LUCINA INNOCENCE - RUPAULS DRAG RACE - STAN AUSTRALIA

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast Can't Leap the Life. Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Lucina Innocence, who was the third eliminated queen from Rupo's Drag Race down Under season four.

This week we saw some really tough competition in the weekly challenge.

While one queen was destined to win, others actually did better than they thought. I think moving forward, the queens are going to continue to fill the pinch, as there are only eight.

Episodes in the season and that.

Finale is already feeling like it's inching its way forward. Lucina will share her thoughts on the way in which the queens read each other and if some of the other queens were a little bit unfair at times. We will unpack the game within the game, and that is the rivalry between New Zealand and Australia. I will ask about the roses and if there were any regrets on how Lucina styled her gown. You will get everything from going into your own head in a competition like this,

Hi, Lucyner, how are you?

And good? Thank you? How are you?

I'm very well? You know what?

At my house there is never too many roses happy to hear that.

Well.

Congratulations on getting onto Rupoul's Drag Race down Under. It is such a hard show to get onto. You must feel so elated to be able to have had this opportunity.

Yeah. Absolutely. It was my third time auditioning and I was like, finally got through and you're just getting on the show with such a big achievement in itself, So very grateful for that.

What makes you think that you got through this time? Is there anything that you did? Did you do like an extra peal and revealed? Did you slip them some cash?

That's between me and then No, I don't know. I think just it all comes down to timing sometimes, like what about looking for in a different season. So I'm glad I had a bit more time to really cook for it.

Is it easier or harder than it looks?

Because to me as a viewer and not as a drag queen, I think that this show looks like the most complicated reality show you could possibly sign yourself up for. But I guess you know, this is your industry, this is what you know how to do. What's it like now that you've done it?

I mean, I knew it was going to be hard, especially based on what other people have said and knowing people that have done it before, but definitely harder than I thought. I don't think anything can really prepare you from it. You know, at the moment you get cast, sorting your looks like preparing everything, and then you go to the set and that's go, go, go, and no sleep.

There seems to be like a little bit of a competition within the competition with Australia versus New Zealand, and that has been instead of the background of all four seasons. I wouldn't know from your impression of that, is there that behind the scenes. What's it like for the queens, Not.

That I can think of anything. I feel like it's maybe a bit more city versus city. So with then Australia or even in New Zealand, there's always been a little bit of like an Auckland and Wellington kind of friendly rivalry, so that nothing too serious.

Of course, Why do you think that we've got to season four and we've found such top notch queens now on the show? Has something different happened or do you think we just sort of understand the brand more.

Probably a combination of both. I think there deffinitely is like a lot of talent around Australia and New Zealand, and it's on even a small handful of queens that have gone to be on the show. So contrary to what certain people online they say, there's a lot of great drag talent here.

If you're looking at it, sort of Brenda, Mandy and Lazy they kind of look like they're sort of leading the competition at the moment. Are they the ones that everyone feels a little bit more intimidated by? Were there certain queens that you felt intimidated by?

I didn't really know of many of them. Before the show, I knew of Nikita and Olivia are from New Zealand, and then I had heard of Max, and so I knew I did not want to live think against Smacks. Other than that, I was kind of just learning about all of those queens as we went along, and I think, yeah, as it goes on in as Lazy Susan kept winning challenges and all that, you kind of figure out who

It seemed to me like you got into your head pretty early on in this series and then it was really hard to get yourself out of that. Is it right to say that as from a viewers perspective that we could see that, Is that how you felt?

Yeah?

Absolutely? I think it was. As soon as Michelle walked into the room and said that first challenge, I thought I was going to go home first because my outfit was not finished and and I knew that, and when they said that was a challenge, I thought, oh no. And then obviously I lip synced on the first episode, and which I hadn't expected to do before coming to film, and so yeah, it really just threw me off and sent me into a bit of a spiral. And I don't think I was able to a really speck from that.

I think that's one of the things that it's so easy when you get home to think, oh, I could have done that differently, But like when you're in the moment, I think that viewers probably don't understand that very much. Getting into your head is almost impossible to pull yourself out of because the more you it's like when you start sweating, right, you know, if you say to yourself, stop sweating, you just start sweating more.

