be such a dramatic night, we needed something to really, really, really bring the spirits of the people up. That was really the main goal. So I was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ I left dressed like a peach and conquered dressed like a peach. Everyone involved with the video are my friends, we used to study at the same university, so everyone was such a joy to work with. Then, I’m friends with most of the girls from Drag Race. It was just a coincidence that we filmed the video in Madrid and they were there. I was like, ‘Girls, would you like to come and appear in my video?’ It was just literally for fun and to get to hang out with them and just have a project with them. I didn’t do Drag Race Spain, but still I feel part of the family. It was just fabulous. I think it’s a really gorgeous video and it has a little bit of a metaphor in there. There’s a story in there about some certain queen not liking my peach, but liking some other things. So, there’s a little bit of a message in the video as well.

I love every single part of it. So, let’s talk about this week’s episode…
Thank you so much. It was so sudden. I was not expecting RuPaul to stop production and crown me on episode six. I was shocked. What do you think?

How does it feel to be the UK’s Next Drag Superstar?
It’s great. It feels deserved. You know what I mean? It’s been such a nice day, getting all these interviews, talking about how deserving this crown was. Just for RuPaul to really appreciate my art-form and say, ‘I don’t need to see anymore, you win Choriza.’