“The Pink Ladies are slaying,” declares Tina Burner. Can confirm: the second bracket of Drag Race All Stars 10 was an absolute slayathon from start to finish. Featuring Tina, Jorgeous, Kerri Colby, Lydia B(utthole) Kollins, Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Nicole Paige Brooks, this unhinged group served up some of the most entertain(t)ing television in the franchise’s history — from Mistress’ deliciously sinister scheming to the high-octane drag on display (and, of course, Nicole’s mere existence).
The latest episode of All Stars 10 — tragically — marked the end of bracket two’s reign. The queens performed in Starrbooty: The Rebooty before RuPaul crowned the top two of the week (Jorgeous and Lydia) and tasked the bottom four with doling out their final points on the main stage. What followed was a pulsating, drama-drenched showdown: Nicole and Tina joined forces in a camp act of sabotage, plotting to boot Mistress from the semi-final by handing their points to Kerri.
Mistress, ever the Texan tactician, swore she’d right her earlier betrayal of Kerri — but clocked the scheming, described Kerri as a “fake bitch” to the judges and sashayed her final star straight to Lydia. The result? Kerri, Nicole, and Tina were sent packin’. In classic Ru fashion, however, the twist wasn’t over — the eliminated queens were told they’ll have one more shot at snatching a place back in the competition.
In the following interview, we catch up with the eliminated trio to unpack all the aforementioned All Stars 10 shenanigans. Kerri opens up about her newfound “cuntfidence,” Tina reflects on entering her “zero fucks era,” and Nicole dishes on bringing “punk-rock” energy back to the Drag Race franchise.
GT: I see… drag queens.
Kerri: Drag queens? What the fuck?
Nicole: There’s a woman, a crossdresser and then there’s a man in a wig.
Tina: You guys decide who’s the man in the wig…
GT: It’s lovely to be speaking with you all, but also frustrating because I thought you all *killed* the Starbooty challenge.
Kerri: Thank you. It was just so fun because, in us forming our group, we really had a fire lit under our ass. We were like, ‘You know what? We are standing for justice. We are standing for truth. We are standing for equality in this game.’ Well, maybe not me, but everyone else! You have to ask Tina how she feels about that. Now…
Tina: I sure will chime in in a minute.
Kerri: But I feel like we just had a really fun chemistry. As we were recording our tracks and everything, it was so obvious there was a lot of magic there. A lot of good energy – and a lot of booty!
Nicole: It was my first singing challenge, and I didn’t realise how fabulous of a voice I had! I love me some coffee, but I usually put cream in it.
Kerri: Black and hot, baby.
Nicole: Black and hot, black and hot. Yeah, I was just so excited to show my dancing skills. To finally bring back the Macarena.
Tina: You’ve probably seen more than us, but I think between the three of us, rehearsals bonded us as a team. And the teams were exactly how they were supposed to fall. Some of us are heroes, and some of us are villains. Definitely all [queens], except Kerri, played a fair game. No, I’m kidding! Personally, I couldn’t have been happier with Kerri and Nicole because they’re just two very kind people and great to work with.
Nicole: They were very, very patient with me.
Kerri: We had to be, darling. No team is strong if all their team members aren’t confident and comfortable.
Tina: And that’s what we did. We all worked together and put in the time and hours to make sure it came out okay.
Kerri: Baby… we were rehearsing that Macarena choreo literally until the second we got out on the stage from the moment we learned it.
Nicole: I appreciate it, and I hope it shows.
Tina: Tell us your thoughts. You said it was great and you loved it?
GT: I was obsessed with this group…
Nicole: I heard you say that, right!
GT: I’m not a judge, but I thought the two winners were going to be from this trio.
Nicole: Yes, that’s accurate. Sounds accurate.
Tina: Accurate.
GT: While you three didn’t make the semi-finals, this bracket has been responsible for some of the greatest episodes of Drag Race – ever, basically. How does it feel being part of a season that is so revered by fans?
Tina: The Pink Ladies are slaying, y’know?
Nicole: I mean, one thing about us, we all know we were going to be a little off-colour and trying to make good television, so we didn’t really bring our feelings into it as much as the other brackets that we’ve seen so far.
Kerri: I agree with that.
Nicole: Our team has a little thicker skin after we got used to each other that first episode, and everybody got used to my screeching at ‘em. We all didn’t take it to heart, and that’s what it’s about. You’re supposed to go in there, have a nice kiki with each other and not go home and be all mad because someone said your wig was terrible. Who cares what they think, know what I mean? That’s how a dressing room is on any given show you go to.
Tina: At the end of the day, yes, our hands lie in some of our contestants, but it’s really in the judges’ eyes too. It’s like any pageant. You might not always agree with what the decision is, but you might as well cut up and have a good time while you do it.
Kerri: Right. I think this is just going to ring true for any future seasons coming out: it’s the cast that makes the season. We already know that RuPaul’s Drag Race is iconic. The challenges are tough, the shade is shady, but it really is the specific cast that makes that history happen. And I think we all understood that fully. We all had enough time to sit and simmer – well, besides Lydia! – and think about what we want to bring to an All Stars. Each one of us, specifically in the pink bracket, showcased who we are as entities, as professionals, as celebrities. We did it so excellently.
Nicole: I think a lot of girls packed a lot of lovely looks, but the pink bracket packed a lot of personality.
Kerri: Amen.
GT: Let’s discuss the shenanigans.
Kerri: There are many shenanigans!