Yeah, for sure, And it's definitely easier sit than done. And I feel like I pretty much every season of drag Race is someone who kind of goes through a similar thing. But then you watch it and you think, pullice off together, and watching myself back, I sort of think that, but knowing what it was like at the time, it's just no way around it. Really.

I noticed that a few times that in this episode people were sort of maybe undermining you a little bit.

Maybe that's the storyline.

It gets put together, but sort of Mandy through some shade at your snatch game, and I kind of felt like, well, that's a big call to call someone out like that in front of everybody else. Did you feel like that maybe some of the stronger players in the game at this point are looking to pick off the weaker players to keep themselves in the competition longer, potentially.

I think at the time, after doing Snatch hom and having my first safe week, I was, you know, sort of on a high, and then to hear other girls say that put me back in that place. And I don't think it was necessarily malicious or trying to throw me off, but I feel like they should be coming for the people who they think are competition.

I agree with you.

I would say you want to try and take out some of the stronger competition and maybe leave some of the girls that maybe if you think are not as strong as others, keep them to the end. I think they called the goats in other like in Survivor and things like that, you know you've got to save a few goats around. It just seemed like there was a few digs at you this episode, and so I wondered whether or not you felt sort of undermined at all with that.

I think I knew that the other girls were under estimating me at that point, because you know, they only had seen what I'd shown so far in the competition, and I knew that wasn't my best and so if that's all they know of me, then of course they're going to think I maybe not as much of a threat as I could have been pulled myself together a bit more. But it is what it is.

I mean, it's a tough competition. The mini challenge gave you the opportunity to sort of say something shady about everyone else. Do you worry about insulting the queens in real time or do you try and play to the audience at home?

Yeah, because I think people forget that when you're in that moment and saying those things, you are doing it face to face, unless you're obviously in the confessionals. But it's not even so much of the audience. It's like, because you're going to go in on someone, it's knowing that they're going to see it. So I'm just not the type of person that will unnecessarily try to bring

Something about RuPaul in general is like over the seasons, if you put the reading glasses on, you're allowed to be shady. But then sometimes being shady like that seems like it's a bit harsh. I think I'd struggle with understanding the values in determining when you're allowed to be shady, when you're not, and when it's going to upset someone and when it's not.

Yeah, I feel like it's just something you learn over the years of doing drag and like all these queens have spent time in dressing rooms, they know the Bible that the more experienced queens know that. But it's funny because I'll often meet baby queens who are just starting out and they think drags shade sort of come up and throw out some insults, and you just think, maybe, girl, that's not how we do it around here.

I remember doing it once.

I got asked to be a guest, and so I came along as a guest to this drag show that was in front of I think it was like a thousand people that were there, and everyone was being really shady. So I said something really mean spirited someone in the audience. There was two people that were dressed up as Kath and Kim characters, and to me at the time, they

You learn got to have some moments like that to figure out what not to do.

So Mandy Mooves was known for the sewing Challenge. Do you think that if Mandy had not have won this week that she may have rioted because the outfit was amazing and the compliments were great and is is getting up and that Mandy got that moment. But what do you think that Mandy would have done had it had been won by someone else?

She probably would have got out those sewing shears and threw them directly at Michelle's throat. Yeah, I can understand why she would be upset if she had it won, But I mean with the look she made, there's no way she couldn't have It was just incredible.

She really did deliver you know Freyer and Max as well. We got a little tease about something that was going on behind the scenes, and because the episodes are so tightly packed, ped I've really get to explore much of that kind of stuff. So I want you to spill the tea on this What was going on behind the scenes with those two.

Well, all I can say is that it's probably a good thing that we were all kept in separate hotel rooms.

Are you allowed to go into the other because I guess they're trying to keep you separate so storylines can be all for camera, So that means you're not allowed to go into each other's rooms.

No, we're not, keep separate, keep everything fresh for the cameras, and make sure they don't miss any stories and that kind of thing.

