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December 3, 2024 • 19 mins

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dis game.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
All right, My next guest is a queen from this
season of Drag Race down Under. The new season is
streaming only on stan Michelle Vassage is the host.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
RuPaul is out.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
But this season so far has been so good and
a shock elimination. I think if you're not watching it,
you were gonna love this queen. She's an Aussie drag queen.
Brenda Brest joins me. Now, Hello, honey, how are you
or you looking gorgeous? Looking old, old up?

Speaker 4 (00:34):
Thank you, thank you? This old thing as a.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Just eliminated queen, you know what, Like you're either gonna
win on drag Race or you're gonna get eliminated on
drag Race.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
It's one of the two. And you know you're taking
it in your stride, doll. You look great. Howre you feeling?

Speaker 4 (00:49):
I feel great?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
You know.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
I had the best time filming, and.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
As sad as it is that my drag Race journey
has come to an end, I think I I'm leaving
with my head held high and leaving the folks wanting more.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
You know, I agree. How has the fan response been?
Because I mean, what we're what we're following? What was
your following out before you came on Drag Race. Has
it grown It's quite a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, I had like a bit of a following because
obviously I've been on the Voice, so I had a
few followers from that already. But people, I think people
are enjoying seeing me do a whole lot more than
just sing, and I'm showing my versatility, which they're loving.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, oh good, I'm glad.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well listen if you missed the episode, everybody, we lost you.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Sadly Brandy's gone.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
But I feel we got to the midpoint season this episode,
and that was kind of a discussion point that I
hadn't heard before.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Did you all know it was mid season? Is that
kind of all? We made it to mid season? Halfway?

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, it was actually after Lucina's actually was after the
Sinner's elimination, or maybe it was like the morning that
we started filming this episode. One of the producers came
up to Awson and said, congratulations everyone, you've made it
to half way and we were like, yeah, that.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Was great, great, oh good, we are halfway through the season.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
And then everyone was sitting around the table discussing their wins,
counting wins, which I thought seemed to be vicious to
count wins. I mean, that's a bit it definitely, you know,
puts the tops against the bottoms, doesn't it.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
I mean, putting tops against bottoms, that does happen quite
a lot. But no, we have to suss out where
we all were in the competition. I was feeling like
I was in a good space because only three of
us had wanted a challenge so far, and there had
been how many challenges?

Speaker 5 (02:40):
Four?

Speaker 1 (02:41):
But yeah four four, yes, four challenges and only three winners.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
So I was glad to be one of those out
of seven people six. Yeah, So I guess numbers are.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Hard, you know, and you're too beautiful to think. Don't
let me let me think for you.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
Brenda, thank you appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Was there any point in your head that you thought, oh,
I'm gonna I'm going to go this week because you,
like you said, you've got me Max.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
I didn't have a win, so it could have been
Max like you know, yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
Look, it was really really strange.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
We'd like we've been filming for about two weeks at
that point, and I kind of had a glimpse of
the bottom last week, and it was quite shocking, and
like because I come off the wind and then I'd
gone straight to the bottom for the design challenge, and
I was it was sort of a shock, and I
was really really upset with myself. But honestly, for this

(03:29):
episode of this Week, it was.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
I was strangely at peace, you know.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
But I said to Lisa's Susan the morning that we filmed,
you know, the runway and like the elimination. That morning,
I said to her in the lobby of the hotel Lesson,
I think I think I might be going today, and
she was like, don't say that, and I was like,
I honestly, I was like, I think I might be going.
I think I think it's my time. And I said
to I was like, if I go, I think I'm okay.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
It was just this weird thing where I was like,
I had lost, I had I had done, I'd one
snatch game, I had I'd shown some really great runways.
I was really happy with what I'd shown already, and
I don't know, there was just something in the air
that told me this might be time. Like sense was
going off, you knew, Yeah, it was the universe telling

(04:19):
me that, you know, let's leave them wanting more.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yes, well that's what you've definitely done.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
You have and you fantastic with the reading challenge which
we had this episode, which is a Drag Race institution,
was open talk to me about how this works before
the season. Do you guys go in it in and
write jokes ahead of time? Are you writing jokes as
this season is progressing?

