Jasmine Kennedie promises that Bracket 3 will be the most entertaining of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 11’s three preliminary rounds.
That’s quite a tall order following last week’s Bracket 2 meltdown, which had Salina EsTitties screaming, Aura Mayari sobbing, and Silky Nutmeg Ganache lying on the ground. Multiple betrayals resulted in not only mass hysteria, but also Silky and Crystal Methyd moving onto the semifinals, where they’ll meet Dawn and A’keria C. Davenport from Bracket 1.
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And yet Jasmine, who finished in eighth place on Season 14, is not only claiming that All Stars 11 “saved the best for last,” but also that they are “making up for last year’s Bracket 3.”
“People were complaining about last year’s Bracket 3 being boring,” she says, shading the three episodes of All Stars 10 in which the eventual winner Ginger Minj steamrolled her competition in straight sets (much to the chagrin of fans who cried favoritism). “Our bracket is not boring. We have drama. We have entertainment. We have tears. Emotions are high. There’s tension that boils up because we all care about this season.”
Jasmine KennedieSantiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
Bracket 3, which begins its three-week run this Friday, is a bit of a wildcard lineup, and unlike in Brackets 1 and 2, which included several returning pairs, no two queens in Bracket 3 have previously competed against one another. Joining Jasmine are Season 11’s seventh-place finisher Shuga Cain, Season 12’s 12th-place finisher Joey Jay (who is still gay), and Season 16’s 14th-place finisher Hershii LiqCour-Jete, all of whom are looking for redemption.
“We’re the hungriest because we didn’t get that far,” says Jasmine. “You can tell that everyone here wants to win and came back strong.”
The only two former finalists in Bracket 3 are Season 17’s third-place finisher Sam Star, and Drag Race legend Kennedy Davenport, who made it to the top four on Season 7, All Stars 3, and Canada vs. The World Season 2, but has never won.
Chatting in New York City’s Lawn Bar ahead of All Stars 11, however, Jasmine tells Gold Derby that she’s not letting her competition faze her.
“My first time around on Season 14, I was so focused on the social game, and I wasn’t really focused on the competition,” she says. “I think this time around, people will be pleasantly surprised to see I’m very goal-driven, focused on me and my game.”
But before you worry that the deliciously messy queen of Untucked arguments and self-proclaimed “Mouth Almighty” will be returning more demurely, Jasmine says, “We make it a little messy. We scratch some eyes out. Mouth Almighty is very present. Mouth Almighty is fully realized, and I didn’t hold back.”
Perhaps the biggest change for Jasmine since Season 14 is her gender affirmation. Jasmine came out as trans in a memorable scene her first time on Drag Race and since then has fully transitioned, becoming the first openly trans woman to perform in RuPaul’s Drag Race Live in Las Vegas. Jasmine still sees a distinction between her female self and her drag persona, though.
“At the end of the day, you’re still in a drag competition,” she says. “I made sure to show my womanhood fantasy in the Werk Room. When I was on that stage, I did full drag, keeping those lines very distinct.”
But there’s only so much separating one can do. “The dosages [of hormones] were definitely high,” she laughs. “The tears were flowing. Every time I cried, we just blamed it on the ‘mones.”
Joey JaySantiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
Another queen who has learned to separate her natural look from her drag persona is Joey Jay, who performed in her real hair sans wigs on her original season, a choice that rubbed Michelle Visage the wrong way. While Joey didn’t wear a wig “as a callback” while doing press, she’s been wearing wigs for years since Season 12.
“I woke up one day and had an epiphany,” she says. “Drag is my career now. I look at drag as a doctorate. If you’re gonna get a doctorate, you have to take all the classes. I can’t graduate if I don’t know how to sew, how to do hair. If I want to be one of the best drag queens in the world, I need to know the prerequisites.”
In addition to shelling out cash for wigs, Joey upped her budget all-around for All Stars. “The first time around, it was just a bit sloppy,” she says. “I was very frugal, but Drag Race isn’t something you should be frugal about. This time, I didn’t care. I asked friends for money. I’m like, ‘I’ll pay you back.’ I borrowed what I could. I’m not a Virgo, but I was cosplaying as one. It felt good to feel prepared.”
