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RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Kimora Blac: ‘I Should’ve Been the Villain’

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Spoilers ahead for RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Kimora Blac was not the fairest of them all. The Las Vegas drag queen found himself the second eliminated contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race after failing to woo the judges’ hearts with his “Tarzan mistress” princess look in the third episode. During his brief time, Kimora was starting to get what you might call the “villain edit” as he became better remembered for his complaints in the workroom than his talent onstage. That said, Kimora still doesn’t think he should have gone home that night when he was in the bottom three with Farrah Moan and Aja. Kimora spoke on the phone with Vulture about why he shouldn’t have been eliminated, his sex-bomb persona, and how he wishes he had actually played the villain of the show.

What are you known for in your performances?
Well, I mean they don’t call me the Las Vegas vixen for anything. My drag performances are very, very seductive. I love the sultry and seductive and sexiness of a performance where I can literally win your heart in your seat. So, I look up to girls like Erika Jayne, I look up to Kim K., I look up to any of the girls that are so sexy and powerful that just make you feel a certain way. My favorite song to do is “Sex Shooter.” It’s just me in this leather bodysuit, big boobs, blonde hair. You know, like your normal porn star. I just love feeling hot onstage, you know? And I can dance, I move, and I don’t sing live, but I’m pretty good at lip-syncing. I love being the Pussycat Doll, like I’m the Nicole Scherzinger of drag.

What appeals to you so much about the sex-bomb persona?
I’ve always been a big fan of transformation, and I truly think on season nine I had the best transformation from a man to a woman. I’ve been intrigued by how you can fool anybody — what makeup can do. When I’m in that Kimora sex-bomb mode, it just makes me feel like I am such a woman right now that these kids do not know I have an Adam’s apple, like, they do not know anything about this, you know? And the number one question I always get is, Are you a transsexual? I’m like, Never. You know? So when I showed them my boy picture, they are intrigued. I get very excited when people get excited about that transformation because I don’t feel like a lot of people nowadays like drag queens that have that transformation. A lot of the boys now just look like they took off their makeup. You can tell I went through like Operation Makeup 911.

Do straight guys hit on you?
Yes! It’s really weird, I do get a lot of straight guys that hit on me. I do get a lot of gay guys that hit on me. I love the attention. Like if you look hot, what kind of girl doesn’t like the attention?

How did you feel about your performance in the princess challenge?
I loved it. I was very confident with my princess challenge; I was actually confident with the look, because what I did was I brought back the old Kimora. Like right now, Kimora is padded, she wears nylons and breastplates, but when I went onstage with pasties, this is where Kimora originated. I was like the next Carmen Carrera. All I wore was duct tape and glue, so for me to bring that back, I was on the edgy side about it because I haven’t shown off my body like this in so long. But I loved it. Who doesn’t want to be like a Tarzan princess? I felt amazing.

Do you think that you should have gone home?
No. I truly believe I should have stayed. I had Farrah next to me who couldn’t sew — and didn’t sew anything besides hot glue — and I had Aja next to me with an uneven coat. I had one of the best-looking costumes on there and I sewed, and for them to send me home this early, it was just … I don’t want to put anything against the show, but it was just the level of the game, you know? Like it’s not about what you can do anymore it’s just about who looks the sweetest and who’s not the sweetest, I guess.

Meaning, you feel like it’s a personality contest?
I do think personality has a lot to do with the show. I believe the show showed a little bit of my personality: Like right now the public thinks I’m this bitchy queen that complains and is self-centered, but I don’t even get that from the show. Like, I’m not self-centered and I’m not bitchy, I’m literally so nice and sweet and that’s the number-one thing I get when I do all these cities is that I am the nicest girl they’ve ever met. So it’s interesting to watch it and see, well, oh, okay, that’s their way of me bitching. You didn’t even see me being bitchy because I didn’t even hit anybody. But, you know, it’s a game.

You didn’t seem to be happy about having to sew and make your own looks. Did you feel like you were unprepared for the show?
Well you know what, I know how to sew 101. I just choose not to. I don’t think that’s anything wrong because half those girls this season don’t even sew. The great thing about drag is that you can choose that option. I didn’t grow up in in North Dakota where I didn’t know anybody with a sewing machine, I grew up in a big city, with designers that I support and support me, and we are on a team bandwagon together. So when it comes down to me rhinestoning things, I just never did that. I don’t know how that feels to rhinestone things, I commend people that do it.

You were starting to get the villain edit. Do you feel like you’re edited unfairly?
No, I don’t think they did it unfairly, but I don’t think their villain is the same thing is what I’m thinking a villain is. I didn’t even cut anybody’s hair. I didn’t even fight anybody. I didn’t even blow up on anybody. Like for them to even say I’m a villain, well, I don’t what villain that you are talking about, because I just sat there and was just being blunt and speaking my mind. I literally didn’t attack anybody. So, villain, I think would be the wrong word, but if that’s what the public is saying, then I guess the villain is very sweet.

Is there anything that you would have done differently?
I think I should have fought somebody to be honest. I think I should’ve been the villain. You know what? If I went into the competition and they said, “Look, Kimora Blac you have this evil look to you, I want you to start stuff.” Oh yeah, I would have done it. I would have did it. Because if they wanted a villain, I want to be able to give the world the villain. Not a fake villain because I don’t even think anyone is a villain. No one even did anything. It was more like a breakfast-club competition, you know? But I would like to, if I could go back. And they want the villain, I can give them the villain.

Who would you have fought?
Oooh. I’m not into Nina. I’m not into Nina.

Why not?
I think she complains. She’s the only girl that I knew that was complaining. She complained about her craft, she complained about going from a mauve to a peach. You chose that look. Why are you complaining about a look that you chose? You should complain about a look that Ru chose. I just couldn’t handle her complaining anymore. I was just over it.

Do you think you have a bad attitude?
No. I think I have a really good attitude. I’m just honestly a guy that loves to do drag. Like, I’m really cool. I made a resolution a few years ago: I want to meet as many people as I can, so, you know, just repeating that in my mind multiple times. I’m nice because I want to meet people. It takes a lot to push my buttons, but, like I said, you know all the girls on the show. I adore them, I do.

How did you feel when you were eliminated?
A lot of mixed emotions went through my heart, my brain, everything in there, but as soon as I turned around and walked toward the back of the stage, all the girls that came up to me and gave me a hug, I was relieved. I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t mad. I love what I do, but to get the support from the girls I love, it just made my heart excited because I created this bond with all the girls. So I’m leaving here with friends. Back in Vegas, I rarely had girlfriends, so it was kind of cool to have girlfriends. I’m telling you, I’m the drag queen that hangs out with a bunch of guys, so for me to have that many girlfriends in one room, it was pretty cool, so I was very happy.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Kimora: ‘I Should’ve Been the Villain’