If there was one person who had something to prove in the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars, it was Tessa Testicle.
The eighth-place contestant on the inaugural season of Drag Race Germany, who lip-synced and was in the bottom four of the five episodes she was featured in, was the only non-finalist on the season other than Alyssa Edwards.
However, Testicle came into the season and rarely had a bad performance, and not only that, she was one of the fan-favorite runway queens of the season as well. It culminated in her having a fifth-place showing on Global All Stars, being cut right before the finale.
Still, she showed immense growth amid a stacked cast of international superstars– and told us in a recent interview that all of this was due, in part, to her ability to stick to being her.
“I think what truly surprised me so much about myself was my ability to 100% stick to my instincts, my intuition and my ability to be myself,” she told Blavity’s Shadow and Act.”What [also] surprised me was my authenticity throughout it all, even when things got a little bit more heated and my ability to shake things off so easily. I think it was Drag Race Germany that kind of prepped me for that because [my original season] was a very intense experience for me and I did not take things very lightly… it sucked to be in the bottom four times,” she said. “But for me to kind of shake that all off so quickly [in Global All Stars]…and the same with the fight in the Untucked for Episode 3 for the ball, for me to it [shake it] off so quickly then, [as well as] when they all voted me [for next to go home] in the makeover episode. For that to not get to me was [also surprising].”
As one of the lip-sync assassins of Drag Race Germany, many fans hoped Testicle would have lip-synced more in Global All Stars. She only lip-synced once– the episode she was eliminated in. However, while she would have liked to show her lip-sync skills more, she’s also glad to not have been in the bottom that much.
“We’ll say this, I would’ve loved to maybe lip sync to ‘Mah Na Mah Na,'” Testicle explained. “I would’ve loved to lip-sync to Celine Dion. But I honestly don’t bite the hand that feeds. Who knows what would’ve happened had I been in the bottom against Vanity Vain in that bomb-ass Celine lip sync? I mean, nobody could have stood a chance against that b***h. She gave some of the best lip-syncs we’ve seen in a very long time.”
Testicle also had one of the most poignant moments of the season with RuPaul, who reassured her of her position in the competition and that she was meant to be doing what she’s doing.
“This might sound extreme, but I have to say that by far, that moment [has] been the greatest honor of my life,” she said. Being there and watching somebody not only acknowledge you, but face somebody who, without a doubt, is about to go into history books as one of the greatest shapers of [this ]day and age. She truly impacted history in such a way that only a few other people have. For that person to [to tell me], ‘You are mine. You are part of the family,’ was the greatest honor of my life.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars airs Fridays on Paramount+.
