“I didn’t fade into the background. If anything, I stole the spotlight,” says Chai T Grande. The queen, who made history as Drag Race UK’s first Thai contestant, is referring to her season seven girl-group number, ‘She Ate That’ — a performance that earned rave reviews from fans, particularly for her witty lyricism (“giving double, not half!”).
To the surprise of many viewers, Chai landed in the bottom three. Over the next two episodes, the judges’ critiques continued to diverge from audience enthusiasm: she placed low once again in the acting challenge, and her talent show dumpling routine ultimately saw Bones send her home after a lip-sync battle.
While Chai was determined to fight until the very end, she tells Gay Times that she felt “a slight element of catharsis” when RuPaul told her to sashay away. “I put a lot of thought into what I wear because I get power from style and fashion. Watching me walk into the challenge workroom in just a hoodie and a pair of slacks, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going home. I couldn’t explain it, and I still can’t. But my gut was just like, ‘You can still fight.’”
Read on for our full exit interview with Chai T Grande, where she reflects on the passionate response from Drag Race viewers, the challenges of the competition, and her plans to reclaim her narrative with upcoming solo material.
Chai, babe, speaking with you is admittedly very sad.
Thank you. That’s really kind to say. I’m sad as well!
I wasn’t necessarily shocked by your departure, given how the judges had been responding to you throughout the competition.
I hear you. It was weird watching it back. As a brief sidebar, I put a lot of thought into what I wear because I get power from style and fashion. Watching me walk into the challenge workroom in just a hoodie and a pair of slacks, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going home. I couldn’t explain it, and I still can’t. But my gut was just like, ‘You can still fight.’ I was never going to give up, but I just knew that this was my week to go home. I mean, of all things to be sent home on a talent show… People are now going to be like, “Chai ‘Talentless’ Grande,” and I’m claiming that before anyone else turns it into a joke!
But yeah, I totally hear you. After having a few weeks in the bottom and a microscope on me, I needed to put out the bag, and unfortunately, my number wasn’t winning material. We planned these thinking that [the talent show would happen during] week one. I wanted to give stupid, camp, and silly in my opening number, thinking it was week one. But that just goes to show you never know what’s happening at Drag Race, because you never can and you never will. There’s no point trying to decode it.
I wish the talent show was always in week one. It’d be predictable, but who cares? It’s such a great introduction to the cast.
I agree, and Bones touched on it in the episode. She probably would’ve done something different as well, knowing it was week five, because by that point we knew we would’ve been through four different challenges. Would I have done something different? Of course. But that’s the risk you take when you bring a pre-made number. You have to fully back it, regardless of what week it’s going to turn up in. I don’t think I truly developed the nature of the number enough, and watching it back, I am already picking up on things I could do to improve it. It’s not the end of the dumpling number… I’m still hungry!
@gaytimes Was Drag Race UK’s talent show originally supposed to take place in episode one? @Chai T Grande ☕️ says you “never” know what’s going to happen 👀 #drag #dragrace #rupaulsdragrace #dragraceuk #talentshow ♬ original sound – GAY TIMES
Ooh, what can we expect from the future of the dumpling number?
I think I’ll actually do burlesque this time. I’ll get the dumpling off, which Catrin touched on in the episode, and that’s such a fair point. You can’t call it a burlesque number if you’re not necessarily removing. I had elements of the teasing of the noodle and the unravelling of the stuffing coming out. To me, there was enough of a burlesque element in there, but to make it a number that would’ve been better, it needed that sexy element as well. I think I was leaning more into the stupid camp side with how massive and rotund it was.
You said it was a rather new routine for you, too. With that in mind, as well as feeling vulnerable from your bottom placements and opening up about how your ex knocked your confidence, it was an emotional week for you, right?
I was very in my head this week. The people around me could feel that and sense that. I don’t want to say I felt relief when Ru told me to sashay away, but there definitely was a slight element of catharsis. The last thing I wanted was to go home, but I was just going through such mental gymnastics the whole time that actually being told, ‘This is not your time,’ doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen again. Right then, they probably felt what I was internalising. That’s probably why, for the past few weeks, it was coming across as me fading into the background. I will say girl groups – I wholeheartedly disagree with — but I wasn’t the loudest voice in the room.
