Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from Episode 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10. Proceed with caution.
On the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10, the queens were tasked with creating commercials for fake dating apps. And after failing to make herself ugly enough to be considered a “Butterface,” Yuhua Hamasaki was forced to sashay away.
FANDOM caught up with the New York City queen to find out how she’s feeling after the elimination and what she thinks went wrong.
“I should have just went with my instincts and used the prosthetic nose to make myself uglier, but I was listening to my teammates and I wanted to be a team player,” she explained. “I didn’t want to be the bad one and say, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna listen to you.'”
Even still, Yuhua says she isn’t placing the blame on anyone else, adding, “It was my decision to listen to them, so it was my fault. But I have no regrets doing it.”
Yuhua was picked last when it came time to form teams and was eventually placed on the team of her New York sister, Monét. But since they worked together in NYC, why did Monét say she felt “stuck with Yuhua”?
“I do not know, actually,” she responded when we asked her about the shady comment. “I’m going to have to talk to her about that. We’re really good friends, actually. So I’m going to have to talk to her.”
On last night’s episode of Untucked, Aquaria and The Vixen continued their feud, and the discussion of racism (especially among fans) came up. As a Chinese drag queen, Yuhua said she’s had her own share of experiences dealing with race.
“They’re not calling me names or anything,” she said about the fans. “But they keep comparing me to previous Drag Race contestants who are Asian.”
“That’s a little bit of racism,” she added. “We don’t look alike. My make up is completely different from Kim Chi. My makeup is completely different from Manila. But they’re still saying, ‘Oh, you remind me of her.’ I don’t see it other than the fact that we’re Asian. So that’s a little bit of the racist part in there.”
Despite being kicked off relatively early, Yuhua has the right attitude about what’s next for her.
“My place of elimination on the show does not determine my success,” she said. “My success is determined by how much I want to work — the amount of heart I’m willing to put in after the show knowing that I was given this amazing opportunity.”
But now that she’s gone, only 11 queens remain. It’s time for our weekly power rankings to try to guess who may be the next to go and who has the best chance of making it to the top.
11. Kameron Michaels
Kameron’s look on the feather-themed runway was mesmerizing and her ability to transform from ripped muscle dude into a stunning queen is fun to watch. But her quiet personality has left her faded into the background and her attempt at acting during the challenge hinted at struggles to come. She doesn’t deserve to go home this early, but with such a strong cast, it’s hard to imagine it being anyone else.
10. The Vixen
The Vixen is serving producers all the drama they could have ever asked for. Unfortunately, it feels like the main reason that they’re keeping her around. Her drag looks have left quite a bit to be desired and the judges’ decision to crown her the winner during a “Best Drag” runway was questionable, at best. When her feud with Aquaria (and anyone else who dares cross her path this season) gets stale, her time on the show may quickly expire.
9. Aquaria
Aquaria is often the one to beat when it comes to serving fashion-forward looks on the runway, but she has yet to showcase any other major talents in the competition. She’s good enough at performing to get by, but as the pack thins out, her weaknesses will be much more exposed. Right now, most of her screen time is based on feuds with Vixen or Miz Cracker, and it’s never a good sign if that’s all you’re known for.
8. Dusty Ray Bottoms
Dusty’s looks have been a little hit-or-miss so far, but the self-proclaimed punk queen is clearly talented when it comes to acting and performing. She shared a heartbreaking backstory this week about her parents taking her to get an exorcism as a little gay boy and the vulnerable moment only helped serve the underdog story that the producers seem to be placing her into. If she continues to grow, she may take that underdog edit all the way to the finish line. But there’s still a little work to do before she gets there.
7. Monique Heart
Every week Monique is confused as to why she is only safe (or in the bottom, as was the case in Episode 2) and it’s honestly hard not to wonder the same thing. The queen delivered a flawless dress made of cards in the premiere’s thrift-store challenge and has been turning out looks ever since. But if the judges haven’t seen it yet, there’s a strong chance they never will. Pair that with a mediocre performance in the commercial parody and Monique may be quickly sliding down the ranking.
6. Eureka
After a giant stumble in Episode 2, the Elephant Queen is back this week, landing in the top three for her commercial performance and a killer evil-queen look on the runway. The judges commented that her performance worked because it was Eureka being herself, and it’s hard to deny that her personality is why fans are drawn to her. If she can stay out of her head and focus on delivering looks and laughs, she should be able to stick around for awhile.
5. Monét X Change
Monét consistently serves strong looks, delivers smart commentary, and is constantly used as a talking head between scenes. And yet, the queen has yet to land in the top so far this season. With a win or two under her belt, she should be able to sit comfortably in the top three position. But until that happens, she has to hover closer to the middle.
4. Mayhem Miller
Winning the first challenge of the season placed Mayhem as the one to beat, but after a major stumble that landed her in the bottom this week, it was clear that she has her fair share of weaknesses. Her reasons for not speaking up about not liking the role she had basically boiled down to her being too nice, and that’s just not a quality that will get you the crown on Drag Race. Hopefully she gets her head in the game because it is a game and she’s a major contender. But the next time she gets a role she doesn’t like, she needs to learn to make the most of it instead of pouting and giving up if she wants to remain near the top of the pack.
3. Miz Cracker
After an insanely strong premiere episode, Cracker has not really been front and center. But just because she’s not been the focus of each episode doesn’t mean she’s not still killing it from the background. She’s one of the funniest queens of the season but puts just as much effort into her looks as she does into her jokes. As we start to lose queens, there will be more room to focus on Cracker and she will be ready to remind us why we loved her so much in Episode 1.
2. Blair St. Clair
While we were busy focusing on big personalities and big drama, little Blair St. Clair snuck right into the top on every single episode of the season so far. Not bad for a 22-year-old ingenue from Indianapolis. Her workroom-entrance look led many to believe that Blair would be one of the first to go, but it’s clear that she may have been underestimated. She serves us great looks that stay true to her old-Hollywood brand and she’s able to keep up in acting challenges. Welcome to the top, Blair. We’ll be watching more closely from now on.
1. Asia O’Hara
It sort of felt like we may have all been sleeping on Asia, but she finally got our attention by winning this week’s main challenge. Although she wasn’t necessarily the best actress of the group, the hideous faces she was making were hysterical and proved that she’s willing to go all the way for a laugh. Combine that with an amazing runway — which it should be noted, unless it’s 1994, it’s really not easy to pull off a Tweety Bird look — and Asia is no longer flying under the radar. Past queens have cited Asia as one of their drag inspirations and now the world is starting to see why. If she keeps playing like this, she should have no problem making it to the final three.