Shuga CainSantiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
While technically a Scorpio, Shuga Cain, who previously worked in corporate America, also went full-Virgo while preparing for All Stars.
“I was getting married when I got the call,” she says. “I was planning a destination wedding and All Stars. It was insane, but my job in corporate was as a production director, so I switched into that gear. I had spreadsheets, grids.”
Of the Bracket 3 girls, Shuga has had the longest gap in between seasons, but she’s excited to show off her “evolution.” Before Season 11, she’d only been doing drag full-time for a year. Now she’s nearly a decade into her career. “I’m excited to showcase who I am now,” she says. “I feel younger, more beautiful, richer than ever.”
In her first season, Shuga, who was 40, was called “Nana” by her fellow castmates. She’s now 48, but is quick to say, “There is nothing saggin on this body anymore, baby. I remember RuPaul was like, ‘You are not old. You are just starting your life,’ so I wanted to come back like a hot and sexy Real Housewife of Miami, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Hershii LiqCour-Jeté and Sam StarSantiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
On the opposite end of the age spectrum is Sam Star, who at 26 is not only the youngest queen, but also the newest to the franchise on this season. With only a year between filming Season 17 and All Stars 11, Sam hasn’t tried to reinvent herself.
“Honestly, the first time I was so proud of what I did, and I think I did pretty much everything right,” she says. “I made it all the way to the finale. It just wasn’t my time. When they called me back, I said, ‘I know I have what it takes, so why not go for it again?’ It’s like a pageant. If you lose once, you just come right back.”
Also thrilled with Sam’s return is her mother, who appeared as Sassy Star during the makeover challenge of Sam’s original season. “She was like, ‘You got to go back, and this time you got to win,’” Sam remembers. “She’s just proud of me no matter what I do, because she knows that getting on the show has been a dream for so long.”
Since Season 17, Sam has spent most of her time touring without Sassy, but says they might be an on-the-road duo before long. “She’s so close to retirement,” Sam says. “When she does, she’ll be on the road with me. She did come to my show in Atlanta, because it’s just an hour drive from Alabama, and the line to meet her was longer than my meet-and-greet line. Y’all thought I had a big ego? I get it from Sassy.”
While Sam lasted through the entirety of her season, Hershii LiqCour-Jete was eliminated in the third episode as the first boot, or “Porkchop” of Season 16. After Irene the Alien, the Porkchop of Season 15, dominated All Stars 10, Hershii is thrilled to be the next invited back.
“People didn’t get to see much of me last time,” she says. “But I come from a legacy of good girls. Irene just came on, so to get that next call felt really good. It felt like Ru saw something in me that she herself felt like she missed.”
Hershii LiqCour-JetéSantiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
Last time, Hershii struggled with being away from the two children she’s raising with her partner, but this time, she felt more equipped for the emotions.
“The first time, I was not prepared to miss my kids as much as I did. That threw me off my game, because any other time, I’m excited for somebody to come pick them up,” she laughs. “This time around, my partner and their grandparents were like, ‘Listen, they’re fine. Worry about that money. Go compete and stop being such a crybaby.'”
Hershii says she’s felt less lonely since opening up about being a gay dad on the show. After competing on Drag Race, she talked to plenty of other gay parents in similar situations.
“I didn’t even know a lot of us were parenting,” says Hershii. “Like A’keria. I didn’t know she was a parent. Kennedy Davenport is also a parent. Those experiences aren’t talked about a lot.”
Kennedy Davenport Santiago Felipe/Getty Images for Paramount+
Of the Bracket 3 queens, the only one who has returned before is Kennedy, who seems to view the season in more pragmatic terms.
“I came back to win the money,” she says, “People don’t understand that this is also a job. This is our career, and it is very important to stay relevant. Being back on television helps to stay relevant.”
Returning for her fourth time, Kennedy also wasn’t as intimidated by the process. “I wasn’t impressed, no shade,” she says about her initial thoughts of the other girls. “I love my group, but I see no competition. I’ve survived 30 years doing drag, so not to toot my own horn, but I’m my biggest and my only competition.”
Drag Race fans will see just how true that is come Friday.
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