It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week. They're right. Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Brenda Brest, who was the fourth eliminated queen from Rupaul'sdrag Raced down Under season four. This week, I had no idea who
was going to be going home. I thought everyone in this episode was great, and Brenda had been doing really well in the competition so far, winning the snatch game and having.
Natural banter with the other girls.
But I guess this is a sign of how good the talent is at this point of the competition.
Brenda will share what it.
Takes to read and what her mantra is with getting that right. We will unpack the ability to do confessionals and match that with what you're bringing to the workroom. I ask about the makeover challenge and what on God's Earth had she given her librarian. You will get everything from who might go home next, considering Max was in the lip sync, how long they had with their makeover partner, and what they think of not being called a rue girl. There is so much to talk about with so many
inside revelations. So guys sit back and relax as we unpacked the wonderful world of RuPaul's drag Race down Under season four. Well, I just think it's hilarious because you've been in Barrick and Reservoir. It's like you're rimming Melbourne because you're on the outside of it.
Look for me, Reservoir compared to Berck Reservoir is a lot. I feel like I'm in the inner city right now. I feel like I'm on Collins Street. It's so close to everything. I tell some people like, yeah, live near the city now, and I say reservoir and they're like, babe, what I'm like, Okay, for me, it's close.
I didn't want much.
I supported Melbourne Queens being that I'm from Melbourne until this season and I was like, finally we get a lot more Melbourne Queens. I think this might be the season that has the most. I don't know if I'm right by saying that, but I have been you right from the start because you're Melbourne based, and I didn't think that was going to be something that would happen to me.
Ah, you've got the home, like where the hometown heroes. You know, you've got to root for us.
Do you think that there's other queens in Melbourne that deserve to be on the show, Like if you've got friends that are are current in the scene, Because for me, I'm forty five, so I'm like, where's Paris drag Queen, Where's Millie Minogue?
Where's all of these queens that I can righth?
Look, I've spoken to a lot of them and because they've asked me about being on Drag Race and things, and I've said, like, why would you do it? And I think a lot of them don't want to do it. It's hard, it's really hard. But also I can't speak for them, but I think what I am putting it down to is they don't want what might happen on the show to ruin any kind of reputation that they already have, you know.
Because ruined their careers. What do you mean?
They're drag queens that's already the lowest of the lower How much worse can you get the friend of their careers?
Like Paris drag Queen, Come on, like, you know this could be a responseng for you think do it?
I really don't think she would.
Okay, all right, well you've helped me out with that, but like, yeah.
I think well because I like Missy. I asked me, I was like, did you audition? And she said no, I'll never auditioned for the show, And now she doesn't do drag anymore.
Sir, do you think they lie about it? Do you think that they've auditioned before and now they lie about it?
If I spent all my time thinking about whether people are lying to me, I'd never fucking rest.
You know, thinking about the character journeys on this show, can you manufacture that because in this particular episode, we hear a lot about people saying Michelle talking about some of these drag performers taking us on a journey this season, and I was thinking about it. That does help with reality TV shows. Could you try and stage something like start at this particular point, go to here, drop it
down to there. Can you try and manufacture some of that to make sure that these judges talk about your journey and the viewers feel like they've gone on a journey with.
You, or do you just have to let it go?
That's a really interesting question. Talking from my experience, I just went into the show with the intention to just have fun. You know, I really did not know how well or how good or bout it I was going to do. And I think if you start off really really strong, like say lazy Susan, that sort of set her apart from the start, and then she sort of moved to the middle of the pack a little bit
towards like where we are in the competition now. So I guess there could be something to say about bringing people on a journey to see how you come out the other side. But I really think you got to just go or it from the start because you don't know what's going to happen. It's such an underpredictable environment and an unpredictable show. You never know what's going to
happen next. And I thought there's any chance, Like the first thing that I said to myself when I got there was like, there's any chance that I could be the first one to go home, And so if that's the case, I have to make my mark from the very first episode, and so any opportunity that I had on camera, any opportunity that sat down in confessional, I was I just was on you know, I was like, I need to have a moment I need to be bringing something to the competition so that I stick around.
Because I'm not sure if some of the other queens realized or other people watching the show, but any time that the camera is on, that is the challenge. You know, the challenge itself on drag Race is not just the main challenge that it's been set. The challenge is to make yourself lackable and make yourself interesting to watch on a TV show that so that people keep you around.
You know, in confessional, if you're not giving anything to the camera, where when the cameras are panting to you in the workroom, and you're not doing something to make yourself interesting to look at or interesting to watch, you're not gonna You're not going to do well. So that was what I went into it with.
Were you happy to watch the way in which it was all put together? Because you've just mentioned something that I think is quite fascinating, and that is that you're actually mirroring these confessionals with how you are day to day, and so that must be really kind of a little bipolar, you know what I mean, like because I mean, these two but easily drift quite far apart. And then retrospectively looking back at it, what did you think? Did you go, Oh, I've nailed that.
Look, it's it's a really I'm loving watching the show back and I think it's really great. And I think as much as some people want to blame editing and things like that, yes, to an extent, editing is there. But you can't make someone or have you can't make someone look a certain way without them doing something to make that possible.
