The Drag Race fan favourite opens up about backstage drama, touring chaos and her long-awaited Palmy Drag Fest debut
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo needed only one episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race to become unforgettable. Her backwards Season 10 exit became a global meme and earned her a return for Season 11.
She has since toured the world and returned for All Stars 9. Now, Vanjie is heading to Palmerston North for Palmy Drag Fest. She tells YOUR EX about life after Drag Race and the trouble that follows her on tour.
When did drag begin feeling like it was a proper career for you?
The first time I saw drag as something you could live off was when I met Alexis Mateo. She was maintaining a life, travelling around and entertaining people through drag. I was like, “Oh, people actually do this.”
Before that, I saw drag queens in nightclubs, but I didn’t know whether they worked during the daytime. I thought they lived their whole lives like that, just running around in drag!
Alexis became my drag mother. I would dance backup for her as a boy. Then she took me under her wing, and all hell broke loose.
How quickly did you realise your Season 10 exit had become a phenomenon?
Before the episode aired, Asia O’Hara told me RuPaul kept talking about me and laughing after I left. I thought, “That’s good, but it probably won’t make the edit.”
I was at Southern Nights in Orlando when it aired, and I didn’t want to go to the gig because I was embarrassed. Then the memes started appearing almost instantly. RuPaul was tweeting about it the next day.
The big difference was that it continued beyond that episode. Every week, they kept mentioning me. I was like, “Oh, we might have something here.”
Can Drag Race still change a queen’s life in the same way?
Back around Season 10, almost every girl got to work nearly every night. We all got booked really well.
Now, clubs pick and choose because there are so many overlapping seasons.
Regardless, you can still make a career out of it. Look at Kori King. She went home early, but then started doing Cameos and creating different characters.
Girls can find different ways to make it work. You can use TikTok and other platforms to create a little business.
Palmy Drag Fest will be your first New Zealand appearance. What has taken you so long?
I don’t know! I can’t believe it. I thought I had already been there.
Sometimes you get on the bus with all these Werq the World tours, and the places start blending together.
I’m so excited. It’s also going to be my birthday while I’m there, so I might bring my mum for a few extra days and really celebrate.
What have you heard about New Zealand drag?
Australian and New Zealand drag is really camp. It reminds me a little bit of UK drag.
I’m excited to see it for myself, but Spankie is what I immediately think about. She is a character.
What can audiences expect from your show at Palmy Drag Fest?
I definitely want to hang out with the girls. I don’t want a separate dressing room. I want to be with the girls, carrying on, having little shots and bringing the good vibes.
It’s going to feel like a family function to me.
What is the most chaotic thing that has happened at a meet-and-greet?
There was a girl who came to a meet-and-greet, and her mum was fully trying to hit on me.
The daughter was so embarrassed, but the mother was not catching the hint. I was in drag. I was like, “Girl, what are you doing?”
Clearly, it scarred me because I’m still thinking about it now.
So the mum did not return to your hotel?
Hell no! What were we about to do—have milk and cookies? No, ma’am. No mamas.
What is the wildest rumour you have heard about yourself?
Because I’ve had relationships on the show and I’m always flirting with the girls, people ask, “What about this one? What about that one?”
Mik and I are really close, but we didn’t date. We’re like Paris and Nicole, or two little evil twins running around being chaotic and messy.
When we did the Vegas live show, Kameron and I went on a few dates. When we get bored and we’re travelling together, we start looking at each other like, “Well, maybe this could work.”
So “sister dick will make you sick” is not true?
Sister dick won’t make you sick. But when you’re both from Drag Race and both trying to be Beyoncé, that probably will. There is only room for one star!
Although maybe it can work. Look at Lydia and Kori. If you’re just home making Cameos, it’s easier to maintain a relationship!
I’m joking. Kori works a lot. I’m just being messy.
What happened when you and Yvie Oddly fought during Season 11?
They separated us into different vans backstage. They thought we were about to kill each other.
Silky, A’Keria and I ended up in one van, and all the other girls were in another.
Maybe they wanted to stop us continuing to cuss each other out, or perhaps they didn’t want us making up the next day.
We felt fabulous, though. We were like, “Oh, we really turned that, didn’t we?” We were in our own separate van.
Which queen starts drama and then pretends she had nothing to do with it?
Mistress Isabelle Brooks does both.
She does it backstage too, with no cameras. She gets bored. Her routine was to order Uber Eats and then start some drama.
What was your biggest diva moment on All Stars?
We were supposed to learn the Rusical one day and perform it the next. We banded together and said, “We’re not doing it. We need the weekend off.”
And we got it!
When I did the Rusical on Season 11, we learnt it on a Friday, rehearsed over the weekend and performed it on Monday. I don’t know what they were thinking on All Stars.
When are the confessionals filmed?
Every morning. You wake up and put on that little outfit. Production keeps it, including the jewellery.
If somebody wears a wig for their confessionals that they don’t normally wear, production keeps that too.
What is the best advice RuPaul gave you?
Probably telling me that I already have what I need.
I would say, “Sometimes I wish I could speak more fluently.”
Ru told me, “We love you because of the way you are. There are a whole bunch of people who look at you and see themselves.”
Ru told me not to compare myself with other people. Ever since then, I’ve just been yapping.
Finish this sentence: The real tea about Miss Vanjie is…
When I get to New Zealand, we are going to turn up. I can’t wait to see everybody.
It’s going to be my birthday, so we’re going to celebrate.
