For the past 9 months I’ve been keeping a secret and during that time I’ve told so many lies, almost as many lies as Donald Trump. I’ve had to lie about where I was, what I was doing and whom I was with… I’ve lied to my friends, family, co-workers and employers. I’ve lied to audiences and fans on social media…. “Are you on Season 9 of Drag Race?” “No, but I will be auditioning for Season 10”
But all that lying finally ends. World of Wonder has Ruvealed the cast of Season 9 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race and the cat’s out of the bag.
I’m thrilled to have been chosen to compete and am excited to be representing Great Britain as well as my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.
This is something I’ve wanted for a very long time and worked incredibly hard for. The audition process is VERY intense and required a huge amount of time, energy and creativity. My best friend, Brian had been encouraging me to audition for years but I’d been involved in various projects, which prevented it. In March of 2015, while interviewing Courtney Act for my YouTube channel, Brian sent me a text saying “I’m going to set up a Facebook Group to get you on Season 8,” Courtney agreed that I should go for it, coincidentally, one hour later I got an e-mail from World Of Wonder telling me that auditions had opened for the Season 8. I took that as a good omen. I filled in the forms, answered the pages of questions and got to work creating the 15 minute long audition tape.
It took 2 weeks of hard work. But I realized that I’d spent so much of the previous decade impersonating celebrities; my closets were filled with Cher, Madonna and Gaga etc. costumes, but I had very few runway looks. This was a problem.
So immediately after sending off my audition tape, I whipped out my sewing machine and got to work creating about 15 stunning new evening gowns and runway looks. I wanted to be prepared for “when” I got the call… weeks passed, months passed and no call ever came. I was disappointed but more determined than ever.
In the ensuing months I continued travelling back and forth to Boston, NYC, Florida etc. performing in clubs, theatres and on Atlantis Cruises. I continued to polish my looks, buy and style new wigs, make more elaborate costumes and gowns and in March of 2016 I auditioned again.
This time I made the short list and at the end of July I got the call that changed my life. “Hi Charlie, this is Mandy from World of Wonder. Condragulations and welcome to the cast of Season 9!”
That call made me happier than all my birthdays and Christmases combined. (and I’ve had DOZENS of both.) Of course, I was sworn to secrecy and would have to tell dozens of lies in order to get out of two months worth of gigs, and would have to lie to all my friends about where I was, what I was up to and why I wasn’t able to meet for dinner, drinks, birthday parties etc. Because I’d been struggling with vocal problems for a couple of months it made sense to pull an “Adele” and tell everyone that I was on strict vocal rest. Sadly, my very real vocal troubles didn’t improve and ended up getting worse, I blame all the lying and the freezing Drag Race studios. They were so cold, nn the main stage I could see my own breath! Ru Paul is part Glamazon and part Polar Bear.
Fortunately a throat specialist in London was able to diagnose that my constant hoarseness and vocal troubles were caused by “silent reflux” which can be controlled by changes to my diet and strong antacid medication. Slowly the symptoms improved and now I’ve finally got my voice back, just in time to embark on the biggest adventure of my life. Start your engines and fasten your seat belts. This is gonna be an EXCITING race!