After fainting on the Drag Race Main Stage, Briar Blush tells EW about serious health complications after the show.Briar says in her exit interview that she was hospitalized with sepsis after the show.She also reveals where things stand with Athena Dion and Mia Starr after this season’s drama.<\/p>\n
Athena Dion<\/a>‘s inner (and, let’s be real, outer) saboteur has been exorcized from RuPaul’s Drag Race<\/a> season 18 \u2014 but, in signature Briar Blush<\/a> fashion, the Boston-based drag queen went out like a firecracker.\n<\/p>\n During critiques, Briar went down for the count \u2014 passing out mid-judging while her sisters attempted to revive her, and the panelists called for medics. Though she ultimately sashayed away later in the episode, Briar has quite the tale to tell about her shocking on-set collapse, and she spills all on that (plus her three-year-long feud with fellow RuGirl, All Stars 6 queen Jan<\/a>) in her exit interview ahead.<\/p>\n RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET\/PT on MTV<\/a>. Read on for EW’s full interview with Briar.\n<\/p>\n Briar Blush faints on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 18.<\/p>\n MTV<\/p>\n ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Please define “squabble.”\n<\/p>\n BRIAR BLUSH: I meant to say squander, but I was a little dazed and confused. I clearly misspoke!\n<\/p>\n You said it twice [once in a confessional, once on stage] , and I love that.\n<\/p>\n I said, “I don\u2019t want to squabble this opportunity,” and RuPaul<\/a> goes [Briar puts her hand to her ear to simulate Ru talking into an earpiece] “Lighting issue. Can you do that again, Briar?” I proceeded to not say it, because I realized it was wrong. There was no lighting issue. Ru looked out for me in that moment.\n<\/p>\n The episode began with tension in the Werk Room. Mia Starr<\/a> said that you “touched” Athena off camera. What happened?\n<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know! Me and Athena\u2019s relationship off-camera is how it was on-camera. I can\u2019t stress this enough, this was a fun, funny interaction. On the first day, she pantsed me. I asked her if it was okay to talk about this, and she said it was, as long as I specified it was in good fun. I have a back tattoo, and I lifted up my shirt to show her, because it extends down my back. She goes, “I want to see all of it,” and pulled down my pants!\n<\/p>\n Juicy Love Dion and Discord Addams help Briar Blush on ‘Drag Race’ season 18.<\/p>\n MTV<\/p>\n So, things are patched up?\n<\/p>\n We laugh about it so much. We were cool the next day. We\u2019re still fun and shady, but I meant what I said [in my Werk Room apology]. I care about [Athena and Mia].\n<\/p>\n I was shocked when you fainted on the runway. Is this the first time you’ve fainted? What do you remember?\n<\/p>\n Yes. I remember Michelle\u2019s critiques. Halfway through Law\u2019s critiques \u2014 Law shreds, I wasn\u2019t perturbed, that\u2019s what Law does \u2014 I remember getting warm in the head. I blinked, and thought Juicy Love Dion<\/a> was just looking at me sideways. I didn\u2019t realize I was on the ground. I was mad for a second. I looked around and saw queens on stools and Ru screaming for medics. I didn\u2019t realize I\u2019d fainted. It wasn\u2019t like [Drag Race Down Under season 3’s] Ivory Glaze being like, Oh, I\u2019m faint<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Are you alleging Ivory Glaze faked hers?\n<\/p>\n [Laughs] I\u2019m not alleging that! But, I am saying she was beautifully carried down. I fell like a sack of potatoes!\n<\/p>\n Briar Blush’s ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 18 promo look.<\/p>\n MTV<\/p>\n Could you hear your sisters saying you faked it on the Main Stage?\n<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t. I was stressed and scared. I remember thinking, “What the f— is going on?” I was confused, dazed, and so tired.\n<\/p>\n Have you all spoken about it since?\n<\/p>\n We\u2019re all good about it now. Following the show, I went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was told I had walking pneumonia for weeks, which later turned into sepsis. The pneumonia happened during the show, sepsis happened after the show. I got very sick after filming. Athena told me I looked worse, so I went back to the doctor and ended up having sepsis.\n<\/p>\n To clarify, you didn\u2019t realize you had pneumonia during filming, sought treatment after filming, and it turned into sepsis?\n<\/p>\n They treated me for the wrong kind of pneumonia. I wasn\u2019t getting much better, and I think the first doctor I saw was kind of a quack. I went back to the doctor because I felt worse. It started feeling kind of grim. When I went back, it became more dire. I was in the hospital with sepsis.\n<\/p>\n Discord Addams names Briar Blush the villain of ‘Drag Race’ season 18.<\/p>\n EW<\/p>\n How long were you in the hospital?\n<\/p>\n Not that long. Sepsis is easy to treat, but it was a two-to-three-day stay.\n<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad you\u2019re okay. It\u2019s ironic that you sent home the nurse among the cast last week.\n<\/p>\n Nobody was there to help me. [Laughs] Since then, I damaged my left lung. When you\u2019re sick that long, it can cause lasting damage to the lungs. My lung may or may not ever be the same as it was, but I\u2019m in a much better place with my health.\n<\/p>\n