SPECIAL THANKS TO AOIFE KILBANE FROM BBC

Before she even sashayed onto the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, Coco Jumbo defined the word “iconic”. In 2017, the star memorably made headlines as one of three fierce Australian drag entertainers who embraced their inner Charlie’s Angels as they rescued a gay man from a violent homophobic attack. She was iconic then, and she’s still iconic now.

Although the Sydney-based performer left the series in eighth place, she made herstory as the first ever lip-sync assassin of Down Under when she (controversially) booted out “frontrunner” Art Simone and shook her groove thang in an epic smackdown against Alexis Elektra Shock. (The latter was one of the best lip-syncs ever, facts are facts!)

Following her elimination, we spoke with Coco about her time on Drag Race Down Under, the “rift” between the queens of the Australian drag scene and, of course, the threatening note left by one of her fellow competitors. C’mon mystery!

First question for you Coco: have you kept in touch with… Alexis?
[Laughs] Yeah, here and there. We send each other random messages… Me and all the girls have a WhatsApp group chat. I did apologise to her! The funny thing is I kept calling her Alexis and that was the first time they brought it up on the show!

How did it feel watching your elimination back?
Fine. I would’ve been upset with myself if I did a bad lip-sync but all in all, the show was very entertaining. So many people have reached out to me saying, ‘You were robbed!’ or ‘You should’ve stayed and she should’ve left!’ I’m just glad that I got to perform with her and have a good time in front of the judges.

You’re officially Drag Race Down Under’s first ever lip-sync assassin…
I love performing and living in the moment!

And you don’t even need to pull out the flips, kicks and splits!
Exactly. In Sydney during the drag competitions, when someone does a death drop, a flip or jumps off the DJ booth into a split, it’s an act of desperation, almost. I’ve noticed that most of the queens that don’t know their words will do a little death drop! That’s usually the T in Sydney.

Watching the lip-sync, it was so even…
I’m just glad that I didn’t do a bad job. That’s all I care about! I’m just glad that my love for performing showed during the lip-sync for your life – my life!

What was going through your mind as you battled Elektra?
I honestly don’t remember. Just the emotions of the song, the lyrics, shaking my groove thing. Like, ‘What more can I shake?!’

Are you still buzzin’ over the fact that you kicked out Art Simone?
Absolutely, yes. There’s not really a rift, but I would say there’s a rift between the states of Australia. There’s the Sydney girls versus the Melbourne girls versus the Brisbane girls versus the Perth girls… Each to their own. But once everyone comes to Sydney for Mardi Gras, we’re all friends and kiki, but it’s always in the back of our heads!

Ooh tell me more about this, it sounds like another reality show waiting to happen!
[Laughs] Everyone wants to be the best. Art Simone is a social media queen and her looks are impeccable. We know that. It’s just her performances that aren’t… They’re more robotic, they’re not organic and fun.

When you booted her out, you said “soz bitch” – which has already become iconic. Those who are unaware of Australian humour thought it was a bit harsh, was it intended to be?
It was just a throwaway comment like, ‘Sorry babes! Soz bitch.’ I call everyone bitch and sis. It was camp. She knows I love her. It’s almost as good Maxi Shields walking off and not hugging me.

Wait, huh? Did I miss this?
She gave Elektra a hug, kiss and cuddle and then walked off. I was like, ‘Oh my god…’