You know.
Sometimes the confessionals were really interesting because sometimes we were talking about things that had happened three or four days ago, and you're just going based off what you can remember. And there were so many times when the producers would ask me a question and I'd say, I'm sorry, connection remind me what happened, because every day kind of blurred into each other when we're there. It's such an unnatural environment.
I really just wanted to I just wanted to enjoy my time, and I really did, and I just wanted to bring something that was enjoyable to watch and make people smile, make people laugh.
I loved you.
I thought you put your breast foot forward or whatever you want to say. I thought you were fantastic right from the start. I think you resonated. I think you clicked with audiences, and you've made it to the middle of the competition, which is still very good.
Yeah, exactly. And like after I'd won snatch game, I was just like, you know what, I've done what I came to do. I've proven myself and I'll leave the people wanting more. You know, as much as you know it was the judge's decision to send me home. I think I manifested that I was ready to go. I was tired, you know. I was like, I'm done. I've done what I came to do. I'm pretty tired. We've been here for two weeks and I need a drink.
Because those vodka cranberries that they were giving us in untapped were I think they were measuring the vodka with one of those eye droppers. You know. It was wasn't doing it for me. So I was like, that's it. I've done. You can send me home. I'll throw the towel and with Max and I'm going to go to the bar at the airports.
Aboutage, which I thought was really interesting as well, because there was a part in this episode where you mentioned that do you think that sabotage works in this competition because the reason why I'm asking that is that I wonder whether or not we've ever had a winner before whose gameplay has been sabotage.
Oh as much as I wanted it to look like I was sabotaging Nikita last episode, I was just I really had no idea what I was doing. I just got these three fabrics, and I said, I don't know what to do with any of these. And I could have just blindly closed my eyes and just handed them to Nikita and Demandy say pick whatever you want. I don't care. I just don't want either of them. But I think sabotage. Look, you don't have to sabotage people,
and you're confident in your abilities. And I was, I'm playing up to the camera, you know, that's what you do on a TV show. And I'm not a malevolent person, and I don't feel the need to tear others down to bring myself up. A lot of other people feel that. A lot of queens I've noticed on the scene feel the need to tear others down to boost themselves higher. But when you're talented, you don't need to do that.
This is the thing.
That's so funny about you saying that can reading people ruin relationships? Because I mean, this episode starts with the reading challenge, and I'm always so nervous about this. I've already discussed it in this series of podcasts that I've done on these debriefs, and I would be so scared because I'd be worried whether or not you're reading in a reading challenge could ruin your relationship in the show, which therefore could end your time on the show.
You know what I mean.
But reading is such a writer passage with drag, and I think any seasoned drag performer knows that reading is fundamental. But it is really part of the culture of drag, and so you get used to that quite quickly. So anytime you work with any other queens, I always we're always throwing shade, always reading each other. You know, it comes with the territory. So I think, no matter how sort of cutthroat they are, it's all part of the fun, you know, it's all part of the fun.
There's one drag queen in Melbourne that's been around forever, probably one of the queen of means of drag queens. I've not mentioned this person, But whenever I'm in their company, they will say really outrageous things that hurts my feelings, and I'll walk away and say to like Dina Curry or who's Frock Hudson, I will say that person really offended me. And Dean will be like, no, no, no, they're just dragging you. And I'm like, no, no, it was truly offensive and I felt like it came from a
bad place. And He's like, you know what, you might be right. And so that's where dragging, I think, can be really dangerous.
But there is a fine line. There's a fine line between you know, reading someone and just being offensive, and I think that's what divides and sets apart talented performers
and people who are just trying to be outrageous. Yeah, some people will say things for the shock of the shock value of what they've said, whereas I think what I really respect is when a read is really cut through it but it's clever, because that's what that's what says to me is that if it's clever, if you've delivered in a clever way of you've said, like a really clever what's the word a really clever? I know what you mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what that's what I respect.
Yeah, I think it's just a hard thing to do. The challenge this week was to do this makeover, and you got these librarians, and some of those librarianes look like they would be easier to meld or mold in a way, and some of them looked less likely to be able to do it. Did you think that how well everyone did this challenge had to do with how easy it was to work with those people?
Yes?
And no. I mean I remember Freyer being particularly quiet the first day when we were when we were paired up with our partners for the design challenge, and I could see that she was getting into her head about what she was going to do with her partner because they're quite different. And then when it came to the runway and the next day, it was sort of just like a switch had flicked and she was all of a sudden fine with it. So it was really interesting.
But I got along so well with Hannah. We had just the best time, and I think that's what made the whole challenge just enjoyable for me, even though I didn't do well. That's why I still have no bad memories or feelings towards the episode because I just had so much fun and it's really just about you know, you've got to take every opportunity that you're given. And one thing about drag that I love is improv you know, you thrown into a situation where you've got to deal
with things on the fly. And if you can make the best of any situation that you're put into and make the best of it is with anything Like if I'm given a category to dress up for, you've got to I love just making do with what I've got, you know, I love that aspect of drag. If you go into things with the right attitude, then there's nowhere that you can fail.
