Michelle Visage Shares Her Thoughts on the Most Iconic Moments from 'Drag Race' Herstory

Michelle Visage is not one to hold back. Whether it's as a longtime judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, on her Emmy-nominated interview show Whatcha Packin or in an interview, she's live and unfiltered.

Visage joined the judging panel of Drag Race back in Season 3, although she was originally intended to be RuPaul's right-hand bestie from the jump (more on that later). She immediately made a name for herself as the harshest judge, calling out queens for ill-fitting corsets, cheap-looking fabric and wearing the dreaded color green. Over her 13 seasons on Drag Race, 8 seasons of All Stars, 4 seasons on Drag Race UK, and dozens of appearance on other Drag Race-related properties, however, audiences have grown to love Michelle's blunt New Jersey candor and tough love.

Nowhere is that love more on display than in Whatcha Packin, Visage's short-form series where she interviews the queens of Drag Race after they've been eliminated. The series, which was nominated for its first Emmy in 2022, showcases Visage as the "drag auntie" as she helps the young queens reflect on their journey.

In an interview with Parade, Michelle reflected on her own journey with the franchise and offered her frank thoughts on some of the biggest moments from Drag Race herstory. Here's what she had to say:

Michelle Visage on the most iconic moments of RuPaul's Drag Race

Her first time in the judge's chair (Drag Race Season 3)

"It's actually really emotional because I was supposed to be there for season one, but I was in year one of a five-year radio contract and when I tried to leave, I was told I would have been held fiscally responsible for the four years that I would owe to them. That was a lot of money, so I couldn't leave. My homophobic boss wouldn't let me out for two weeks to film.

"So then when I sat down next to Ru—I didn't have hair or makeup people. It was just whoever was on the set. I was dressed in my clothing from my closet. There was no real budget for wardrobe. But I sat down and I looked at Ru and Ru looked at me and said, 'Now the show can officially begin.' And it was a moment of like chills and 'I can't believe I'm finally here.' It was just a day that I'll never forget."

Mimi Imfurst vs. India Ferrah (Drag Race Season 3)

"Listen, I know how serious and intense these kids take this. This is their life. This is their opportunity. It's not just something they do. I think for a lot of them, it's who they are. The intensity of what happened was tough. The intensity of Mimi wanting to be the best that she could be without really thinking through the outcome. She was just trying to go for it to be the best that she could be. But sitting there witnessing was like, 'Oh, dear. This isn't right. This was not consensual.' And as you know, drag is not a contact sport, and it is consensual. Touch is always consensual."

Dancing at the reunion (Drag Race Season 3)

"I blew my neck out at the gym and I had a hernia and a bulging disk in my neck. I was healing from that, and I came back for the reunion. I was dancing with the Queens, and my neck was in so much pain that I had to step out, put my neck brace on, and then I came back in and danced. If you go back to that reunion, you see me dancing with the neck brace."

Monica Beverly Hillz reveals she's transgender (Drag Race Season 5)

"[This is a moment] that changed queer history in many ways: to have Monica be authentic to who she was and who she is. It was beautiful because she was able to lift that weight off of her shoulder on national television, on the biggest platform for drag and drag performers. That's a big, big feat."

Alyssa Edwards vs. Tatianna lip sync (Drag Race All Stars Season 2)

"Honestly, in that moment, I was like, 'That was the best thing I've ever seen in my life.'"

Dax Exclamation Point and Laila McQueen's double elimination (Drag Race Season 8)

"I didn't know [that there was going to be a double elimination.] I'm a producer on the show, but I don't know certain things before they happen. And quite honestly, I like it that way. I like being surprised. So those face crack of the century moments are very, very authentic."

Valentina would "like to keep it on" (Drag Race Season 9)

"I was like, 'Am I missing something here? Because we can't see her mouth.' So being there was like, 'Oh, this is awkward.'"

Miss Vanjie's exit (Drag Race Season 10)

"When the whole Miss Vanjie thing happened, [I didn't realize it would be iconic.] I'm there to just make Ru laugh. I didn't think it would be viral and live on an infamy. It was just, 'he he he he,' and it just turned out to be something."

The six-way lip sync (Drag Race Season 11)

"I was like a kid in a candy shop. I get very excited because my job is the best job in the world. I'm very blessed and I'm aware. When we have a six-way, it's like, bring it on, bitches. Let me get some popcorn."

The Madonna Rusical/Jan's face crack (Drag Race Season 12)

"Well, anybody that knows me knows my obsession with musicals. So my favorite challenge, if I had to pick one, gay Sophie's Choice, is going to be the Rusical. Jan did great. She did great. And I want her to hear that.

But no, [I couldn't see her face.] They're all the way at the back of the stage. The cameras zoom in on them, but we don't have the cameras in front of us because we're looking at them. So I'm looking at whoever's left on stage. But I knew she really wanted that one."

RuPaul's H&M rant (Drag Race UK Season 2)

"I mean, Ru was at Ru's limit with it. And it's like, if you're going to [wear H&M], then throw some f-----g glitter on it. There's nothing wrong with buying stuff off the rack. You just have to make it look like you didn't. And let's not forget, we also did just come out of lockdown. I thought, 'Certainly you have a glitter glue gun and some stones when you're just sitting there in lockdown, Joe Black!' And also, he's such an incredible performer that I was like, 'Really? Really?'"

Lala Ri's bag dress (Drag Race Season 13)

"It was so bad that I couldn't even believe she was actually serious, but it turned into one of the best things ever. It was worse [in person than on camera]."

Bosco's chocolate bar (Drag Race Season 14)

"The best part about that was sometimes it took a minute because they had these nails on and they're trying to open the chocolate bars. You're sitting there and see them struggle and it's like, 'Come on, you can do it.'"

Jinkx Monsoon's Snatch Game (Drag Race All Stars Season 7)

"Dying, cracking up, howling. You could see me. You could see me howling. Couldn't even catch my breath. It was amazing. I have toured with a lot of these kids, so I know what they can do. And seeing them live up to their full potential makes me as a fan and as a drag mom, a drag auntie, so proud."

Watch Michelle Visage on episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race on Paramount+, and stream episodes of Whatcha Packin on YouTube.