“It’s gutting to be eliminated so close to the final,” says Tayris Mongardi. “But did I think I was going to win the season the next week? Probably not.”
On this week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, the final five took the stage for a roast of their fellow contestants, fallen queens and the judging panel. Tayris delivered some of the sharpest burns of the night, calling her on-screen lover Catrin Feelings “incapable of beauty” and dubbing Paige Three “Beige Three.” Fans widely praised her set — but despite the applause, Tayris landed in the lip-sync smackdown against Catrin, who ultimately sent her packin’.
“It’s Mama Ru’s decision, and just like the lip-sync song ‘Mama Knows Best,’ she told me it was my time to go back to the house,” Tayris tells Gay Times. “I take it with love and respect, and I’m sure she’ll ring the phone and take me to All Stars one day.”
Though Tayris left the competition without a RuPeter Badge or a spot in the top four, she accomplished something far more meaningful: representing her culture and heritage as a Jamaican and Black queen. Here, she opens up about her “volatile reaction” to her elimination, the “emotional nuances” of being a Black queen on Drag Race UK and – this part is juicy! – the current status of her relationship with Catrin.
Tayris, this must’ve been a whirlwind few hours for you, from watching your elimination to performing at Heaven – not getting much sleep from Heaven! – and now doing press. So tell me, how are you?
Honestly, it’s been really nice. Watching the episode, you kind of have to imagine the worst-case scenario of how it’s all going to play out. Obviously I knew I went home, so I was like, ‘Okay, well this edit’s going to be rough. I’m going to look awful.’ But watching it back, I was like, ‘I’m actually kind of fine.’ It probably helped a little bit, in my opinion, there wasn’t a huge margin between the best of the roast and the worst of the roast, so it wasn’t like I got dog walked – I say dressed as a dalmatian! Honestly, it’s been really lovely and the reception online has been kind. Yeah, I’m very happy.
People are fuming…
As they should! Rally the troops.
Your set wasn’t bottom-two worthy. You had so many zingers, from “Beige Three” to “incapable of beauty” and the substance material. Was the edit of the roast true to your experience, of being in that room, delivering those lines and hearing the interactions?
When we started getting ready for the runway, we were all in the mindset of, ‘Catrin’s lip syncing. We know that to be true.’ And then the other four of us are kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ Upon reflection, I’ve said to all my friends, I think it was more just a mercy kill. It’s the top five of RuPaul’s Drag Race and I think Ru was like, ‘All these girls have done a fine job of this challenge. [But] at this point, who is probably not the next UK Drag Superstar out of this bunch? It’s probably Tayris.’
Okay, I can absolutely take that on the chin. I’m still so proud of everything I did in the show. I saw someone on Twitter made a little edit of my roast with a laugh track underneath it, and I was like, ‘I actually was kind of funny.’ But listen, ultimately, it’s my Mama Ru’s decision and just like the lip sync song ‘Mama Knows Best’, she told me it’s my time to go back to the house. I take it with love and respect, and I’m sure she’ll ring the phone and take me to All Stars one day.
@gaytimes Drag Race UK’s Tayris Mongardi discusses the importance of representing her Jamaican heritage and Black culture on the show 🖤 #drag #dragrace #dragqueen #blackculture #jamaican ♬ original sound – GAY TIMES
She bloody better. C’mon, your lack of cue cards was fierce.
I dunno, something about having a cue card… Maybe because I come from a theatre background and I regularly host my own shows all the time, I was like, ‘It’s not hard for me to quickly digest this material that I’ve made and learn it.’ I can understand in a sense that, maybe, that was a problem with my set, whereas I think some other people had a clearer meter and rhythm to the jokes. My set felt more like I’m a host on a mic and here’s a little joke while I’m hosting, as opposed to, ‘Here is the setup for my joke and here is the joke punch line.’ Ultimately, we’re all just men in wigs, so who really cares? Which is so funny because watching my elimination, I remember in the moment I was going through it. Watching it now I’m like, ‘Oh god, it really doesn’t matter.’ It’s gutting to be eliminated so close to the final, but did I think I was going to win the season the next week? Probably not. It really doesn’t matter.
You had a very human, and understandably emotional, reaction to being eliminated. It was the lip-sync that determined your place in the final, and you had to do it against your lover, Catrin Feelings. Can you recall what was going through your mind in that moment?
Yeah, we saw quite a volatile reaction from me. It was kind of, in a positive way, a sense of catharsis. You’re running on adrenaline from the moment you get the call, through the prep, every single week of challenges. I think my body was like, ‘It’s over, calm [down], thank you so much.’ I can’t help but feel like in the moment I failed a little bit. I guess for me in this life, I have two fears: one, doing permanent damage to my skin, so I’m really on it with the skincare, and two, I have a fear of failure as an abstract concept. So I think that’s what it was in the moment. I was like, ‘I haven’t won a badge, I’ve barely been in the top this whole season… I just feel like in this moment, I failed to meet the expectations, at least for myself.’
But again, upon reflection, I think I’ve shown so much heart. I have shown so many gifts. I’m so privileged to be given this platform in general, but watching myself on television, I clearly see such a fleshed-out human being. The editors and production and Ru have done such a wonderful job of showing all my emotional highs and lows. I feel like I can really understand, as a viewer, who I am as a person. Ultimately, that’s what connects you with the fans.
As a queen and human being, you’ve shown every side to you. But as a competitor… Let’s be honest, you were robbed of a few top placements, for sure.