I think that's the best way to look at it. I think that's a really good mantra.
You know, there's a really funny moment I can't wait for you to watch it where you see Hannah has this verbal diarrhea on stage when talking. Well, the critiques are happening so hilarious. I was like, did you get that? I wanted to ask you that. Did you put something in her coffee? Like?
Nattering like that all the time.
Oh, she loves a chat. She absolutely loves a chat, and we've stayed in contact ever since we got back. And let me tell you, she's just just chatty online as she is in person. She is absolutely beautiful, But yeah, she loves a chat.
He put a respont.
It was so funny seeing the judge's reactions to like how much she just blurted everything out. But it's the same thing. I was like, I'm not going to see this as a bad thing. I'm not gonna I wasn't gonna use. I wasn't gonna get that in my head. I was like, oh my god, like we need I need to rain her in. I'm like, no, she's having the best time of her life. And I was like, let's run with that, because when you just let people be themselves and have fun, then everyone else around you will have fun.
Well, everyone was so good in this challenge, Like I feel like there was a bit of a read of some of the queens that have gone home up to this point, but it really did feel like for this episode, like Gloves her Off, there's no one who is. I felt like it's almost like an even playing field to a certain pess with everyone and you're matching up with your character and your story I thought was I didn't notice anything wrong with it. I thought that you matched
yourself quite well. So it just goes to show you sort of what level of the competition we're at and what sort of queens we've got left. Do you think Max being in that final dance, you know, with the lip sync with you, is that indicative of the fact that Max could go home soon.
Look, it's the kind of challenge where you don't know which way it's going to go. After watching the show for so many years, it's the one challenge that really you have no idea what they're going to say. Sometimes they'll say the judges will say, oh, we didn't ask for twins, we asked for family resemblance. Sometimes they'll say, oh,
you look identical. We love that. Sometimes it'll be they'll look nothing alike, but the judges will say, oh, I can see the family resemblance and you look at ego what. So it's a very interesting challenge. And I remember while we were getting out of critiques, Max and I were standing at the back of the stage and we had gone through almost everyone, and everyone was getting really good critiques. Just they were picking at the tinest little things of everyone.
And I remember Max and I looked at each other and we were like, are we in the bottom? What what's happening?
Like?
Are we in the bottom? So yeah, it was it probably was fair that Max and I were in the bottom, even though that even though we did really well, everyone did really well. It was just a hard one to pick this time. It's a hard one to pick.
You know. Spanky Jackson's one of my favorite drag queens of all time from around the world, and Spanky was in this episode with you, which was great, but we didn't see a lot from Spanky. I was just curious, did you hear what her critiques were when you were walking along the runway?
Oh? Like her little little bits.
And pieces, Like I've spoken to drag queens they say they can hear the comments, like you cannot, And we don't see really anything that Spanky says. So I was just curious, like was she too crass? Like was it two outrageous? Did she was she even talking?
Like?
Was there room for that?
I just was surprised at a bit of a lacklust of Spanky Jackson in this episode.
I actually honestly can't remember the BRender breast. I really cut it was so long ago, but Spanky was like, she was so much fun. I'm a Spanky Jackson Stan I absolutely love her. So I was just excited that she was there because I hadn't met her yet and so I was just thrilled that she was there. I just think the only thing that I can remember the judge just saying when we were going down from Brenda was just where's the bus? Is the bus still running it? Where's the bus? That's like, can remember.
Well, it was a good gag. I mean, I thought it was funny with the whole bubble. I have to wrap up because I only get twenty minutes with you and I'm overtime, but I just wanted to say how amazing I think you are and how great I.
Think you did on this show.
And I finished the podcast with asking her behind the scene secret and I'm asking everyone how much money they spent on their drag? Pretty much everyone said ten thousand dollars? Is that the going rate? Is that how much money people spend or did you spend on average?
Yeah, that's pretty much what I spent as well. Yeah, it's it's yeah, I think that because we sort of needed nine nine at nine costumes for the categories and roughly they're all about one to one point five each. Yeah, that kind of it's not cheap. It's not cheap, but it's that one thing where it's like you get that call once and this is the one time that you spend money to.
Drop the car.
Yeah, you drop the platinum A mix on it, and you see that. My husband will pay that check when I'm away.
K amazing, Brenda. I'm in your audience.
I can't wait to see what you do with this whole drag experience and now being a rude girl. Thank you for representing Melbourne. I'm very proud of what you've been able to achieve and good luck with the whole thing.
Thank you. I've just got to correct you on one thing. We're not Route Girls. We're Mitch's Bitches, thank you very much.
Right you know what?
Oh my god, I said that in the podcast last week and someone critiques me on that and I didn't put it together.
But that's right. Rue's not there, so.
It's not their babe. So we're not Route Girls. We're the very first past of Mitch's Bitches.
Which is doing a great job. Sess with Michelle and It's so weird to say this, but I am not noticing RuPaul not being there, which is so weird to me, so weird.
I only just think it was the fresh take that down underneaded and it was perfect.
Yeah, and some great casting.
Anyway, look after yourself, enjoy chatting to the media, I'm sure.
Thank you. Hey, your babe,