As THE greatest drag queen of all-time, RuPaul, 59, has lived quite the life! The entertainer began his SNL debut with a sweet and funny monologue that included explaining drag culture for those who may be a little confused. “Let me break it down for you in terms you can understand — our girls, gag is with their allaganza, death drop for the children and slay the house down boots,” he quipped rocking a fabulous bright magenta suit. “Most of you are probably surprised to see me out of drag, but trust — am wearing my grandmother’s panties,” he joked. “As I say, you’re born naked and the rest is drag. So whatever you put on after you exit the shower is drag. Like them, they’re in drag,” he continued, pinting to a woman in the audience. “Even you sir, you’re in drag!” he joked, pointing to a fabulously dressed drag queen in the audience.
A fixture in the entertainment scene since the early 1990s, Ru also shared some of his trials and tribulations before hitting it big in the music scene. “I moved to NYC in the 1980s with high heels and a dream. Back then, New York was full of drunks, street walkers and seedy night clubs,” he explained, referencing some of NYC’s not-so-great qualities. “But it wasn’t all good!” he joked. “I wanted to tell you guys some stories of my experiences as a drag queen in the East Village, but the producers said, ‘oh no, you better don’t!’ Here’s an edited version of what they let me say, okay? Yonkers, correction officers, house of pancakes, feet — true story.” With those clues, we aren’t sure we want to know the whole story!
“I’ve been in the business a really long time,” he reflected, before sharing his three tips to live your best life. “Number one, get paid up front. If you ain’t paying your bills, pay them no mind. Finally, don’t take life too seriously. There are a few things I take seriously: I take kindness seriously, I take love seriously, all the rest — just have fun. If you follow your heart, dare to be different and use all the colors in your crayon box, who knows where you’ll end up,” he urged his fans.
Although the entertainer has been a fixture in music television since his 1993 album Supermodel of the World, tonight marked RuPaul’s SNL debut! “It’s a show they do right here in this building, it’s called Saturday Night Live and I’m going to be hosting it — and it’s from Australia, right?” Ru joked to Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, Feb. 6. “I’m doing everything, man!” Between his show in Las Vegas, RuPaul‘s drag race, and new Netflix series AJ & The Crown, we don’t know how he does it!
The SNL cast has been just as excited as us for RuPaul’s debut, especially Cecily Strong who was basically stalking Ru in the Studio 8H hallways! Clad in a hot pink sequin mini dress, the longtime SNL cast member was casually waiting for the entertainer as he exited an elevator. “Ru! Honey! YAS! Ru! Hi!” she exclaimed. “Wow, Cecily, you really come on strong!” RuPaul exclaimed, as she offered to show him to the studio. “Hey, I got an idea — why don’t we ‘sis it out’ walk?” he suggested. “Really? Do you mean it?” a nervous Cecily asked. Cue the electronic music and flashing lights just like the stage on Drag Race!
The pair looked fabulous as they strutted down NBC hallway and right into the studio. “And that, darling, is how you you –” Ru began, as Cecily finished his sentence with, “WORK.” Yas, girl! The fire duo then ran into Beck Bennett who was casually hanging on-set and chowing down on a double helping of pizza. “J.J. Watt left pizza in his dressing room!” Beck explained, referencing last week’s host. “What’s a J.J. Watt, baby?” a confused RuPaul asked. “That’s just Beck, he’s like our big dumb guy — ignore him, let’s go to the hallway again!” Cecily suggested.