SPECIAL THANKS TO AOIFE KILBANE FROM BBC

“I think I really showed how much I wanted it, how much was on my shoulders and how disappointed in myself I was,” says Art Simone. The Melbourne-based entertainer is speaking with GAY TIMES about her now-iconic exit from the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, where she “bit back” at a producer who tried to, erm, reassure her that making it onto the franchise was more important than her placement in the competition. “That means nothing,” Art memorably answered as she looked up at the camera in her sea-sickening-inspired eleganza. The terrifying yet hilarious moment has become the first viral moment from the Australasian spin-off and has been inducted, officially, into Gay Twitter’s hall of (gif) fame.

Diving into that moment further, Art explains: “I got pushed in front of the camera and had to talk. The producer kept reminding me of everything that I had just lost… She basically just kept reminding me of that and when she finally said to me, ‘But you were here,’ it’s like saying, ‘Aww, you tried!’ When somebody dies you don’t go, ‘But they lived!’ In the moment, it felt like she was invalidating my feelings and my hurt and basically being like, ‘You’re overreacting.’ So, that’s why I kind of bit back a little bit. But, I think it’s so refreshing to see raw emotions being displayed on that show.” 

While Art is disappointed to sashay away from the competition so soon, the fierce queen – who still ranks as the most followed contestant from Drag Race Down Under on social media – is welcoming her new status as a viral sensation and, because she’s a businesswoman, capitalising on it with merchandise. (Check out her incredible line of “That means nothing” t-shirts here.) Art is also excited to perform her one-woman show, Art Therapy (to a crowd of one woman), and to unleash her upcoming series of the same name. She’s just getting started, honey! Here, Art spills the T on her Snatch Game impersonation as Bindi Irwin, the juicy behind-the-scenes moments that didn’t make the edit and her plans to slay the world post-Drag Race.

Art, I love you but speaking with you this soon doesn’t make me happy.
I’m not happy speaking that I’m speaking to you too!

Social media are in uproar. What is it like for you to see that much support online?
It was wonderful. You film the episode, go home and then you sit on it for a couple of months. You run through it a million times and I began to think that I’d imagined it all, that it wasn’t as shocking as I thought in my head and that I overreacted. Seeing the episode and seeing how everyone is feeling at home, I’m like, ‘Okay, cool. I’m not psycho!’ So, it’s been really wonderful to see that support and know that I’m loved. There’s been really wonderful messages from people, especially because of me saying that I was going to be disappointing a lot of these people. A lot of people reached to me like, ‘We’re happy that you’re there and you’ve done us all proud. We’ve been following you from when you had 5000 followers to now. We don’t care.’ It’s really wonderful to hear.

Watching the elimination back, did it play out like you remember?
I honestly blacked out! I do not remember what came out of my mouth in the werkroom with the exit interview because I was just so shocked. I just walked off set, off the runway and the girls were crying, I was crying, Rhys [Nicholson] was crying, the cameraman was crying, the sound people were crying. Everyone was so confused. Then, I got pushed in front of the camera and had to talk. The producer kept reminding me of everything that I had just lost… She basically just kept reminding me of that and when she finally said to me, ‘But you were here,’ it’s like saying, ‘Aww, you tried!’ When somebody dies you don’t go, ‘But they lived!’ In the moment, it felt like she was invalidating my feelings and my hurt and basically being like, ‘You’re overreacting.’ So, that’s why I kind of bit back a little bit. But, I think it’s so refreshing to see raw emotions being displayed on that show. It’s too often that girls get eliminated and they’re like, ‘Thank you so much for having me,’ and then they say their catchphrase and leave. I think I really showed how much I wanted it, how much was on my shoulders and how disappointed in myself I was. It was nothing about me barking back about the competition, it was about me being so disappointed in my journey. 

This is the beauty of Drag Race, you can say three simple words in the heat of the moment and it can become merchandise-able.
I know! Before I left for Drag Race, my beautiful housemate said to me, ‘Look, at the end of the day, whatever happens, just become a meme!’ I did that so he’s happy! Yeah, it’s crazy how it’s all blown up to be quite honest. It’s quite funny and I think it’s good because we’re now creating humorous, dark moments from such a dark situation. That’s how I deal with stuff generally, you know? I’m the one who tells jokes to make myself feel better. It’s good. I’m happy something fun has come from it, at least! 

It’s already become one of the most legendary eliminations ever. I’ve used the meme countless times since watching the episode. Even if someone simply says hello to me, I’ll just reply with: “That means nothing.” If someone asks how my day has been: “That means nothing.”
[Laughs] I’m never gonna live this down! That’s fine. In my exit I said, ‘I’m never gonna live this down,’ but I don’t think I realised what I was referring to at the time. What I thought I was never gonna live down was not actually what my legacy has become! [Screams] 

You Down Under girls are really slaying the merchandise game because those t-shirts…
Thank you! You’ve got to roll with it and make some fun out of misery. I have bills to pay. I’m very poor at the moment – Drag Race isn’t cheap! If I can make some money back, let’s do it.