Maddy Morphosis is here, she’s not queer… and now the whole world is used to it. Although news of the Arkansas contestant’s participation on the 14th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race was met with controversy pre-season, with many confused as to why the producers would cast a straight cisgender male (drag is for everyone!), Maddy immediately won over viewers due to her sheer respect for drag and LGBTQ+ culture, as well as her jaw-dropping runway presentations. (Special shoutout to her decapitated head look and rainy day getup.)
On this week’s episode, Maddy lost her place in the competition after she failed to inspire the panel, once again, with her skills as a seamstress. After already conquering a lip-sync earlier in the season, Maddy was unable to keep up with professional dancer Jasmine Kennedie in the epic showdown to Beyoncé’s Suga Mama, ultimately sashaying away in 10th place. “Mixed emotions,” Maddy recalls of how she felt post-eliminaton. “Obviously really upset, because I had so much more I wanted to show. Design was never my strongest suit, so the fact that we had two design challenges so close together did not fit into my fantasy!”
While she’s “thankful” for lasting six weeks in the race, Maddy is disappointed that she didn’t get to showcase her shade in the reading challenge and her “amazing, camp and very unexpected” choice for Snatch Game. Read ahead for our full interview with the trailblazer about her time on Drag Race’s latest season, her altercation with Jasmine in Untucked and how she plans to use her platform to teach fellow cis-het men about “the trappings of toxic masculinity”.
Maddy, huge condragulations for making the cast of Drag Race season 14! You’re now a member of the world’s biggest drag empire, how does that feel?
Surreal. I never thought something like this could happen to me. I fully sent my audition tape in as a, ‘You never know, worst they could do is say no!’ type of thing. And now my life is completely changed. I used to work part-time retail jobs, and now I’m a D-list celebrity. Life is crazy.
After six weeks of making your mark on the competition as the franchise’s first cis-het male queen, you got the chop following an epic lip-sync smackdown against Jasmine Kennedie. Take me back to your elimination and how you felt at the time?
Mixed emotions. Obviously really upset, because I had so much more I wanted to show. Design was never my strongest suit, so the fact that we had two design challenges so close together did not fit into my fantasy! At the same time, I was really thankful to have made it onto the show – and the fact that I made it six weeks in was amazing.
Looking back on the episode, do you agree with the judges’ critiques about your runway?
Yeah, I would say I agreed with my critiques for the most part. Sometimes it’s hard to look at yourself from an outside point of view, and even if I didn’t fully understand some critiques at the time, watching the show back they make more sense. It’s definitely helped me to see where I could improve and polish. It’s great when random drunk people at the bar tell you how you’re ‘the best drag queen they ever saw,’ but sometimes you need someone to tell you where your shortcomings are so you can actually grow.
You and Jasmine memorably came into conflict during Untucked. Did you feel even more determined to succeed in the lip-sync following your argument with her?
Honestly, I was just concerned with giving a fun lip-sync and letting the cards fall where they may. I talked a lot of shit in the Untucked, but a lot of it was just me trying to get under Jasmine’s skin, because I felt – in the moment – that she was being shady. Jasmine is an amazing performer and we have two completely different styles of drag and performance. And you never know what the judges are going to vibe with the most. As tense as Untucked was, my headspace in the lip-sync was just, ‘We’re just gonna do the damn thing, and see what happens.’
What is the current state of your relationship?
We’re great! Anyone who’s been apart of the drag scene knows that sisters fight, and sometimes there’s backstage drama. I think we both know that it was a stressful time and place, with a lot of stakes. Leading up to the episode, we told each other that we would have each other’s back no matter what. But if she ever wants another Emmy moment, I’m always down for round two!
Sadly, your Ru bar didn’t have the golden ticket…
The sad trombone noise they play after a queen says, ‘It’s chocolate’? – that’s exactly how I felt. With the candy bar you really think, ‘Maybe there’s still a chance.’ So when it’s just chocolate, it’s almost more defeating than losing the lip-sync.
