18 hours Ago
Fort Lauderdale drag queen Suzie Toot failed to clinch a top four placement in Friday's final workroom episode of RuPaul's Drag Race . She spoke to Newsweek 's Parting Shot about her confidence throughout the season, her unique style of drag and what she learned from her time on the show. "At the end of the season, at the end of the journey, you are so tired and your blinders are on," Suzie told Newsweek .
"All you can see is the finish line. And every idea you have, you just have to follow it because there's no time or energy to do anything else." In Friday's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race , the Season 17 queens showcased a variety of skills for the Maxi challenge: an all-encompassing audition for RuPaul's Drag Race Live , a live show production at the Flamingo Showroom in Las Vegas.
The top five remaining contestants—Suzie Toot, Onya Nurve, Lexi Love, Sam Star and Jewels Sparkles—starred in publicity photoshoots, filmed promotional videos, interviewed with legendary Drag Race alum Latrice Royale and performed a choreographed lip synch to the newest RDR Live song "Gift Shop". After the judges deliberated over the queens' neck-and-neck efforts across the various elements of the Maxi challenge, Jewels Sparkles claimed the top honors of the night along with a coveted spot in the top four. In the bottom two of the rankings were Suzie and Sam Star, who competed in a lip synch to "Love Child" by Diana Ross & The Supremes.
Though both queens executed an electric performance, Suzie's first time in the bottom two this season was also her last, as she sashayed away following RuPaul's decision. "Watching the last episode back, I gained a lot of perspective that I did not have when I was there," Suzie said. "I understand the critiques, and I mean—I would put me in the bottom two as well.
" Suzie's departure this week comes as a surprise, as her performance throughout the season demonstrated her as a frontrunner in the competition. With two Maxi challenge wins and zero bottom two appearances until this week, Suzie was a contender for the crown for most of Season 17. And her confidence in her abilities was clearly displayed through her confessionals in each episode.
"I'm a very confident person from the get—it's just how I am," Suzie told Newsweek . "It's a strategy that's always worked for me and something that kept me headstrong, kept me in the game on the season." "I have just as many, if not more, insecurities than anybody else," she added.
"But I think I follow a sort of 'Fake it till you make it' philosophy, and if I'm confident in myself, then I will be confident in what I am presenting or performing." Suzie said her confidence is a considerable aspect in her drag persona, as her unique style has made her a target of critique. But being different is what she has always envisioned for herself.
"A lot of creating Suzie Toot leading up to the show was, 'Well, I'm not going to do it like other drag queens. I need to be different from other drag queens,'" Suzie said. "A lot of that philosophy still rings true.
But I was being a little brash and ignorant of the things that work well for drag queens, aesthetically and otherwise. So now, my drag is definitely rounded out a lot more. It's become stronger in a lot of different places.
" Her time on the show was not exactly what she expected, as she found herself in excelling in challenges she thought she wouldn't, and falling short in challenges she thought she would flourish in, like the Snatch Game. "It was very tough in the moment. I had just put so much pressure on myself to do well in that challenge," Suzie said regarding episode seven's Snatch Game.
"It's such a staple and queens that I look up to—Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCreme—have made their whole careers built off of how well they did on Snatch Game." "And I cared so much about Ellen Greene, about Little Shop of Horrors ," Suzie continued. "It's an impression that I had done back home that I was so proud of, that people from Florida were excited to see me do because they've seen me do it already and have loved it.
So for it to be not received well was unfathomable." But Suzie is thankful for her time on Season 17—getting to unlock new parts of her drag persona that she had never before discovered. And now, she hopes her fellow queen Onya Nurve will take home the crown in the season finale.
"I've got to root for my girl Onya Nurve," Suzie said. "I think she's such a brilliant entertainer and she really bodied the season. So, for me, she's the only pick to win.
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