SPECIAL THANKS TO AOIFE KILBANE FROM BBC

Following centuries of rumours (most of which were fake, according to Michelle Visage), the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under premiered over the weekend and introduced 10 sickening Australian and Kiwi contestants to the ever-expanding franchise. Thanks to the mixture of – in the word(s) of Kandy Muse – cunty personalities, riveting lip-sync and special guest appearance from Thor director Taika Waititi, the premiere received acclaim from viewers and Drag Race alum on social media. Bar a dingo eating RuPaul’s makeup, it was a home run.

That sports reference does not apply for one queen, however. Although she made Mama Ru cackle the house down in the mini-challenge and received more airtime than most of her competitors, thanks to her unflinching pride in her Aboriginal background, Jojo Zaho sadly got the Pork(chop). Shortly after her elimination, we spoke with Jojo about her time on Down Under, who she planned to impersonate on Snatch Game and the “blunt” sense of humour in the Australasian drag scene.

Condragulations on making the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under! How does it feel to be a Ru Girl?
Absolutely insane! I’ve said it a few times quietly to myself. I’m like, ‘You’re a Ru Girl. Okay…’ I’m just trying to warm myself up to it because it’s one of those things where it all happens so quick. When we got home from filming, it was straight into Mardi Gras, then preparation for the screening and everything to launch. It’s nice now that my episode is done, because I can sit down and fully process it all!

Have you had a chance to properly reflect on your elimination?
I did that in New Zealand! I had my cry and my few days of, ‘Oh, you’re terrible. You suck. You’re shit.’ Then I got to the point where it was like, not everyone gets to go on the show. They pick queens they think have a chance of winning, so I look at the positives more than the negatives. 

Anyway, isn’t it better to be the Porkchop than the queen who goes second?
Exactly. It’s always the top four and the first that people remember. There’s just something kind of punk about being the Porkchop of the first season. Always leave them wanting more, basically. 

Personally, I was really shocked to see you go. Out of all the queens, I feel like we learned the most about you from episode one. Did you find your elimination shocking?
A little bit, yeah, only because I was getting a lot of eye looks. Ru was looking at me a lot, I was making her laugh. It seemed great. Then, Elektra pulled out the tricks and I was like, ‘Ahh, this is gonna kill me! But also, is it gonna be seen as a desperate act? I don’t know how it will be received.’ I was just in my mind like, ‘Not me, not me, not me.’ Then it was. 

In the words of Sonique, it was like Mortal Kombat on that stage!
Literally! It was one of those things, it kinda threw me off what I was doing because I was pointing and then she jumped up. I was like, ‘Ahhh bugger! Alright, here come the tricks!’