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah? So I was writing jokes the whole time we
were there, because obviously we all know that the reading
challenge is coming at some point, we just don't know when.
So I was reading read I was writing reads for
the girls. As soon as I met them. I was like, Okay,
what can I do for this person? What can I
do for this person? But I did get the help
from my dear sister Delicatessen. She did help me well

(05:02):
a lot while I was getting ready to go on
Drag Race, and she had written a whole bunch of
like generic reads that you could really sort of like
slot into anywhere, and she said she sent me them
and there's a list of like it was like four
pages worth, and she was like, feel free to use
any of these if you want. So I brought that
with me and I was like, look if I if
I can't come up with a read for someone, I'll
use one of those. So I think I used a

(05:22):
couple in the reading charge, but there was after meeting
the girls, I had to I had to come up
with a few that actually, you know, suited them and
and what I could fund at them.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
For wouldn't have been too hard. I mean they write
themselves simple.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
It was very easy.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, well that's what I was gonna ask. It looked easy,
but it also looked daunting because it's just you. There's
no audience, it's Michelle, and it's the question if a
joke flops.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
I mean we see it flop.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Literally, like if the joke doesn't land, there's silence, and
then you're standing there like.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
Well, I guess that only the next one now. But yeah,
it was very daunting.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
And also because I was like first up in the
reading challenge, so I was like, oh shit, okay.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Was there a read that we lost? Was there a
read that you gave the audience that didn't make the edit?

Speaker 4 (06:15):
I'm yes.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
So my favorite read that I did that I wasn't
able to that didn't make the cut. Well, something that
didn't make the season at all was when before before
we went away, and for the first few episodes, Nikita
was actually really sick, like she had gotten this cough
right before we came away, and so in between takes

(06:37):
for the first few episodes, she was coughing her lungs up,
like every time they would call cut, she'd like in
the corner and she was coughing all the time. And
so my read for Nikita that didn't make it in
was Nikita Iman girl, that cough has had more airtime
than Olivia Dreams.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Not there to defend ussel.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
I know, I was killing two birds stone, but yeah,
I was like, I'm sure that's not going to make
it because I doubt that they would keep all of
Nikita's coughs in the AED Yes.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
No, of course, yeah, and yeah, gold I would have
loved to have said it. You know what I love?

Speaker 2 (07:12):
I love the insinuation that Freyer and Max are like
are getting together in the hotel?

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Is there any truth to that?

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Look, when you put a bunch of gays in in
a pressure cooker environment and you take them out of
their support networks, away from their friends and family, what
you mean by supporting exactly exactly their community? Yeah, you
take them away from the support network of grinder, They're
bound to latch onto the prettiest thing they can find,

(07:40):
And of course the Twinks decided to grab each other.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
And that's totally fine. But I think it is what
it is.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's a it's a it's a showmance, nevertheless, and I
think it's run its course. But it was it was
cute for them to have someone someone to give a
little kiss here and there when they needed a little.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, agree some time in between tapes.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Exactly because we had so much spend imagine I can imagine.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
And you don't even get streaming. You don't even get
access to stand do you.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
I know? We were watching free to air TV in
the hotel. Can you believe it? It was so weird.
I felt like I was back at like when I
was a kid.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Like we'd go we'd meet up each morning the next
day and we'd be like, Oh, did you watch such
and such on channel whatever last night?

Speaker 3 (08:24):
Like the Four Piece movie. It was fantastic.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
I was great.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
There were some movie channels. The Adams Family was on
one night, Me was on one night. Oh, it was great.
There was great TV viewing. And I also was able
to create a little routine for myself. Each morning, I'd
flick on and I'd watch like the Morning Show or
something I can't remember it was called. It was like
Good Morning New Zealand or something like that, and it
was my little morning routine because I'd have my coffee

(08:50):
and I'd watch the show and then i'd you know,
start the day.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yes, yes, yes, Well, talking of competing, there was talk
about stratgy Geli on the episode, and you know you
came out and said that you really aren't afraid to
play strategically.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Do you think that served you? And were you playing
strategically the whole time?

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Look, I may have been a little strategic in the
design challenge with my fabric choices, but.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
I was just there to play.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
The game, you know, I was. I was hamming it
up for the camera. I was there to play the
game and you know, make myself likable. And if the
if the producers wanted me to do something, yeah, I
was going to do it because I want them.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
I wanted them to keep me around, you know.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
So you've got to be strategic in things like that
because it is every woman for themselves. And as much
as we all were very close and and like we
are still all very close and we all get along
really well. It's a competition and it's a game, and
you've got to you're in it to win it.

Speaker 4 (09:51):
I was in it to win it. I didn't win it,
but I was in it?

Speaker 3 (09:55):
How'd that go for you?

Speaker 4 (09:58):
Don't you start with me? Not on my day of days?

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (10:01):
So who is playing strategically that we wouldn't realize? Like,
who is actually a strategic little queen? You know?