I don’t think you need to be. No one says that to do drag, you have to be the loudest or the most rambunctious. There is no rule book, and there are other people out there like me who are not quiet, maybe just more measured. I don’t go into a room and immediately assert my presence. Are we filming a TV show? Yes. Should I have done more? Probably. But I’m not going to compromise who I am as a person just to help make some content.
With girl groups, you devoured. Like many people, I thought you were going to be in the top. For me, in the acting challenge too…
I remember hearing Alan absolutely cackle next to me, and I thought I’d done enough to make him laugh. Cat whispered in my ear, ‘I think we’ve got this, babe.’ I definitely felt better in that moment, but then, going into the critiques and hearing the same thing I’d had the week before… I’m not going to argue with it. I hadn’t seen it. So if the people telling me this are experts, who am I to say, ‘No, I disagree?’ With the acting challenge, I think I was sort of bottom-safe somewhere. Was I the absolute worst? I don’t know. But for girl groups, I will die on the hill saying that I shouldn’t have been in the bottom because I didn’t fade into the background. If anything, I think I stole the spotlight a few times when it wasn’t my moment. The judges absolutely have their opinions, and reviewing something like drag is so subjective because it is an art form, and art is subjective. This isn’t me going against the judges in any way or saying that I don’t respect their opinions, because I do. My take on it, as a subjective opinion, is that I was absolutely nowhere near the bottom that week. And yeah, I’ll die on that hill.
It was one of those Drag Race moments where the on-screen edit and the fan experience felt a little different. Your “double, not half” line was such a highlight.
Thank you. I thought it was a good week for me going into it, and I felt really good. Hearing the critiques that I faded into the background, because I didn’t get to watch it, I just had to take it as testament. Watching it back, though, I’m just like… no. Seeing how amazing people have received my verse and my runway will stay with me forever. It gives me the validation and reassurance to know that something I celebrate myself as being good at is something I should continue doing. I gave the verse a lot of thought. I injected myself into that, but also gave the eating puns and all those different things. That’s why I love writing lyrics: because you get to really play around with words. You get it, you’re a journalist: crafting a sentence is the same as what I get with writing lyrics. It didn’t turn out how I wanted, but at least I wasn’t in the bottom two for that week, because lip-syncing and Miss Cuddly Wuddley would’ve been a challenge! Rolling on the runway.
Talk to me a bit more about the fan response, because there’s been so much love for you.
It’s something I never could have expected or asked for. It’s so weird to think that someone has taken the time out of their day to open up their phone, go on the app, and share their opinion of love. That’s so frigging cool, it just makes all the hard work that’s gone into Drag Race feel worth it. It’s been the hardest, most challenging year of my life, mentally and physically. Even if it didn’t necessarily work out with the judges on the show itself, Drag Race is a springboard and I’ll continue to grow with the people that live for me… I’ll be forever grateful. That’s why I take the time to try and reply to every single positive comment that I can, because that’s not guaranteed.
Ahead of the lip-sync smackdown, you said that you intended to give the Soho girls – Bones and Paige Three – a run for their money. You certainly did, this was a lip-sync that had the fandom split over who truly won. What was that like to see?
I mean, it’s the biggest compliment. I described Bones and Paige in the episode as juggernauts of drag because they were my first entry point into UK drag. I was a Bones fan before I was ever a drag queen, so to know that I was up there not only competing on the same season as the likes of Bones, but actually sharing a stage and fighting in the lip-sync, was something I’ll never forget. Knowing that I split fan opinion on it is great, because I said to them I wanted to give them a run for their money. I said to everyone from the start that I’m a performer, so I am going to make them work for it.
