Celebrity Drag Race star Jenna Ushkowitz reveals the Glee alums she wants to compete next

It's not quite the equivalent to winning sectionals, but Milli von Sunshine — the drag persona of Glee actress Jenna Ushkowitz — won hearts across RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race season 2, even if she didn't make it to the grand finale. After landing in the bottom, lip-syncing for her life to a Kelly Clarkson song she first performed on the Fox musical series back in 2009, and ultimately being ousted from the competition, Ushkowitz chatted with EW about what it was like to experience Glee flashbacks (all up in drags) on the Main Stage.

RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race season 2 continues Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on VH1. Read on for our full exit Q&A with Ushkowitz, in which the Tony Award-winning star discusses which one of her Glee costars she wants to see compete on the show next, carrying on her drag mother Jujubee's All Stars 1 legacy with a lip-sync to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," and whether or not she's reached out to wish Lea Michele well before her big Funny Girl debut on Broadway.

VH1/World of Wonder; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Jenna Ushkowitz as Milli von Sunshine on 'RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race' season 2

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling about leaving so early?

JENNA USHKOWITZ: When we were filming, I'd just found out I was pregnant. By the time I said goodbye, I think I was 12 weeks, which made it a timely exit. I was starting to get tired and ill. It'll be a fun story to share with her one day, that that was my first pregnancy experience.

Given what people know and love about your career on Glee, this competition felt right up your alley. Did it give you Glee flashbacks?

More than that! The lip-syncing and performance and costumes all felt like I was having flashbacks. It was so much fun. When they pitched this to me, I was like, yeah, I can totally do this, I've done this before, but I think the thing that sealed the deal was RuPaul and the drag element. That, I've never done. Initially I was like, am I going to be a drag king? How will we do this? I was thrilled to be a queen, but I was open to any and all ideas.

You told them you'd be open to being a drag king, too?

Totally! But, I think in Ru's world with the queens, this was the best-case scenario.

You performed "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson on the "Sectionals" episode of Glee season 1, and then it was your lip-sync elimination song here. Did you make that connection before the lip-sync, and how did you feel about that being your swan song?

That's correct. The lip-sync for your life songs, I was like, I don't know any of these, but I knew this one. I was excited because I'm a huge Kelly Clarkson fan, I love this song, and I knew it.

Did you incorporate any of the moves from the Glee routine?

When we did it on [Glee], our choreographer did a nod to all the performances from season 1, so there was a little "Say a Little Prayer," a little "I Kissed a Girl," it was throwbacks, so I couldn't throw that into this experience. But I did say, look, if I'm going down, I'm going down swinging.

You did a split in the lip-sync, was that planned, or did you improvise that, because you have to know they love the splits on this franchise.

I improvised that in the moment. I have a good front split. It felt appropriate for the moment. Thirsty got on the floor and I looked over, like, if we're both on the floor, I have to do something to one-up that.

Given the experience you have, what's the difference in lip-syncing to someone else's songs versus lip-syncing to your own vocals? Is it a different kind of preparation?

You're lip-syncing to iconic songs. I'm lip-syncing to Robyn, Kelly Clarkson, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande, it felt different in the way that I didn't feel the pressure of having to look like I was actually singing in that moment, whereas on Glee, we were lip-syncing to our voices. It was important to make sure all of our lip-syncs were right on and precise, whereas this one felt like if you were off, it could be part of the camp of it all. There was less pressure around it.

What's the best story you have from the set of Secret Celebrity Drag Race? Did you have any comical mishaps or emotional moments preparing for anything?

In "Work From Home," Michelle [Visage] was like, "I can see that you were getting frustrated," I was feeling hormonal, probably! The funny thing is that one of the other contestants, early on, I think on the second week, their heel broke right before we went onstage. We were all rallying behind her to try to get her heel fixed right as she went to go dance. There were so many mishaps and wardrobe things, padding falling, tights ripping. It was such a fun behind-the-scenes, once we figured out who we all were and the jig was up. Having all of those friends to do this with, it was like, yeah, we were all going to get kicked off at some point, but it was all for charity, so that took the pressure off.

It sounds like you recognized some of your sisters.

Sure, they tried hard to keep us apart early on, but our dressing rooms were close together, so it was kind of hard. There are dead giveaways, and others where it was harder to tell who they were.

Jujubee was your drag mother, and Gottmik was your performance partner on this episode. What was the best piece of advice that both of them gave to you?

Gottmik had a similar experience as Milli, finding the fun in the performance with the camp and self-awareness of it all, and had I gotten an extra week and was able to stay, I think that's where my focus would've been: Taking the judges' critiques of playing into the wink-wink, nod-nod. Gottmik got through that as well in her experience on the show. She guided me through that. Jujubee helped me rework "Dancing on My Own," which was already iconic because she did an iconic performance of it [on Drag Race All Stars 1], but she was like, "This is such a vulnerable and touching piece if you want it to be. It could be weirdly impactful that way because of the camp and costume. That plays on its own." It made it that much more dynamic.

I know you're still close with some of the Glee cast. Did anyone reach out and say they recognized you while the show aired?

Not yet. I feel like a few of them watch and have been on as guests before. I'm waiting!

Which of your Glee costars would you like to see do this next?

I'd want to see Heather Morris do this because she'd bring the dance element. She's an incredible performer. Also, Chris Colfer.

This year is the renaissance of Glee alums, between you doing this and Jane Lynch and Lea Michele in Funny Girl. Are you going to see Funny Girl on Broadway?

If I'm in New York, I will go see it. Broadway is home for me, and I'm sad that I missed Jane. She just left, right? It's just really cool to see all of our friends performing and doing what everybody does best and finding their way after the show. I think people saw us, or still see us, as these characters so much, so to see other people inhabiting [characters], like Harry Shum, Jr. doing Grey's Anatomy, it's cool to see us grow up.

Have you reached out to wish Lea well before she starts Funny Girl?

I have not. [Laughs] I will leave it at that.

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