Speaker 1 (10:09):
I think Freyer was playing it strategically this episode for
Shore because she when we first got pet up with
all of our people, she was not so happy. Well,
it seemed like she was not so happy with her pairing.
And for the whole first day we were like.

Speaker 4 (10:27):
Getting to know our make of a partner, and she
was quite quiet.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
She seemed like she was a bit disappointed with her pairing,
and she seemed a bit defeated, like she'd already kind
of lost the challenge. Then we come back the next
day and she was completely different and she was happy
and she was, you know, keen, and she looked like
she was having heaps of fun. So I wonder if

(10:57):
she was being strategic to try and get everyone to that.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
She was.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Struggling down on her luck.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
Ruggling Yeah, and then redemption.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
It's smart, I know.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think she was really like gunning for the redemption
storyline this episode and to trigger us all into thinking
that she was going to do worse than she did.
She was pretty I think she was pretty strategic about it,
and it seemed to have paid off.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yes, you're right, you're right. Now we must Brenda, we
must discuss Hannah. Because Hannah is a queen. She's the
mother I never had. She's a sister we would want.
She's the friend that everybody deserves. I don't know a
better person. I love Hannah.

Speaker 4 (11:35):
What a core.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Are you still in contact with Hannah? Please say yes?
I am?

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Oh my god, she is so lovely. Hannah was an
absolute sweetheart, like the perfect person to be paired with.
We stayed in contact after I came home, you know what,
she even after I'd been eliminated. Because of course, we're
not allowed to see any of the other queens after
we've been eliminited. We're sort of whisked away and kept
in hiding until the queen's all left, so that they

(12:02):
don't see you again.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
After you've been eliminated.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
On the main stage, but Hannah insisted that she come
and said goodbye to me afterwards, and so like, there
was a knock on the door where I was being held,
and Hannah came in and gave me the biggest hug
and she was crying and she was like, I'm so
sorry you were.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
Sent home, and she was so beautiful.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
But she's been in contact with me, like we've been
chatting ever since I got back, and she even sent
me a wedding present for my wedding earlier in the year.
She sent me like this, kath and Kim Apron. She said, absolutely, darling, Oh.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
What a queen. I love that.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
I know so much about Hannah, none of which I
ever asked for. I have so much information. I know
that she studied apology, I know her relationship with her mother,
I know about her career, about her part and you
didn't even ask her one question and we got.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
All oh my god, I know. It was great.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
I didn't have to prompt he it all. She was
just giving me all the information. I could just focus
on doing her makeup. I mean I did have to
tell her to stop talking at some point so I
could do her makeup. I was like, all right, just
be still for a sake, I've got to do this
bit of eyeliner.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
But yeah, right, she just kept talking.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
She fabulate brilliant. She was brilliant. What are your thoughts
on the critiques?

Speaker 2 (13:07):
I mean, you did really well, and like, like you know,
I was thinking, it's it's real splitting hairs at this
point of the competition because everyone was so good and
I actually genuinely believe that this is the best set
of queens we've had on Dragress down Under ever period.
You are so talented, a lot of you, so to
get to this point you get sent home because what
I mean, there wasn't a bit of.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
A color that matched like that? Is that really where
we were at?

Speaker 2 (13:29):
In me?

Speaker 1 (13:30):
I know, it seems just like that there were I mean,
it seemed that that was the only thing they could
pick out was I didn't have a bit of pink
and I had to have a bit of pink on
her outfit and vice versa or whatever. But it really is,
like what you said, it's the pointy end of the competition,
and they weren't nitpicking because it's so annoying. But everyone
did so well. I don't know some of us were
expecting to come in and sort of do a bit

(13:50):
of a clean sweep of the competition, but everyone just
ended up being so goddamn good and it was really frustrating.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
On that note, like you.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Did so well and eliminated a rob dead, it is
great because that's a end of an All Stars.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Let's be real exactly hashtag justice for Brenda please, Like
I've been set up. I've been set up because I
think people. People are going to be up in arms
that I'm that I'm eliminated this early in the competition.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
But phad some protests.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
I know there's going to be there's going to be
a state funeral. The country is in mourning, but I
think an All Stars redemption is definitely on the card.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
So World of Wonder, I'm waiting by the phone. I'm
waiting now.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Before we talk about the lips, think, let's talk about
you winning Snatch Game, Brandy, you one.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
Snatch Game, I know, oh my god, feet.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
And the list of queens that have won Snatch Game
and then I've gone on to not only win the
competition but also have careers that exceed the franchise, the
list is endless.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
So that is a I mean, that's a fair in
your cap.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
I know.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
I honestly, it still is weird to say that I
won Snatch Game, like a challenge on the show that
I look forward to every season that I watch, and
to say that I've done it and won it.

