Although Lemon was “upset” over her Drag Race UK vs the World elimination, the star admits she was “relieved” to exit the series.
The spin-off, which features nine international queens who have competed in the Drag Race franchise around the world, was met with controversy online when the Canadian alum became the first contestant to get the boot.
For their first challenge, the queens were tasked with showcasing their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent for a “Royal Command” performance, before sashaying down the “I’m a Winner Baby!”-themed runway.
Doing what she does best, Lemon “got litty and splitty my kitty” as she lip-syned to an original track that showcased her self-described “rapstress” skills.
Although a majority of the contestants also opted for lip-sync numbers, Lemon’s routine was criticised by the panel as “unoriginal”, resulting in a bottom two placement with Holland runner-up Janey Jacké.
After Pangina Heals conquered over fellow challenge winner Jimbo in the “lip-sync for the world,” the Thailand co-host chose to save Janey and end Lemon’s time on the series.
Speaking with GAY TIMES after her exit, the Come Through rapper said her e-lemon-ation was a “gag” because she didn’t receive “that many critiques” from the panel, which consisted of RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and special guest star Mel C.
“They kind of just said nice things with an eye roll,” explained Lemon.
“Everything Michelle said was like, ‘You know, you do look like a winner.’ Like, yeah, that’s the category of the runway! So, I think it’s hard to understand why they were unimpressed because they didn’t actually say anything bad.
“They were just like, ‘Oh, someone did that once.’ And I was like, ‘No one’s sang a live song before?’”
Lemon was “relieved” to leave the competition because she was overwhelmed and didn’t “feel any warmth at all from the judging panel”.
“My season got a bad rep for the judges being a little bit harsh, so I’m used to that. I’m a competitive dancer, I’ve been taking critiques my entire life, I have no problem with being told, ‘Oh this wasn’t perfect, or this could’ve happened,’ blah blah blah,” said the star.
“But it was hard because it felt like they didn’t like my number at all, they didn’t like my runway at all. They didn’t care about what I was doing, which is totally their prerogative. They’re the judges and we sign up for them to decide.”
When Pangina unveiled her lipstick on stage, Lemon “kind of thought, ‘Oh wait, I don’t have to hear their opinions again next week!’”
“I think, at the end of the day, I cried. I was upset, but the real truth is I’m proud of what I did and I hope Canada is proud of what I did,” Lemon continued to explain.
“I made that joke on the runway like, ‘Oh maybe I would’ve changed everything!” but I don’t know if I would’ve because this is the first time I’ve ever been in front of Ru and Michelle and I was like, ‘What do I do?’ And I fucking danced. And I rapped!
“I could’ve absolutely done a tap dance, I could’ve done an acrobatics routine, I could’ve juggled and hoola-hooped. But I am a dancer and I am a rapper, and that number was cunt.”
Lemon’s elimination received outrage online, with many so-called ‘fans’ of the series sending “racist remarks and death threats” to Pangina in retaliation. It didn’t take long for Lemon to jump to her defence as she told her Twitter followers, “YOURE NOT MY FAN IF YOURE DOING THIS SHIT!”
You can listen to Lemon’s full interview with GAY TIMES on the latest episode of Snatched! – our podcast dedicated to all-things Drag Race – which is now available on all streaming services including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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