HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN
SPECIAL THANKS TO JASMINE ALOMA AT THE BBC

Drag Race‘s newest inductee into the “lip-sync assassin” hall of fame has finally met her end. After deploying her signature “DeDe Smash” move against three of her season five sisters – Banksie, Vicki Vivacious and Kate Butch – DeDeLicious failed to complete another hit (trying to use assassin language here, probably failing) when she faced Tomara Thomas in her fourth smackdown to Annie Lennox’s dance-rock banger ‘Little Bird’.

In their semi-final challenge, the top four queens flexed their stand-up chops in a Gladiators-inspired roast in front of the eliminated queens (bar Cara Melle, who didn’t appear due to sickness). While DeDe delivered a variety of stingers – including her instantly-iconic “guess who’s back in the house, walking stick click-clacking about” read of RuPaul – she was unable to keep up with comedic titans Ginger Johnson and Michael Marouli, sashaying away in fourth place. DeDe tells GAY TIMES that the ‘stars were aligned’ for her elimination: “It was my time to go. No matter if I did good or bad, it was the right time for me.”

Following her exit, we caught up with the Kent queen to discuss her legendary stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. From her status as a lip-sync assassin to the “bullshit” conflict with Vicki Vivacious, as well as online backlash for sending the aforementioned queens packin’, DeDe doesn’t hold back…

Dede, how you doing babe?

I’m great! Last episode was amazing. It’s just really surreal. The journey’s come to an end. Here we are, I’ve been assassinated.

You were Uma Thurman in Kill Bill-levels of assassin.

I was just chopping them down one-by-one. You could see in my face when I won against Kate. I started laughing because I was like, ‘What? This is ridiculous.’

DeDe, I truly think you are one of the best lip-sync assassins we’ve ever seen on the show. You destroyed every! single! one! 

Thank you! She’s the devil, honey. She just goes on demon mode and then boom, it’s crazy.