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Amethyst Agrees With the 'Drag Race' Judges' Design Challenge Critiques

"I'm a hot glue girl and I thought I was going to be able to get away with it, but they got me out."

Spoilers ahead for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 15.

In the iconic words of Mistress Isabelle Brooks: "Three strikes and you're out" — and that's what happened to Amethyst after she found herself in the bottom two on the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race.

The Connecticut queen who was known for going viral on TikTok put up a good fight against some tough competition this season. She made it through the talent show, an acting challenge, and Snatch Game. But this week the queens were divided up into different teams and instructed to construct outfits inspired by Drag Race resident judges Ross Mathews, Carson Kressley, and Michelle Visage.

Amethyst, who is a self-proclaimed "hot glue girl," wasn't looking forward to a design challenge, and after the contestants walked the runway with their homemade looks, Amethyst found herself in the bottom two — along with Salina EsTitties — for a third time. After a spirited lip-sync with a double split, Salina was declared the winner, and Ru asked Amethyst to sashay away. 

Amethyst spoke with Logo about her time on Drag Race, including what it was like performing in front of Janelle Monáe, what we would find in the House of Amethyst, and where people should go if they want to see some good Connecticut drag.

Were you dreading the design challenge going into the competition?

Yes and no. I was dreading a really specific, "Okay, we're doing a sewing challenge, like break out the machines." But I was less scared of something, like the challenge that we did have to do, which was an unconventional design, where hot glue can be involved and other ways of making clothing because that's what I'm used to back at home. I'm a hot glue girl and I thought I was going to be able to get away with it, but they got me out.

Did you think about taking sewing lessons before going to the show?

Oh, I thought about it. It's just like there's so much going on when you're trying to prepare for the show. I'm like, "If I don't know how to sew right now, I don't know how much I can learn before I get there." And it's so bad because I was doing that challenge. I was making the dress, doing my thing, and all I could hear in my head over and over on a loop was the several friends that came forward, like my drag friends that came forward and they're like, you should probably learn how to sew. Can I like help? And I was always like, "No, I'm too busy. I'm too busy." Because I'm just extra like that. But yeah, I really regretted it. I was having a lot of regret moments at that time.

Were you happy with being in the House of Visage or would you have rather been in the House of Mathews or House of Kressley?

I will say as traumatic as this episode was for me, I think I got the best house. I would not have changed the people in it and the actual house that I got. Because out of those three, Amethyst would've gone towards the cheetah print, the purples, the golds. I would've gone there anyway. So I think it worked out. Not in my favor, but...

What would be in the House of Amethyst? What would we find?

Ooh, a lot of pinks actually. I would say my three main colors are pink, blue, and purple. Probably a lot of fur and holographic PVC material.

Did you agree with the judges' critiques of your outfit?

Absolutely. I was preparing for the worst because you forget things after filming and it's been a little bit of time, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered. I was really hyping it up in my head, like "Girl, you have to prepare for this. This is going to be so bad," and it really wasn't that bad. I still agree with the critiques. I still agree with my elimination. But what I don't agree with is my thought process, thinking that I looked awful because I didn't. I don't think it was that bad. It's just the fact that the bar was set so high with all of the amazing seamstresses that we had in this cast. At that point, I was one of two girls that didn't know how to sew. I'm like, "I'm in danger, girl." I could smell the smoke. I was like "Oh, the building's on fire and I don't know if I'm going to make it out."

What went through your mind when Ru said that Jax was safe? Were you like, "Oh, this is it..."

Yep. And then I heard Mistress' voice in my head, "You know what they say, Amethyst, three strikes and you're out." And I was like, "You know what? Let me have fun with this." And I did. Out of all of my 300 lip-syncs that I did on the show in our five episodes, I'll say that lip sync, I think I had the most fun.

It seemed like you were having fun during the lip sync. It didn't look like you just gave up. 

No, I didn't give up because I never give up. But I think something had finally clicked in my mind. And I think watching this lip sync back compared to the other two, I think you can definitely see me let loose a little more.

How was it memorizing the lyrics to "Q.U.E.E.N?" And then what was it like performing it in front of Janelle Monáe?

I'm a pretty big Janelle Monáe fan, so that in itself was just like, "Ugh, I got lucky this season." Let's be honest. I got to lip sync Ariana [Grande] in front of Ariana. Janelle in front of Janelle. Like, sorry, you wish you were me. Come on!

Good point.

Janelle is amazing. I hadn't heard the song too many times before learning it, but I will say as a fan of her earlier discography, there are some songs in her catalog that if you can believe it, have even more words. And something that I love about Janelle that kind of pissed me off in this moment was her vocabulary. When she is writing her lyrics, she uses these words that I've never even heard of before. So in that moment I was like, "Janelle, why you got to make this so hard, girl?" I'm trying to learn this song. But in a sense, it also helped because the lyrics were so out there that it was easier to remember because you don't hear these kinds of lyrics every day.

I was gagged when you and Salina jumped into the splits at the same time. Do you remember that?

Yes, I do. That I remember. If there's one thing that I do remember from the lip sync, it was that, because I was like, "When is the last time that happened in a lip sync?" I think it's been a few seasons since you've had a double split like that on the same beat.

Last question: If someone wanted to check out the Connecticut drag scene, where do you recommend they go? Is there a certain gay bar or club or a night that they should go to?

There are a few. I am biased toward Chez Est located in Hartford, where I am the current reigning MX. So that's the bar where I got started. That's where Amethyst did her first performance. That's where I did my last performance before going to film. That's where all of my drag family is. I've made so many amazing, amazing friends just by occupying that space there and living my most authentic self.

RuPaul's Drag Race airs Fridays at 8/7c on MTV.

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