Thank you. I’m not supposed to comment on that, but I do anyway online! The girl group episode I understood because, preparing the runway aspect of the show, I did not have a lot of money. I’m very much a grassroots artist through and through, and a couple of the runways, including what I wore for Country Garden, were pieces I already had in my closet. During girl group week, I knew I had one of the best verses. I ain’t playing! I knew it slapped.
But thank you, I appreciate that, especially the talent show. Sometimes I do wonder if the season would’ve gone differently for me if that was episode one. Being in the bottom for the Brit Gala, watching it back, I struggled to mentally pick up the pieces quick enough. You’re also getting critiques, learning everything on the fly. So I don’t think I felt assured in myself, to be honest, until I had the mirror chat in the acting challenge.
You proudly celebrated your Jamaican heritage and Blackness throughout your time on the show. What did it mean to you personally to add your voice, your culture, and your identity to the legacy of Black queens on Drag Race UK?
It means the world. It’s so necessary, and Drag Race is such a mainstay in queer culture; whether it’s the lexicon we use or what we see in transgressing into heterosexual culture, it has such a currency and validity in queer perception. There are many nuances in the queer experience, especially as a Black person, which is why I was so glad that I was able to share candidly some of my thoughts going into the Rusical, because no one is as critical of you as a human being as you are on yourself.
I also have to acknowledge my own privileges because I’m a cis man and I knew Nyongbella’s experiences as a Black trans woman on a platform like this are so layered and nuanced. Ultimately I said, ‘Well what can I do on this show that I know is within my control? I’m going to have a fab talent show, and these runways…’ Listen, I do not come from a lot of money. I knew I’d be balling on a budget. So I said to myself, ‘I will not always have the money for style. What I do have is a mind and a heart for everything tochave substance.’
I foresaw myself in the final, and I almost made it there. But without my Brighton sisters, I could have been first eliminated. So I had to really make sure, even for my entrance look, that I was going to wear the Jamaican flag and say, ‘No matter how many episodes you give me, I’ll make sure at every given opportunity I’m speaking something of my culture and my heritage.’ There’s no shame ever in championing it as much as possible.
Have there been any reactions from family, friends or fans that have stuck with you about what you’ve shared this season? From your heritage to your vulnerable moment in the workroom about your childhood?
It has been really wonderful. So many things are inherently difficult to talk about, such as the racial aspect of it. The conversation that happened in the Rusical episode was way longer, but it’s difficult because you are only naturally prompted to think about your own lived experience. The world is a crazy place in a lot of ways, and if I use Bella as an example, I don’t naturally think about the experiences of transness without being prompted. So it’s not my burden to educate other people, but also I can’t necessarily expect them to immediately understand where I come from, which is why I wanted to explain myself.
The people it resonates with have gotten in touch. Especially from my mirror chat, I knew what I was doing was a powerful conversation to have on television, and I’m so grateful for the BBC and Drag Race to facilitate me having that conversation and storyline it and piece it in a way that really hit all the marks and showed such a concise, yet emotionally nuanced experience. Every time I talk about these kinds of things, it’s a catalyst for me to continue to process and hear it outside of my own head.
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When I went onto the platform I was like, ‘Okay, who am I doing it for? I’m doing it for me because I want the fee, I want the accolades. But also, I’m doing it for every person who is like me, who hasn’t seen someone like me prior to me.’ I had so many messages about that mirror conversation from people saying they know someone who’s had that experience, or they’ve had that experience. I’m so thankful as well to Sally™ for being there for me in that moment and having the capacity to listen to me and support me.
I could’ve won another badge or two, but I feel like all of my successes are the moments on season seven that have poignancy and significance. What I know I can say to be true is that, more than any other member of this cast, I feel like I’ve gotten to see such a fleshed-out version of a human being in myself as a TV character. That’s all down to the editor and this space that my season seven sisters are willing to hold for me. So for that, I’m immensely grateful.
You will be absolutely unstoppable on All Stars, Tayris. Another big part of your storyline this season was your romance with Catrin Feelings. Are you at liberty to reveal the current status of your relationship?
Being on Drag Race, it’s not hard to emotionally connect to people. Even I was a little bit wary when I started tinging with Miss Catrin because I was like, ‘Oh, is this just a product of the show?’ I remember as soon as the show was done, we all wrapped and I went to Cardiff for a couple of days. We’ve agreed that we’ll let her speak on it more when the season’s done because she still has some emotional stakes in the ground! But did I see her a couple of weeks ago? Yes, I did. And did I FaceTime her the other night? Yes, I did. And you can take that to mean whatever you wish it to mean…
Love it. Finally, what’s next for Tayris Mongardi?
Delicious diva, I’m taking the world by storm for real! I have music coming out in the early parts of next year. Listen, if there’s a fee, I’m going! I’m going to Oslo and Lithuania. I’m doing a fantastic run of Snow White at the Emerald Theatre in the West End from the 16th of December to the 4th of January. I’m doing Don’t Tell Mama at Butlins in January as well with my queer POC collective, The Chocolate Box. I’ve got loads of charitable things coming up and some really fabulous things I cannot say because of NDA. I hate when people do that and are like, ‘Watch this space!’ Listen, I didn’t win the 25 grand, but I think we’re going to make it back. Don’t worry, honey!
Drag Race UK season 7 is streaming in the UK on BBC iPlayer.Now c
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