The pink bracket in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 brought the drama, mama! Nicole Paige Brooks, Tina Burner and Kerri Colby were on hand to talk to Blavity’s Shadow and Act about how everything went down, especially their dealings with Mistress Isabelle Brooks.
Nicole said that coming back after several years since Season 2 was “completely different than it was in the beginning of time when we started this show.”
“I liked the fact that there wasn’t gonna be 12 or 11 girls that I had to get to know. It was nice that there was only five people that I had to compete with and strategize with,” she said. “On my show, they gave away $20,000. This show gave away $200,000, so there’s another big difference. Just the size of everything is a lot better. It’s like going to a sibling or relative’s house that’s moved into a bigger place. You know, it seems familiar ’cause the furniture and stuff is the same [and] the people are the same, but it’s just bigger and grander.”
The queens break down the twisty points system
Burner said that for her, her challenge was knowing she was competing within a points system, something that hasn’t happened in any All Stars format before.
“I think my biggest thing is coming onto it is that it was Tournament of Champions. I want to compete against the biggest cast and the best cast, and then, I guess the shake-up with the points and everything and finding out that points would be passed around in the bottom, I guess was the biggest shock,” she said. “I guess that was the shake-up. All Stars always had the shake-up. So I just think one day, I would love to be in a competition where we were just competing, but it wouldn’t be television if we weren’t. So I guess it’s a double-edged sword, you know?”
Colby was also shocked by the points system, but she quickly got on board.
“[With] 18 queens, immediately you’re like, ‘Okay, how’s that even gonna work? That makes no sense.’ So I think from the very jump of it all, I was like, ‘This doesn’t sound like anything I can really prepare for except by preparing myself to bring my absolute A game,'” she said. “And then you get three episodes and it’s like, ‘Okay, that’s different. How is that gonna work?'”
“And then as it starts to come together, you start prepping and then you get there, you’re like, ‘Okay this is what I showed up for.’ Then, of course, with all the twists and turns, you’re like, ‘This is what I did not show up for,’ but I was ready for the overall game,” she continued. “And I think that’s one of things that will really stand out with Bracket Two. I feel like no matter how much time we had to prepare, we knew that we wanted to do something different than we’ve ever experienced on Drag Race before.”
Nicole Paige Brooks, Tina Burner and Kerri Colby talk representation and growth
Each queen came in with something to prove, and Nicole said that repping Atlanta, Georgia is always chief of mind.
“I’ve always been repping Atlanta. You know, this is my home and I love being from Atlanta, Georgia. ‘F-A-G’ [‘From Atlanta, Georgia’] is my tag. I’m very happy that Atlanta’s proud of me. And that’s all I can hope for. They’re definitely showing me all the love. They’ve been the backbone of my career for almost 30 years. They’re just really happy the rest of the world is getting to see the Nicole that they know on a regular basis, I think.”
Burner said she wanted to show everyone how she’s changed since her season, Season 13.
“I think I was just able to show everybody what I have inside me and what a competitor I can be and how I think sometimes you have to push yourself. That’s the thing that I did this time. I pushed myself,” she said. “I didn’t need to listen to what everybody else thought of me. I was more of finding peace within myself as a performer, as a person in everyday life. I started to explore and finally turn the mirror on myself and reach inside me and figure out who I was. I think that’s why maybe I come across the way I do this time is because I finally found out who Tina Burner was, in and out.”
Colby talked about what it’s like to be part of the growing Colby dynasty, which now includes superstar singer Chappell Roan, who appeared as a special guest judge this season.
The Colby dynasty and creating legacy in drag
“I feel like that’s a big part of the manifestation of the Colbys being on Drag Race to begin with. When I got the call for Season 14, obviously I was going for me, but…I’ve known Sasha [Colby] for so long and she’s been literally the veins and arteries to a heartbeat in my transition. So when I would hang out with all of us, I’d be like, ‘This needs more, more people need to see this,'” she said. “I respect Sasha and love Sasha. She’s practically seen as a Drag Race diva in the streets. Everyone respects her that way. But I remember just being around them and being like, ‘This needs to be bigger. More people deserve to see this.'”
“I just wanted it to be more, and I think that was like a daily prayer I said for myself. For everything to have happened the way it’s happened since then, it all feels like, wow, I cried out to the universe and the universe heard me and look at what has happened when you just empower the people,” she continued. “When you give power to the people, the people can do some really amazing things. And I think the Colby dynasty is the ultimate testament to that.”
The queens react to Mistress Isabelle Brooks’ strategy
Now, about Mistress Isabelle Brooks. The queens didn’t hold back when talking about how it felt to try to put the pink bracket episodes in perspective. Overall, the queens still seem miffed at how Mistress played the game, which included conspiring with Jorgeous to block queens from getting points.
“I mean, it makes great TV and that’s really the goal, so in that perspective it’s great,” Nicole said. “But it was a year ago and some of the memory is accurate in my head and some of it is like, ‘Oh, okay, I remembered that wrong.’ But I mean the Mistress of it all is just, you know, that’s the point of casting somebody like that, to do exactly what she did, I guess.”
“But all drag is valid,” she added.
“I think everything going down is what we lived when we were there,” Burner added. “But I think looking back on it–each of us as a performer, we’re nervous to watch ourselves back. To be completely honest, I haven’t even watched the last episode. It was just an emotional episode for me and I lived the moment there and that’s what I take with me.”
Colby quickly told Burner that she would watch the episode, describing it as “very beautiful.” Burner thanked Colby and added, “I think just looking back, I was so proud of what I brought and I was so proud of how I competed in every challenge, in every outfit that I brought. I’d never been more confident in a package that I brought, even with pageants and anything I’ve done. So looking back, it’s beautiful to see that people appreciated what I brought. It’s a nice feeling to share those moments with everybody else.”
Colby described the shenanigans that happened between Mistress and the other girls as acts that reminded her of another, more controversial network.
“At the end of the day, I think people have to remember, even though you can feel all of these emotions, it is a reality competition show that is meant to bring joy and love. It’s not the Zeus Network,” she said. “So as much as everyone might wanna react and be visceral and be like, ‘Oh my God,’ flip tables, throw tables, that doesn’t really accomplish anything and it definitely doesn’t guarantee a future for you, but something that does guarantee a future for you is making iconic TV that will never be forgotten in the near future or long-term future and I think we understood that.”
“I think watching it back, it’s kind of making sense. Like, even though I don’t think that what Mistress did was correct in any capacity ever, without her there and having a kumbaya season, I don’t think we’d be seeing the engagement and the numbers and the amount of people being in it, reacting in it, living it,” she continued. “I almost feel like, collectively, with all of our fans and the whole show, we’re all kind of breathing, living, going through this, rewatching it or not watching at all. We’re all experiencing all those emotions together and we’re all sharing those same emotions. It’s like we’re breathing one, unified breath and in order to have that, you have to have chaos. And if someone was gonna choose to be the harbinger of utter chaos, it would be her.”
“In a way, I’m thankful because it gave us all an opportunity to be respected and seen so much more, ’cause she took all of the darkness and all the shadow and left us in the light and that’s pretty sickening,” Colby added.
“Yeah, agreed,” Burner said. “I’m glad she took all the negativity and has it inside of her. Thank you.”
“Love that,” Colby continued. “You know, that, in her own way, is very iconic. That’s what she’ll be known for. But it gave us the opportunity to really just be seen for who we are.”
You can’t have the Batman without the Joker. But Burner clarified, “No, you can’t have Batman without Two-Face.”
“The Penguin, honey,” Nicole added.
Episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10 are available for streaming on Paramount+.