The candy bar twist has been met with a polarising response from fans and former contestants, with Drag Race UK vs the World alum Lemon calling it ‘shady’ and ‘mean’. How do you personally feel about it?
I liked it. I think it really adds a little drama and suspense to the end of each episode. I just wish the twist had a different ending.
As a cis-het male, your participation on the series has been met with controversy and praise. How are you navigating your newfound fame and the passionate response from viewers on social media?
Honestly, just focusing on the positive. When the cast was first announced, a lot of people had very strong gut reactions based off snippets and headlines. But I feel like, as the show has gone on, and people have gotten to know me better, most people have come around. The positivity definitely outweighs the negativity. But even then, I recognise that most of the negativity was coming from a good place of concern for queer people and queer spaces. There are a lot of bad-faith actors that try to take advantage of the community, and the popularity of drag. But I always knew where I stood, and knew that as the show progressed other people would too.
With your appearance on Drag Race, you’re now one of the most high-profile cis-het male queens in the world – how do you plan to use your platform?
For one, continuing to show other cis-het men that you don’t have to fall within the trappings of toxic masculinity just to be comfortable in your sexuality. Gender roles and expectations are completely arbitrary. There is no one correct way of how to live. Outside of that, I’ve always tried to use what platform I had to do good, be it through work with non-profits, organisations, fundraisers, activism, etc. And now my platform has grown to a level I never thought possible. I’m still trying to navigate this life change, but I definitely plan on doing bigger and better things with this opportunity I’ve been given.
On the show, you said you’d never met another cis-het male drag queen. Has this now changed?
Well there are many AFAB queens that I’ve met over the years that identified as cis-het. But as far as AMAB cis-het queens, they are still far and few in between. But I have met a few! Still only a single digit number of them, but I think as time goes on, we’ll see more cis-het entertainers entering the scene. I think that has less to do with me, and more to do with society changing. People are starting to realise more and more that gender is arbitrary, and more people are wanting to explore that.
Your time was cut short on season 14, so what else could we have expected from you if you stayed in the competition?
I think you would have seen more of my personality. I was very overwhelmed with everything at first, and was wound a little too tight. And as the episodes rolled on, I started to feel more comfortable and opened up a little more. But Drag Race doesn’t wait for anyone. You gotta be in it to win it from the jump. I was warming up when I should have been on fire already. Also, I had a lot of fun looks that I wish I could have shown. But… such is life.
I’m so eager to find out, who did you plan to impersonate on Snatch Game and why?
I’ll tell you a few ideas I had. I thought of possibly doing a dragged up Joe Exotic. Another was a young Katharine Hepburn. And I rolled around the idea of doing Joy Behar, and wanted to reference some shady back-and-forth exchanges she and RuPaul had in the past. If you don’t know, you should look it up. My favourite moment is Ru reading Joy on her fashion, and Joy says, “Well I’m not about to take fashion advice from a drag queen!” and Ru responds, “Well you better take it from somebody!” But those were all my backups. I’m keeping my first choice in my back pocket. My first choice was someone who’s never been done before, but I’m not about to give the idea away to another queen!
And what challenge are you most disappointed to miss out on?
Snatch Game, the Roast, and the reading challenge, honestly. I think my first choice character for Snatch Game would have been amazing, camp and very unexpected. I was hoping to make it to the Roast and the reading challenge because they’re basically just free license to be shady, but in a fun way. I’ve actually participated in a few reading challenges for bar competitions and events, and I can proudly say that I have still never lost a reading challenge.
Finally, what can we expect next Maddy Morphosis?
I’m really trying to improve myself and grow as an entertainer; polish the edges, broaden my horizons, and hopefully you can expect to see my bullshittery in a city near you. One of the things I’m most excited about is travelling to new cities, new drag scenes, meeting new people and putting on a show. Aside from that, I’m terminally online and plan to keep putting out content for everyone. There’s a lot of exciting other things in the works too that people will have to stay tuned for. I can promise that this is definitely not the last you all have seen of Maddy Morphosis…
Catch RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 every Saturday on the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus. Subscribe via http://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/
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