Can you believe we're already on episode five on RuPaul's Drag Race UK?! Time flies when you're watching seven different franchises of Drag Race simultaneously, I guess.
Of course, somebody had to go home, and this week it was the weird and wonderful Charity Kase who lost the lip-sync against Scarlett Harlett. We caught up with her to find out how she's feeling, as well as what her time on the show was like!
BuzzFeed UK: First of all, how are you feeling?
Charity: Relieved! I'm glad to be out of sight of the judges for now. It's been a rough ride for me – my art's very personal and I didn't quite realise how much it would affect me mentally being on the show. Watching it back has been a rollercoaster, and in this episode I was feeling very downtrodden, so being eliminated was a massive relief. But I'm proud of what I showed!
BuzzFeed UK: We're surprised to see you so early – what do you think went wrong for you?
Charity: I've had a long time to think about this! I think what it comes down to is I wasn't what they were looking for. My drag isn't for everybody, I know that, I mean look at me! But I don't do it for everyone, I do it for me and for the people who appreciate it. I wouldn't have done anything differently because what I did was true to me and I don't want to change my drag for anybody!
I do feel like I was being slept on and overlooked though – at least that's how it felt when I was there. I also feel like I was being held to a higher standard than everyone else because what I do is so different. Although, in my audition tape, when I was shaving my legs and licking the razor, they knew what they were getting!
BuzzFeed UK: Do you think that Drag Race has a place for alternative queens like you?
Charity: That's a hard question to answer. They definitely gave me a place, but at the same time, is it fair to expect something different from me and for me to fit into a mould to win, but then not expect others to break that mould? We've seen queens like Sharon Needles, Yvie Oddly, Utica, and Jimbo compete before, and they're all oddball queens. Nina Bonina Brown, too – I love her work! But with me, I think I'm taking it that step further away from traditional feminine beauty.
BuzzFeed UK: What did you think of your critiques on the episode?
Charity: I think they were really nice, actually. I do think I'd already shown that I can do pretty makeup and that's in my spell-book of tricks, so I felt like it was unnecessary to do that again and I wanted to do something that was true to me. I wanted to be an evil tooth fairy, and that I was!
BuzzFeed UK: Something seemed to be happening with Scarlett in this episode, what's your take on that?
Charity: Watching me not go with her in the mini challenge was so cringe – that wasn't my intention at all! I'd gotten very close to Kitty, and we caught each other's eyes before I even clocked that Scarlett wanted to work with me. It wasn't until Untucked when she brought it up that I even realised what had happened.
We are friends though! I've known Scarlett the longest out of everybody in the cast, so although there was tension in that episode, at the end of the day, we always would hug before we left the studio. Not in this episode though, obviously, and she did push me in the lip-sync!
BuzzFeed UK: She did! We clocked that!
Charity: We're fine now.
BuzzFeed UK: That's good to hear! So what about the reception to you being on the show, what's that been like?
Charity: It's been amazing, to be honest. I knew coming into the show that my drag would be like a Marmite situation, but I've felt so validated by the way people have received me, which is what I didn't feel on the show.
BuzzFeed UK: You know what was gorgeous – your dragon look for the promo!
Charity: Thank you so much! That was made by friend Bambi Blue at Trashy Planets – we spent a whole week creating it together, hand sewing all the scales on and she made this amazing headdress. We collab a lot, I honestly wouldn't have been able to do this without her.
BuzzFeed UK: You were quite open about your HIV status on the show, was that something you wanted to do from the outset?
Charity: Going into the show, I knew that I was likely to talk about it in some way. I wanted to tell people I had HIV, and be able to talk about the problems and the stigma, but I wasn't sure how brutally honest I was going to be about my situation. What you saw was such a small snippet! I sat in that room for about 45 minutes talking through all of my trauma – it was like therapy!
BuzzFeed UK: Do you have a funny or embarrassing moment from set you can tell us about?
Charity: I have a heartwarming one! I was feeling really down on myself at the end of the first day of this episode, and I walked into the Werk Room to pack and there was a note on my desk from Choriza. It said something like "hey chica, don't beat yourself up or get in your head, you're amazing and talented." She also gave me these two crystallised magpie skulls for good luck. It took me from a place of feeling I shouldn't be here, to feeling really welcome and wanted.
BuzzFeed UK: She seems like a really nice soul.
Charity: She is, and she's so clever! She knows comedy inside out.
BuzzFeed UK: I guess this is a good time to ask who you're rooting for to win?
Charity: None of them, I want them all to rot.
BuzzFeed UK: Really?
Charity: Nah, I would love to see Choriza win, I love her. River's a star as well, Kitty obviously. Ella and Krystal are so talented – any of them could win and I'd be very happy!
BuzzFeed UK: Obviously next week is Snatch Game, who were you planning to do?
Charity: I was going to be either The Devil – and it was going to be a spoof of HIM from The Powerpuff Girls – or Mystic Meg from The Lottery. I was really excited about that actually, I wish they did Snatch Game at the start so everyone can do it and then half of the cast could get axed at the end! Maybe they could go kart around a course or something too. I'm making up my own show now... I'd call it Kase's Races.
BuzzFeed UK: That's genius! My last question is, what's one word to sum up your time on the show?
Charity: Ummmm, nightmarish!