GT: There was a lot of strategy in this episode from Nicole and Tina trying to bump Kerri in the top over Mistress. It made for perfect television. Mistress thwarted your attempts, however, by giving her point to Lydia. Did any of you see that coming?
Kerri: Well, she was telling me the whole time that she owed me a big one because she did me so dirty.
Nicole: Yeah.
Kerri: I was like, ‘You need to prove it.’ And she’s like, ‘I got your back, I swear to God I’ve got your back’ – all that. I think it’s something about Mistress that, if she doesn’t get the best critiques and doesn’t feel like she’s 100% winning, it does something to her psychology. As soon as she hears that she didn’t do the best, it’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but it’s a lot more Hyde than Jekyll.
Tina: Yeah. I think me and Nicole, especially, we had a lot of talk [about points]. I said, ‘I don’t care whoever had the point, it’s the last episode.’ But, we worked well as a team and we supported the team. I mean, Nicole and me talked on the side and said, ‘If Kerri’s ahead, the point is going to Kerri.’ That was what we talked about, ‘Let’s just do it, because we have to try and knock [Mistress] out somehow and not care about ourselves anymore.’ You put your teammate first.
Kerri: It made me really emotional, honestly. I was like, ‘Wow, my divas!’ There’s a whole thing on this season where I feel like some people super-see it for me, and for us, and then some people absolutely don’t. And that’s what it is. But for my own girls, my team, us working together and knowing what we went through for them to sow their seed and do their big one, and do everything they could to give me a fighting chance, it makes me emotional – even right now. I’ve always wanted support like that.
Nicole: We love you. And we were doing our big one to get her out of there!
Kerri: To get the big one out, bitch! To get the big one out.
GT: Mistress’ use of “fake bitch” to describe you on the main stage, Kerri, came as a bit of a shock. How did you all take that at the time?
Tina: Here’s the thing about Mistress. She can run her mouth off the camera. She ran her mouth on camera. I don’t think I take anything for real that she says. That was coming from a point of feeling threatened, that’s all it was. She was screaming like, ‘You’re a fake bitch.’ But, we all know it’s usually the person who’s saying the shit that is the fake bitch. So, we’ve learned that now.
Kerri: And for me, I realised very early on that there were a lot of games going on. Like I said, [Mistress and Jorgeous] were my Texas sisters off-camera, on-camera. We were talking about how we were friends, we were close, we were Texas and going to do our thing. I wasn’t shocked, but when they pulled a fast one on me the first time, I realised, ‘You know what? I’ve got to look out for myself and, if you want to call me a fake bitch, I’m just a mirror.’ I’m a very big believer in reciprocity. You give me good energy, I do everything I can to give you energy. I believe in investing and helping girls grow, but if you’re trying to suffocate me and almost erase me from having a moment on the show… I might not get my lick back immediately, but I will always sit and observe, and I will always hit in a place where it hurts by the time everything is said and done.
GT: Tina, you have slayed these past three episodes from a drag and reality television perspective. You came in swinging with a challenge win, had conflict with Mistress and almost snatched the final episode. How did you navigate all of that while staying true to your game?
Tina: This time, I was in my zero fucks era. I’ve taken a lot of work on myself and found out who I am as a person, and I came in swinging because I am so proud of who I am as a performer. I think, coming from a season where we were shooting in COVID, nothing was available and everything was closed, it felt like everything lined up for a reason where I was able to grow from there and learn. I’m a happier person because of it. So, I love that it’s coming off that way. I love that people are appreciating my drag. It’s amazing to finally see myself being represented as the performer I am on television. It just took me a little while to get there.
GT: And Kerri, you were an absolute joy and fierce incarnate on season 14, but even more-so on All Stars 10. Can you talk to me a little bit about your mindset this time around?
Kerri: I think the biggest difference between my seasons was that I didn’t see it for myself by the end of season 14. That was my own fault, there was just so much going on as a trans woman starting my transition. I had to do it. I had to go from being in transition to being transitioned. I put that work in and when I got my opportunity to come back I was like, ‘Here she is!’ This is who I’ve always known me to be and who I’ve always wanted to be seen as. There’s just a cunt-fidence and peace that comes with that.
GT: Finally, Nicole, I think every single fan of Drag Race has celebrated your comeback. How does that feel, after being away from the franchise for 16 or so years?
Nicole: It was what I was hoping for, and it’s really overwhelming. When I was on 16 years ago, we were told to sign up for these new platforms: Instagram and Twitter. Now, it’s basically how people get on the show, by having a good following. I’m just happy that people are accepting my drag the same way it’s always been. I love my aesthetic. I love what I present, and I think that it’s coming across, that I am happy with what I do. I think, as people, we need to start falling back in love with the mirror and what we wear and what we want to put on, because that’s what drag is. It’s supposed to be punk-rock. It’s not supposed to be about what four judges want us to wear every time. Know what I mean? It’s supposed to be what we want to put out in the world. And, in my age demographic, still being able to hold my own against these children is amazing and quite inspiring.
Kerri: Look the same and other people have four times the work. Hello?!
Nicole: Yes, but you can’t tell you’ve had four times the work.
Kerri: Maybe three. It’s Nicole’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Tina: Honestly.
Nicole: I’m having a good time and I think that’s what it is. I’ve always had this delusion. Well, I don’t see it as delusional. The point of my return is to show everybody that you need to go through changes and do what everybody on the internet is telling you to do. We’re all supposed to be looking different, not the same.
Kerri: Abso-fucking-lutely.
Catch a new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 every Friday on WOW Presents Plus in the UK.
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