Juicy Love Dion made her entrance into RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 as the party princess of Miami and Mykonos, and she lived up to every bit of that energy. The drag daughter of season 16’s Morphine Love Dion and drag granddaughter of fellow season 18 competitor Athena Dion, Juicy brought a ferocity to the competition that was impossible to ignore, particularly when the music started. She lip synced for her life more times than most queens ever want to, and she won more than most queens ever do, sending home competitor after competitor with a physicality and presence that even RuPaul couldn’t help but acknowledge. She was eliminated just before next week’s Lip Sync Lalaparuza Smackdown, leaving the competition just shy of the finale but yet fortunately for us, we get another opportunity to see her lip sync.
“It starts low, goes high, then goes back low, then goes like high, and then goes low,” she said about her track record. “Big peaks and big valleys.” She also had plenty to say about the show’s treatment of Hispanic queens, asking why Carmen Miranda remains the extent of their cultural references. Juicy spoke with Newsweek about her journey, her throat chakra, why Hispanic queens deserve better and what she’s taking away from one of the most memorable runs of the season.
The following transcript was condensed and lightly edited for publication.
So nice to meet you. You should be very proud of yourself. How are you feeling today?
Nice to meet you as well. Thank you so much. As I do more of these interviews and face this inevitable public execution, I think I’m starting to feel a little better about it. It’s something that I have to walk through instead of walk away from. I walked out of that left side after this moment completely torn up and broken about it. And all these months later, almost a year later, I’m still not completely healed from it. I think the last part I’m missing is the closure of it all just coming out, the world seeing it. And after that, it’s time to let go.
You did a great job. Stunning lip syncs, incredible. You found yourself battling in lip syncs throughout the season and really proved yourself as a lip sync artist. Even Ru acknowledged that you come alive in these dance numbers. How do you feel about your track record on Drag Race?
Listen, I knew what was destined for me. Even the judges, I feel like, knew what was destined for me. Michelle [Visage] looked me straight in the face in episode three when I won and said, “Juicy, I hate to say this, but I can’t wait to watch you lip sync.” I knew in that moment that as much as I want to run from it, I also have to face the fact that I am this performer and this is my biggest strength and it is something that I shine in. It wasn’t until Alyssa [Edwards] came into Untucked and told us that the lip syncs are what made her famous and what people remember her for forever, so don’t take it as something bad, take it as a moment to show what you’re good at. That really stuck with me. In terms of my track record, I obviously wish it could be different. It’s a bit of a rainbow, a roller coaster. It starts low, goes high, then goes back low, then goes high, then goes low. Big peaks and big valleys. There were things I wish I could change. I don’t think the musical was necessarily my moment to be in the bottom, but it is what it is. It’s all a learning experience and I know what mistakes I made and what to improve on. It was my first roast ever in my life. Trust me, my second roast was much better.
One of the things I think is so brave about you being on Drag Race is that you openly talked in this past episode about how you struggle to sort of be the personality, because you are a performer who excels in the lip syncs. As someone who makes a living talking, I think it’s actually brave to step in and stand among the likes of a Jane Don’t or Myki Meeks, people who are really good on the mic. What did you learn about yourself and your personality over the course of Drag Race?
It’s personality, but it’s also experience. When I walked into that room and realized I was standing among girls with BFAs and queens who have been hosting for 14-plus years, i.e. Athena, I had to realize, okay, fake it till you make it. That’s one thing you learn as a dancer: if I’m not a hip-hop dancer, I’m going to fake that hip-hop until I look like one. I had to really step up to the plate and try to match these girls who have been on the microphone for years prior to me. I did have a Reiki healing once in 2022 in Mykonos, and the healer told me my throat chakra was blocked. I didn’t really pay attention in the moment, but years later it’s still coming up. It’s something I struggle with in communicating with anybody, even when I’m frustrated, when I’m angry. That’s something I’m just learning to deal with now. I guess that’s why dance has been such an escape for me, because you don’t need words. You just need your movement, to let it out and express, and that’s been my therapy, where my life and my love has landed. Even just walking out of those doors, I felt my voice coming to me more and more. I’m finally facing it and realizing it. Unfortunately, I’m just a person who has to fall on their face to learn. I feel like I fell on my face and now I’m learning, so.
I don’t think you fell on your face. You made it very far, literally almost to the very end, among massive personalities. You stood your ground, and that says a lot about your talent.
Thank you. I appreciate that. I definitely have to be kinder in the way that I talk about myself. But you’re right. This is something to really look back and be proud of, and to even just get that far and that close is an honor.
As an older homosexual, though, I have to say: your pop culture references are something you need to work on. That was the funniest part of this season, you not knowing things that every homosexual feels like they should know.
Okay, listen. It’s not my fault I don’t like The Golden Girls. I mean, I know their names now, I guess, I think.
I have a tattoo of the Golden Girls on me. I’m just saying.
Okay, well, you and Athena must have gotten along. But I know other things. I know other references. I may not know all the gay immediate pop culture references, but I know a little bit about a lot of other things. And in that same breath, yes, there is a lot to say about knowing your references, knowing your culture and knowing what Ru likes, because at the end of the day she has the namesake and she is the host of the show. Will I say the other girls were pandering? No. But I came there wholeheartedly myself, with my own interests and my own likes and dislikes.
And if you ever go back on All Stars, come over and we’ll spend an afternoon and I’ll get you up to speed.
I just know different things. I taught RuPaul who Niurka Marcos was. She didn’t know who Niurka Marcos was. She didn’t know Rica, Famosa, Latina. She doesn’t know what that program is. You probably don’t either. There are just different interests for different people. It’s not my fault.
Fair enough.
And let’s talk about why Hispanic queens never do well on the show. Because Jessica Wilde is absolutely hilarious. But what’s the funniest reference? Carmen Miranda? That’s what we’re limited to, what’s on Americanized TV. Let’s wake it up.
My boyfriend and I still quote Jessica Wilde from All Stars.
Yes. But you see, people come at me for not knowing who George Michael was. Okay, fine. Answer me: who was Niurka Marcos? Name me the whole cast of Rica, Famosa, Latina.
You’re very right, and that’s something special that you bring. How are you feeling going forward, and of the remaining girls, who are you rooting for this season?
I absolutely want all of them to win and I have love for all three of them. It’s a toss-up. I can give you reasons why I want each to win. I cannot give you reasons why I don’t want them to. I think each one brings something so different to drag, to Drag Race, and whoever goes to the final ring will be special and different.
Is there someone you were surprised to connect with this season?
Jane Don’t. I was surprised at how much we had in common, even though sometimes when Jane would talk, I wouldn’t understand half the words she would say. Her vocabulary is just so extensive. She has a perfect reading SAT score. Like, who has that? That’s insane. But we got along so well. She genuinely, just in the way that we would speak, had a lot of kindness and, I guess, irreverence to everybody. She was very sweet and kind and forthcoming and not pretentious in her knowledge. If there was something I just didn’t understand, she would laugh at me first, but she would explain it to me. And I really appreciate a person like that. We’re also like a day apart. She was born March 16th, I was the 15th. We’re both Pisces, crazy people.
Juicy, you were fantastic, beautiful to watch, and you should be very proud of yourself.
Thank you so, so much. It was lovely to speak with you. I really appreciate you taking the time to hear me out.
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