‘I’m obsessed with the drama’: DeDeLicious addresses Drag Race UK controversies

Drag Race‘s newest inductee into the “lip-sync assassin” hall of fame has finally met her end. After deploying her signature “DeDe Smash” move against three of her season five sisters – Banksie, Vicki Vivacious and Kate Butch – DeDeLicious failed to complete another hit (trying to use assassin language here, probably failing) when she faced Tomara Thomas in her fourth smackdown to Annie Lennox’s dance-rock banger ‘Little Bird’.

In their semi-final challenge, the top four queens flexed their stand-up chops in a Gladiators-inspired roast in front of the eliminated queens (bar Cara Melle, who didn’t appear due to sickness). While DeDe delivered a variety of stingers – including her instantly-iconic “guess who’s back in the house, walking stick click-clacking about” read of RuPaul – she was unable to keep up with comedic titans Ginger Johnson and Michael Marouli, sashaying away in fourth place. DeDe tells GAY TIMES that the ‘stars were aligned’ for her elimination: “It was my time to go. No matter if I did good or bad, it was the right time for me.”

Following her exit, we caught up with the Kent queen to discuss her legendary stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. From her status as a lip-sync assassin to the “bullshit” conflict with Vicki Vivacious, as well as online backlash for sending the aforementioned queens packin’, DeDe doesn’t hold back…

Dede, how you doing babe?

I’m great! Last episode was amazing. It’s just really surreal. The journey’s come to an end. Here we are, I’ve been assassinated.

You were Uma Thurman in Kill Bill-levels of assassin.

I was just chopping them down one-by-one. You could see in my face when I won against Kate. I started laughing because I was like, ‘What? This is ridiculous.’

DeDe, I truly think you are one of the best lip-sync assassins we’ve ever seen on the show. You destroyed every! single! one! 

Thank you! She’s the devil, honey. She just goes on demon mode and then boom, it’s crazy.

Tell me, what is the definition of the “DeDe Smash”?

The DeDe Smash is this move where I jump onto my bum, and it’s protected because I’ve got huge bum pads, they’re like cushions, and swing the legs out. It’s the most chaotic move you can possibly do. It just gets the energy going, somehow. Yeah, I call it the DeDe Smash because it’s such a messy move, but it’s a smash.

They need to add that to the dictionary.

Yeah, it needs to go in there now. I don’t know who we need to speak to, who we need to bone, but the DeDe Smash is now an official legal term.

Now that you’re an extremely famous person, I’m sure you have contacts at the dictionary.

Yeah, I have them on speed dial, babe.

What a brilliant episode. That was one of the most gut-busting roast challenges we’ve ever seen. I was cackling. How did it feel watching it back, because you did so well?

Thank you. Watching it back was really nice. It was nice for me to do well in a comedy challenge. I was gagged in myself. Everyone all-round killed it. It was another one of those episodes, which we’ve had a lot this season, where everyone smashed it. It was a pleasure to watch. There was no cringing! It wasn’t Snatch Game, let’s say that.

You still made me laugh in the Snatch Game, though.

No! Not the bug eating. I can’t even tell you the silence in the room while I was pretending to chew on bugs. That in itself was Lhilarious. Not in the moment, but when I walked away I was like, ‘That was so stupid.’

I assume Lady C has sent you an email? She’s been in touch, yeah?

Oh yeah, death threats. I’m kidding. To be fair, I hope she never sees it. She’s an icon.

You were hilarious in that roast. How does it feel to have done so well, but still be told to sashay away? Especially in that look?

That look was the one I was waiting for to show off. But the thing is, I knew we were getting towards the end. I’d been in the bottom three times. I thought I could maybe lip-sync my way into the final. The stars aligned, it was correct. It was my time to go, no matter if I did bad or good, it was the right time for me.

I have to say that line, “Walking stick, click-clackin’ about,” had me on my hands and knees.

I don’t know where that came from! I don’t know how the funny mode switched on. Kate actually called out when I was doing it, ‘Oh! She is funny!’

I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Previously, you’ve said that you’re not a comedian, but every lip-sync you’ve done has incorporated humour in some way?

I think, in a lip-sync, I go to the campy, comedic side. That’s just what I prefer to do. When it actually comes to using my mouth and speaking, especially when someone’s like ‘be funny!’, then I freeze up. Especially on Drag Race, Ru’s right there looking at you… I think it’s the pressure for me, but in a lip-sync I’m free to do whatever.

We can now safely say DeDeLicious is a comedienne.

Have I been officially named a partial comedy queen? I’ll take “partial”! Ahh, the growth. You grow from the show.

Once again, you de-destroyed the lip-sync but Tomara kept her place in the competition. Shady question now: do you think she actually won?

I think it was very neck-and-neck. I think we were both the same level, especially in the edit. When I was watching it with all my friends, everyone was like, ‘We don’t know who is going to take this.’ But, I think Tomara with the movement of the dress, and she’s a trained dancer, she sold the song and hit every beat. It was the only lip-sync where I could actually see what the other person was doing in front of me.

Do you think you would’ve stayed if it wasn’t your fourth time in the bottom?

Yeah! I do.

I don’t mean to say this in a rude way, but I was excited every time you landed in the bottom because I knew we were going to get a performance.

Honestly, whenever I was in the bottom – controversial opinion! – I was having the time of my life. I felt like I was just going to the gig and performing. That genuinely was where I was most comfortable, and I think it shows.

I really do think you’ve subverted expectations for a queen of your age. People tend to think that younger queens are primarily look queens and can’t perform, but you can lip-sync and, as we’ve established, you’re a comedian now too.

Woo! I’ll take that title. I’ll take it. One thing going onto the show, I did want to brand myself more as a performance queen than I did a look queen. She can still paint her face and put on some nice hair, blah blah blah. But, my drag was born from performance. Although yes, I was in the bottom four times – I’ve lost count – that’s fine because I got to show off what I’m best at. It’s a win-win for me.

You expressed remorse in the latest episode over sending Kate home. Did you not care about sending home Banksie and Vicki?

Listen… No! Absolutely joking. With Kate, we had a lot of time together off-camera, on the bus back to the hotel and stuff like that. If I was in a bit of a zone like, ‘Oh god, I’ve done really bad this week’, we would just sit there, laugh and tell jokes to each other. To lose her in the competition was a bit more of a gut-punch. With Banksie and Vicki, I didn’t get as much time to get to know them. Obviously, it was sad to see Banksie go because she was a strong frontrunner. Also Vicki, she’s such an experienced drag queen and she knows her shit. Yeah, it was weird to see them all go. I can’t believe I did it.