Luckily, that song is on my gym playlist, so I already associate it with running around, being sweaty, and getting out all my endorphins! It was a real moment of release because I was really in my head that week. It felt like an opportunity for the spotlight to be on me and Bones, and for us to just give a show. And that we did. I’ve seen all the comments like, ‘She meant to punch you!’ and it’s like, no, it was an accident. We both did that really classic British thing of, you can’t see it on camera, but we turned around and both whispered, “Sorry!” even though we were mid–lip sync. You can’t see it on camera, but I remember specifically turning to the back and going, “Sorry, babe!” and then continuing to go with it.
You just described Paige and Bones as “juggernauts of drag”, and I hope you’re applying that same description to yourself?
I’m on the way. There’s definitely… No, you know what? Yes, I am. I’m going to. Thank you.
As you bloody well should. No more of this “Shy T Grande” stuff. She’s dead. She never existed.
No, she never existed. I would never describe myself as shy in the outside world. If anything, I talk too much. It’s maybe conflating being slightly more on the reserved side and not feeling like I have to be a showboat – not to call any of the other girls a showboat! – but I don’t feel like I need to be the loudest voice in the room. It’s not how I was brought up. I’m happy to go into a room, gauge it, and see where I fit into it. The thing about Drag Race is that it really is a race, though. You have to be quick, be fast, be loud, to kind of get the airtime. I don’t think I’m quiet, but I also think I just didn’t make the edit as much as I should have done. And that’s no one’s fault. We’re all narrowing down two, three days of filming into one hour, with the storylines that need to come into play and all these different things.
I think it’s an age thing, too. We’re born in the same year, 1993, and when you get to your thirties, you feel more comfortable and assured in yourself, and that comes with not needing to prove yourself by being the loudest person in the room anymore.
Yeah, I was very aware that the minute you say or do something on Drag Race, it’s then not your property anymore – it’s the show’s property to use that or whatever. I wanted to ensure that what I was giving was genuinely, authentically me. I didn’t want to be “kat-de-kat-kat-kat” for the sake of giving good TV, because that lives with me forever. I really am proud of how I come across. Some people have messaged me and said it’s really nice to see a refreshing take on a drag queen, where you don’t need to be all bells and whistles all the time. As long as you are happy with what you’re delivering as a person, as a performer, then drag is whatever you want it to be.
You made history this season as the first queen of Thai descent on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. What did that mean to you personally, and how has the response been from Thai viewers?
It’s next level because there is so much talent in Thailand, and mixed-race Thai and English as well. I love Drag Race Thailand. For me, season three is one of the best seasons ever. It’s weird because you don’t wake up and think, ‘Today I’m going to be representative of my people.’ I wake up, and I happen to be mixed heritage and I inject that into my drag because it’s the way that I reconnect with it. I’ve always felt more English growing up. I can’t speak Thai. My dad always worked really long hours, so I felt I was becoming more assimilated into the culture here. So, going into drag and then realising that I’m not any less just because I can’t speak the language… I’m still very much of Thai blood, so “double, not half” has been a big part of my life.
I can’t be representative of a whole country, I’m just one person. But knowing that I’ve had such a warm reception from not only Thai people, but Asians in general and mixed-race people… I can’t put it into words because it’s a much larger thing than I could ever verbalise. Just knowing that what I’ve done authentically as a person and as a performer has resonated, that people want to claim me, is so touching. I’m kind of getting emotional thinking about it too much. People say that Thailand is “The Country of Smiles” and has the nicest people. I’m feeling on the receiving end at the moment, and that will be one of the things I take away from this whole experience… alongside eleven new absolute best friends.
What’s next for you, Chai?
I’m working on a single as we speak! I’ve been in the studio once or twice with my producer. It’s called ‘Blended,’ so it’s a nice nod to beverages, chai lattes and my blended culture. It’s very much an extension, I think, of the messaging within my verse on ‘She Ate That,’ but I’m just giving you the whole song. I want to do the music video, because a big part of the reason why I do drag is girl groups and music videos. I love girl groups because you get to lose yourself for those three to four minutes of the song. And I’m just a workhorse, Sam. I’m going to keep taking all the gigs around the country that are coming to me, which I’m thankful for, and I’m going to show people that I’m not quiet and I don’t fit into the background. That is not my narrative, and I will prove that IRL.
Drag Race UK season 7 is streaming in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
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