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Spice fills us in on her favorite “messy” queens, her solo run, and the family dynamic you didn’t get to see
In this week's Chop Shop interview, we find out how viewers and competitors alike ended up wrapped around Spice's trotting, manicured fingers.
With the most recent Rupaul’s Drag Race season 15 elimination, the show has wrapped one of its most chaotic, iconic casting choices in herstory — just in time for its 200th episode.
TikTok stars Sugar and Spice (FKA the Coyle Twins) were ruled out by plenty of viewers from the get-go due to their lack of stage performance experience and online notoriety. Instead, this season ended up with two bubbly, charismatic, entertaining mascots that we couldn’t help but stay glued to.
While Sugar made her exit in the near obligatory Sugar vs. Spice lipsync weeks ago, the latter queen has stuck around and served her darling doll fantasy all on her own. By the end of her run, the viewers and her fellow competitors alike were wrapped around her trotting, manicured fingers.
We got a chance to chat with the spicy queen about her solo journey, her family backstory, and her favorite messy Drag Race divas.
QUEERTY: I feel like filming was probably a total whirlwind. How has it been watching the season back and just seeing yourself in so much of it instead of both you and sugar together?
SPICE: It’s been so fun to watch back. The only part that I really cringe at is just aspects of my drag that have totally evolved since. Everyone’s their hardest critic.
I wasn’t in my nail-ification era yet, me or sugar. So I watch and I’m like, “Oh my god, I wasn’t wearing any!” Now, I wear these long a** nails. Once you do that, you can’t go back. So there’s moments where I’m like, “Oh!”, but I try not to be too hard on myself.
I’ve been having so much fun with it. I mean, even with that shower cap moment; I think from the very second I walked in there, you could tell Spice was up to her shenanigans.
Did you learn anything about yourself while competing on your own?
Absolutely. I thought I would’ve given up, but I learned that I don’t really need other people’s validation.
I’m not a competitive person whatsoever. And I know it’s like, “Wait, you’re not competitive? Why are you doing a competition then?” But I looked at it more as an experience to grow as an artist and to experience new things. I love reality TV so much, so I was always curious about how it worked and how it went down. I learned a lot of things about myself for sure.
They had a storyline where they were implying that sugar was kind of taking care of you, but by the end of your journey it was so clear that you, yourself, had endeared yourself to all of the other girls so deeply. The way they cheered when you were safe in the Lollapalooza was so sweet.
That really, truly was my favorite moment, when I walked back into the work room and they were all so happy to see me. I really thought I wasn’t gonna see them, so to see that love – and it was even more than what y’all saw!
They were totally hyping me up. They’re like, “You won those lipsyncs!” I was like, “What?!” I’m thinking over here that I’m just bombing. I had thought, “Okay, well, I’m not winning these lipsyncs, whatever.” I wasn’t expecting to, either, because I’m just not a lipsyncer. So I felt the love.
And I think that really is the cool journey of it. We walked in, and the girls were NOT living. But by the end, we really all ended up being friends. Everybody was a cute full circle.
And I’m passionate about a lot of things; dancing isn’t really one of them. But I tried to have fun with it! The girls were like, “No, it doesn’t matter, you’re not a dancer, but you’re so entertaining to watch.” So I hold onto that.
I see some fun, campy stage performances in your future. As far as your past goes, what was your worst gig ever like?
Me and Ms. Sugar always talk about our first ever gig and how much of a disaster that was. But it was iconic! Even the next day, I was like, “This is material for us. We can talk about this one day.”
That’s me in general, turning a negative into a positive. I’m like, “Oh, this is content. This is a story.” And that was a crazy day. I remember the cops were called, punches were thrown, the wig was sliding back, the makeup was melting off, there was no AC… Iit was a disaster. But an iconic disaster, if you will.
I think that’s a theme with me in general: with Spice, it’s always gonna be chaotic, but iconic. What else would you expect? We need the craziness.
You two dug in a little bit into your backstory and how you didn’t have as much support growing up as your carefree demeanor would imply. How would you say that where and how you were raised informed how you do drag now?
I definitely want to make clear here that it wasn’t that we didn’t have support growing up. We definitely did. Our parents were always very loving and accepting of us. It was just when we did drag – not the fact that we were gay or anything, just the drag aspect – that something was different.
