Perhaps we haven’t seen the last of Xunami Muse on RuPaul’s Drag Race — but, as the dearly departing eliminated queen tells EW, we’ve definitely put her Snatch Game character, the Gold Tooth Fairy, to rest for good.
Though she comes from a prestigious Drag Race family that includes past contestants Kandy Muse, Aja, and Dahlia Sin, the New York City beauty met her end on Friday’s episode, after devising a fictional, good-toothed sprite for the fan-favorite celebrity impersonation challenge that ultimately led to her demise in an emotional lip-sync against Morphine Love Dion.
Listen to Xunami’s full elimination interview with EW’s Quick Drag podcast above, and read on for a Q&A breakdown, including Xunami’s tea on a potential crush of the season, the Gold Tooth Fairy’s backstory, Kandy’s reaction to her elimination, and a juicy tease about her future on the show before RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Coming from an elite drag family, what did it feel like going home this early?
XUNAMI MUSE: Every little moment counts, so the moment you start second-guessing, that’s when it could be your time, and that’s what happened to me. I gave it my all, and it was my time. I don’t regret anything. Looking back, I would’ve definitely done Celia Cruz [for Snatch Game]. I wanted to prove something to myself, like, if I go with this random character, it’ll show X, Y, Z. The reality is I should’ve gone with something I’m used to and feel comfortable with.
We’ll get into all of that. First, you famously said you’d “rehabilitate” Kandy’s image. Do you think you did that? What was her reaction to your elimination?
[Laughs] She was mad, she was sad, because she wants the best for me, obviously. She’s never gotten eliminated, officially, and I’m like, you can’t even console me because you don’t know what it’s like to be eliminated. She understands the power of being in the Runiverse. For example, Alyssa Edwards has never made it to the finale of any of the seasons she’s been on.
Oop!
That’s the reality, and she’s still one of the biggest stars, so I think of it like that.
At the beginning of the episode, you won the reading challenge after calling RuPaul the “Morgan Freeman of Drag.” Why did you do that, and do you regret it seeing as Ru eliminated you?
[Laughs] No, I don’t think so. When you think of Morgan Freeman in the film world, he always plays the deity, the God. I feel like Ru, in her own Runiverse, she’s the God.
Were there any reads or jokes you wrote down but decided not to say?
I think I wrote one or two per girl, and I just went with that. I didn’t write too many. I thought of them the morning of.
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Speaking of reading, last week Morphine said you went along with reading everyone around the room because you had a crush on Plane Jane, which you seemed to confirm this week when you said you wanted to “f—” her, out loud.
Just because I would f— her doesn’t mean I have a crush on her…. No, that’s my sister!
It didn’t progress into a showmance like Vanjie and Brooke?
No, it never went past [friendship]. I can look at someone and be like, yeah, you’re attractive. That’s really all it is.
Megami teased last week that Plane and Nymphia had a romance? Tea?
You’re going to have to ask them. I know nothing. People want them to, but Plane is not Nymphia’s type. I’ll leave it at that. I’m not going to spill my sister’s tea.
Outside of this, fans have said you got an edit that maybe didn’t show you as much as they wanted. Was there a side of you we never got to see?
One episode takes two days, they’re going through at least 30 hours of footage sometimes, less or more, so it’s like, a lot of a day that they have to condense to an hour and a half. As an artist, you want to be on all the episodes, but when you have a cast of such strong personalities…. You saw me. I’m not at all times the loudest voice in the room. I’m fun, but I’m not always giving antics like maybe some people may have been. I’m content with how everything came out, and also the season isn’t done. Before people want to make their final assessments, they have to really watch the whole thing.
Maybe Xunami lives on in other ways? The spirit?
Exactly. You have to see the season!
I thought back to the beginning of the season when I asked everybody who was the Queen of Untucked, they all pointed to you. I assumed that meant spiciness, but it was the opposite! The Queen of Untucked hosted Xunami’s Afters.
I don’t think that just being known for having a bad temper is the only key to success or infamy. Everyone can make their mark in their own way that makes sense for them. I think I made my mark with them, and that’s the thing I’ll cherish the most…. The prize really was with the girls. My fans see it. I’ve received so much love online for being who I am.
Let’s go to Snatch Game. Celia Cruz was a backup — did you have any others?
No. Before, on other seasons, I auditioned doing Naomi Campbell or Cardi B. Snatch Game was the one category I’d leave to last because it was the hardest thing for me. It may not necessarily be the best, but I’mma do it.
Can I get a preview of Celia Cruz?
I feel like I just would’ve been like “Azúcar!” you know what I mean? Those things she had and how she screamed things, I could’ve done a play on the Spanglish and turned the accent up. I would’ve fared better or at least been safe if I’d done a different character. It was a risk I took, it didn’t pay off, but it’s a lesson that I learned. For me, the lesson was go with things that feel natural to you, go with what’s more comfortable.
Okay, Gold Tooth Fairy — where did this idea come from? What’s her story?
This is back to my audition tape, I kept doing these impersonations that were awful, in my opinion. What if I just make up a character, that way I don’t have to do an impersonation, it’s a new personality. Me thinking that creating a character from scratch with new personality, new accents, isms, would be easier than simply impersonating someone. That’s where it came from…. The challenge itself felt like this thick air. Nothing came out, because there’s the quickness of the questions. You don’t get the questions before, you’re in the moment having to answer these questions in an accent or a personality and a mental backstory. I just didn’t flesh out the character. Now that I know, if I went back to do it, I’d take a different approach. If I go on All Stars, I have to win Snatch Game. That’s my challenge.
Did you ever get over Q adding your name after already saying Amanda on who should go home and why?
I definitely did. Even on set, I don’t think people really saw, but she gave me pointers on episode 6 for the doll challenge. It’s a competition, everyone has their own strengths, Sapphira is a singer, Plasma’s an actor, Q is a costume designer; I was not allowed to be like, f— this bitch. We talk almost every day. Me, her, and Morphine check in on each other.
Also, can you clarify if the recent Twitter exchange you had with Monét X Change, where you said the outfit doesn’t come in four-way stretch, was a joke? Are you friends?
It’s just little jabs that we as drag queens do, like in the green room, like, girl, your lace is a little dark. Things like that! But, the outfit actually is four-way stretch.
So you’re just taking pointers from your crush, Plane Jane, with the shade?
Yeah, she’s so shady.
Crush confirmed. You didn’t say no.
I see the trick questions! [Laughs]
Subscribe to EW’s Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul’s Drag Race, including reactions from the cast, special guests, and more.
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