Is that like school camp where there's like a teacher sitting outside the bunks and making sure that no one goes into the other rooms, pretty much like tight security? Well what have they got to stop you from doing that? Though?

I think it's more of a case they're not going to, you know, physically stop you, but if you were to try and break the rules during you're going to sabotage yourself.

And then also the fact that Michelle Visage asked that loaded question meant that someone had reported back to Michelle that these two something might have been going on. Are there spies watching for those sorts of things being passed on to Michelle?

And are you guys all aware of that.

I don't think they were very subtle about it. I'm pretty sure, you know, they had a little kiss on the first episode runway, but then there was another one, I don't know which episode it was, where they had a little smooch in the work room. So I don't think that being that subtle.

Really, I was going to ask you about the dress, so we sort of talked about it at the start, about how many roses you put on it.

You know, there was some.

Commentary about whether or not it might have been better to just leave the roses around the neck and around the sleeve. I actually just thought it looked really beautiful. I thought the dress was beautiful. I thought the arrangement of flowers was beautiful. But do you think that you would have got away with that dress if it was just very plain like them?

It's hard to say, because, you know, I think some of the other outfits were more simple, But because they were nicely made, they maybe got more praise. I think when I originally started it that I was doing, I was trying to do like a gradient from the bottom of the dress to sort of fade up. But then I started realizing how long it was taking to cut up those flowers and sort of just started slapping them on.

Eive it was me.

I could imagine that I would have just kept making roses and putting on it as well, and it was just adding some more color to.

It, yeah, you know, something to give it a bit of life. And that the fabrics in the box were not something I would particularly wear myself. Had to make do with what I had.

Absolutely the song choice for the lip sync for me was really a strange choice because moving pictures what about me? I love that song and I think it's a it's a classic Australian but it's a hard song to do a lip sync too.

Were you a little bit did you know that song?

Well?

So the song was actually used in one of the past audition tapes for Joe Grace. Remember hearing it and thinking, okay, it's you know, a male vocal, should it normally do? And when I auditioned that side, they tried to take more of like a funny sort of version of my performance. When I had to lip sync it, I just thought, you know, I was feeling all the emotions and just sort of channeled them all into the number.

In the moment.

It would be really easy to sing it realistically, but I think it might have been bigger to amplify it and try and make it more than it was. So you're saying that in the audition process you did try and sort of amplify it a little bit more.

Yeah, maybe I'll put the video one day. But it was just me like frollocking down the street and doing silly things while I look sink to it because I was like, I cannot take the song seriously. But when I loop sync did, I was not in the mood to be silly, so I took it there.

Most people would know that song from being Shannon. Shannonole sung that song quite well, But then I was wondering, do you know who Shannonole is? Over in New Zealand.

I do not. I'm pretty sure Guy Sebastian did a version of it though that I heard.

Guy Sebastian and Shannonole were in the finale of an Australian idol back in the day that was very iconic and Old did choose to sing that what About Me song? And I think it went to number one for something like fifty weeks, so it was like an interesting rendition of that song that it was sort of revitalized. And I don't think many people of my generation even knew the Moving Pictures version.

Well I certainly didn't.

Did you think at that point that you were going home? What was your thoughts when it came down to the lip sync?

I didn't think I was going to be lip syncing, but as soon as I was called to be in the bottom, I was like, wow, it's over.

Well before you go.

Something I ask everyone who joins the pod is what is something from behind the scenes, something that we maybe did not get a chance to see. How much money did you spend on your drag preparing all your time on the fourth season?

Oh? I think it was around tim Ky. Some people might do it weird. Did that money go? But you know things aren't cheap.

Well, can I just say congratulations again on being able to be picked on this show.

I think you did a great job.

I think it's a very tough competition this season, so it's going to be very hard to see who takes this out. But yeah, I just think you did a great job and I really enjoyed watching you this season.

Crazy experience and can't wait to see what comes next.

Well, I enjoy chatting with the media today.

Look after yourself and again, thank you for being so generous with your time.

Thank you, it's been a pleasure.