I feel like that with a lot of drag queens, that it’s just a step too far for some parents. Families are supposed to teach you things growing up, but at some point, I feel like children are brought into parents’ lives to teach their parents things as well and open their eyes. That definitely has happened. I feel like me and Sugar have definitely opened their eyes and made them learn more, and everything is amazing. Now.
I saw that video of y’all putting your brother in drag and showing him off to your parents. And it was a touch awkward, but they mostly seemed into it. It was really cute.
That’s the thing, there’s nuance to everything. On social media, people always put the best out there and no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors. Even the local Sally that has 10 followers is gonna put her best self out there. She’s not going to expose her deepest, darkest secrets on social media.
I think that’s where some of the disconnect comes in where people are like, “Wait, I thought your parents are supportive?” They definitely are, and they’re amazing, but we have our own history and details, as anyone would grow up. There’s a lot of blurred lines and nuances to it.
How exciting was it to be a starring player in the 200th episode of drag race?
Isn’t that an iconic way to go out, on the 200th episode? Like, if it had to happen, I’m so happy it happened then.
And you were in there quoting stuff from season one, so you’ve obviously been a fan.
Yeah! But Ms. Lux? She was like an encyclopedia of Drag Race. She knows everything. We’re around the same age, but she grew up on that. She was already watching in middle school
I didn’t start watching until a couple years ago. My friends were telling me about it, and it was one of those things where you know that that’s something that you would like – or maybe even would want to do – but you push it away. You’re like, “Oh, no, I can’t watch that,” because you know you’re gonna love it secretly. Especially before I came out and was fully myself.
I did grow up on America’s Next Top Model, though. That, I could recite everything. Every single line. Drag Race, I know a lot, but not as much as some of the other girls.
Who’s a previous season Ru Girl who you feel like is underrated and why?
Oh my god, there’s so many. There’s SO many. I always love the underdog on reality shows. And I always love the villain. I always love the one that no one else likes. I guess it’s annoying and a little contrarian of me, but like, everyone already loves the frontrunner. Let’s give some love to other girls.
My favorite drag queens are the messy, controversial ones. That’s why I love them. I love Gia Gunn. I love Nina Bo’nina [Brown]. Valentina is one of my favorites. I love the girls that live in their own fantasy, because that’s drag! It’s living in your own fantasy that you created. We need more delusional drag queens in this world. So fun.
Do you have any hidden talents or things that you wish you had gotten to showcase on the show?
I mean, it’s not so hidden. You kind of saw it in the talent show; I love writing songs and silly little raps. The gag about the show, sadly, is that a lot of my talents actually lie behind the screen.
Me and Sugar, we’re like these little art director/producers. We write all of our videos, we love editing, we come up with them. I love marketing and branding and all that stuff. I really love the business side of things, and the editing and creating art for digital drag. That’s definitely where my talents lie more.
You can’t really show that, though. Like, what am I going to do? Go out there and get on a computer and show how I can edit a viral video? That’s not really gonna work. I have a bunch of crazy little weird things I do, but we could go on forever.
Especially with the talent show. I was like, What’s the most boring thing to do? Oh, wake up out of a coma and a casket, bored of being dead. I was like, “Let me just be stupid with this.” I loved it, and the judges loved it. I think everyone loved it. And that was a vindication moment for me for sure, because those girls did not expect that at all. They thought I would absolutely tank.
What’s a fun fact that you can share that one of your season 15 sisters that would surprise the fans?
What I will say about my Babydoll Foxx, Ms. Malaysia, is that you didn’t get to see it on the show, but she really took me in as a mother. And Mistress and Sugar; I really wish people got to see it. That’s why I wanted sugar to stay more, so you really can see that dynamic of the four of us.
Luckily, we have the Internet for y’all to see that and to stay in touch with them. Malaysia is actually my favorite person ever. On the show, she doesn’t come off as she is in real life. She does to an extent, of course, but she’s funnier and so loving in real life.You wouldn’t realize how close we are, so I think that’s definitely a little tidbit.
Everything’s heightened on TV, but me, Sugar, and Mistress actually were living for each other right away. Like, she kind of was coming for us, but then right after we got to talk to each other, she was like, “Oh girl, let’s play this up. This will be good.” I think all three of us me, Sugar, and Mistress, we had more of a producer mindset than some of the other girls because we just love reality TV. We were willing to take anything and run with it. That was fun.
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