Speaker 4 (15:06):
Is it's actually wild. It's really crazy.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
But I remember sitting in the hotel after we filmed
that runway and filmed the win. For me, I remember
sitting back in the hotel that night and going did
that actually happen? Like did I just win Snatch a game?
Like what is going on? It was so crazy, Like
it's surreal, But I just had the best time. Snatch

(15:30):
Game was so much fun.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah, as a fan, what's it like to film? Is
it exactly what you'd expect it to be or is
it different?

Speaker 1 (15:38):
It's it's it is the same, but it's also different,
Like it's a bit strange that there's there's not a
lot of laughter and a lot of that is added
in posts, so you kind of have no idea of
how you're doing throughout the whole thing. I didn't really
know how I did it after we filmed until I
went back into the workroom and lazy and vibe went

(15:58):
to me, They're like, oh, you did so well, Like
we were laughing the whole time. That was the only
point that I went, oh, okay, maybe maybe I did okay,
because there's not a lot of laughter apart from like
the chuckles here and there that you know, the the
guest judges and Michelle yeah along the way, but yeah,
it's awkward, But I insaying that we did have a

(16:21):
great time, and it was so great that I had
Mandy in that challenge because we were bouncing off each
other so much. We were making each other laugh, which
was half the fun. So we just had a great time.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Who was your fallback? Did you have another characters ready
to go?

Speaker 4 (16:34):
My backup was CHERYLN. Barnes.

Speaker 5 (16:37):
Oh my god, shooky yes, And I actually because it
didn't make the edit, but Michelle asked me in our
little walk through if I had it up, and I
was charyel N Barnes and I was trying to explain
to her who Cherylyn Barnes.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
Was, and it was like, I was like, how do
I even explain CHERYLN. Barnes to Michelle? Like she's such
a enigma.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
I love and I think I can't wait for the
day that someone does Cheryl and Buds or shareon Barns themselves.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
I'm a guest judge.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
I imagine Sharlanes would be the perfect guest judge on
drag Race.

Speaker 4 (17:09):
Ah, she would be heaven.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
What are those little treats she makes? Mashed potato and
devon with the little toothpicks. Oh, yes, delicious for all
the queens.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Oh but yeah, I had I had the cat ears ready.
I had a nice brown wig. I even had like
tooth standing, like to brown some of my.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Teeth a little bit. I had the big glasses. You know,
I was ready.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
I was ready, so good. All right now the lip
sync between you and our beloved Maxie. Max is a dancer.
Max is known for the flipping, the twirls. Did you
want to did you want to take her down? Did
you think you could? I mean, I feel like the
girls in the competition, you know, if there's anyone in
that in that season that they don't want to lips
sink against, it feels like it was Max.

Speaker 4 (17:50):
Exactly yeah, like exactly right.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
I walked into the work room that first day and
a go, Okay, if there's anyone I don't want to
lips against, it's Max, and this week here I found
myself in them up against her, and I said to myself, look,
there's no way that I'm going to beat Max doing
what she does, you know, And there's no way I'm
going to beat her dancing, flipping, tricking, twirling, whatever. And

(18:16):
so I thought, the only way that I have a
chance at this is to do it in my own
way and do a camp funny version of this lip sync.

Speaker 4 (18:24):
And but I gave it my all.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
You know, that's the beautiful thing about drag because everyone's
doing it in their own way and Max can do
a lot of things that I can't do, but I
can do a lot of things that Max can't do.
And so I wanted to make it half for the
judges to try and pick, you know which, which style
of the drag.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
Was going to take the cake that day.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
And if there was anyone that I was going to
be happy to be sent home by, it was Miss
Max herself, because she's undeniably a powerhouse performer.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
Yeah, she's a quaint.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
You turned it out too, though, you were funny, funny
on a lipsy which is happening.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
That's look, I don't take myself too seriously and that's
what I wanted to do. I was like, if I
can leave the judge, if this is the last thing
I do on drag Race, I want to leave the
judges laughing and smiling.

Speaker 4 (19:11):
And I think that's what you did.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
It's your legacy, Brenda, it's your legacy, Doll. I love
little chat to you and I can't wait to see
what you do next. I'm really excited to see you
in Engge. I know you're a theater queen and I'd
love to be front row center when you're open. Oh.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Absolutely, she's coming to a stage and he so don't worry.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Love Brenda, Thank you so much, doll. It was so
much fun.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
Thank you. Take care, babe,
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