SPECIAL THANKS TO JASON WOODLEY AND MATT LAHBIBI AT PREMIER

As the supreme flipper, kicker and splitter of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, viewers waited with bated breath to witness Jasmine Kennedie smash this week’s lip-sync LaLaPaRuza. Although she annihilated each of her smackdowns with her aforementioned flips, kicks and splits, Jasmine ultimately became the seventh contestant to sashay away from the series – resulting in fans calling out production for, as Alyssa Edwards puts it, “Rigga Morris!”

It wasn’t just Jasmine’s lip-syncs that left us gagged this season. From her feuds with Maddy Morphosis and Daya Betty to her future Primetime Emmy Award-winning performance in The Daytona Wind, the 22-year-old is personally responsible for so much of season 14’s drama and comedy that fans are already campaigning for Jasmine to return for All Stars.

Not only that, Jasmine also provided viewers with one of the most tender moments in herstory when she came out as trans to her sisters in Untucked; making season 14 the first in RuPaul’s ever-growing franchise to host five openly transgender contestants. “I think it is a very meaningful and powerful moment in reality TV,” she says. “Never has there been a reality TV show this popular highlighting five trans women and their stories at the same time.”

Here, Jasmine tells GAY TIMES why she ‘broke down’ after her exit, the remarks she “took personally” from best frenemy Daya Betty and how publicly coming out as trans has impacted queer viewers around the world.

Jasmine, you crushed all three lip-sync smackdowns. How does it feel to have done such a fantastic job and still have to sashay away?

Thank you so much! Even though I went home on a lip-sync challenge, I feel like my track record was also brought into account, so it’s an understandable outcome. I think I took each lip-sync in stride. Of course, there are small things I’d change here and there, but I am very proud of all that I showcased.

There are a lot of fans who thought, based on the lip-syncs, you deserved to stay. What does it mean to you to see all that support online?

It’s a great feeling to hear that all the fans are so supportive and thought I should have stayed. I also feel I should’ve won at least one of those lip-syncs, but regardless, I have no regrets about anything I did. I have gotten so many kind messages from fans and they all have been really receptive to how I handled myself.

How long did it take you to come to terms with your elimination?

Coming home from production, I thought I was okay with everything I did. Then my boyfriend sat me down and asked if I was okay and I just started breaking down – I just unraveled and had a severe anxiety attack. Everything you’re insecure about that you did on the show just hits you like a ton of bricks once you get home. After a week of basically sleeping all day, only moving to get the Uber Eats or go to the bathroom, my boyfriend was the one who helped me get out of my funk and made sure I was getting back to a better place. After that initial release of emotions, I’d say it did not have a hold on me anymore. Over time I began to realise all the positives of the experience outweighed me not winning a challenge.

Your chocolate bar didn’t contain the golden ticket. So far, the candy bar twist has been met with polarised reactions from viewers. How do you feel about this new format?

As a competitor, the golden ticket has a great benefit to us. It’s that last hope that fate is on your side in the competition. It’s something fresh also and nods to the immunity that Drag Race used to have in earlier seasons.