Frankie Grande reveals which RuPaul's Drag Race queen had him in tears and who was 'fangirling a little too hard'

RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 has been a family affair for Frankie Grande who appeared in Friday's episode, following his sister Ariana Grande's epic turn in the supersized premiere, and one of his closest friends, Salina EsTitties, competing for the crown.

"We were all joking about it being a very Grande season, with my sister, myself, and then, of course, having the most number of queens on a single season," he says. "Grande means large and that's what this season has turned out to be."

The actor stopped by Tuesday's edition of EW's Quick Drag podcast to share behind-the-scenes details from his involvement in the "50/50's Most Gagworthy Stars" episode, which saw the queens split into groups to interview three delightfully chaotic celebrities: Grande, Charo, and Love Connie. "When I heard that, I was like, this is going to be the best episode of television ever because we're all nuts — and good TV," the Big Brother and Broadway star says.

Team Grande consisted of a sit-down chat with Loosey LaDuca, a power walk-and-talk with Anetra, and a pizza kitchen quest with Malaysia Babydoll Foxx. One queen really impressed Grande while he was in the hot seat.

"Loosey was one of the most thoughtful interviewers I've ever had in my entire life," he gushes.

MTV/World of Wonder Frankie Grande being interviewed by Loosey LaDuca on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

"Loosey had me crying," he says of unaired scenes from their full 10-minute interview. "Loosey was asking such pertinent beautiful questions about my life.... I ended up talking about past traumas and we really got into sobriety and I was absolutely in tears by the end."

He also had a "delightful" experience with Anetra, although he was a bit worried about the season's resident duck walker at first.

"Anetra actually was fangirling, which I thought was very, very, very sweet," he explains. "Anetra came across as so loving and so charming and so happy to be there. I was nervous because in the beginning, she was fangirling a little too hard to get questions out, but as we warmed up, it just completely started to flow and was a very nice conversation."

Unfortunately, things were a little rockier with Malaysia, who he admits "was definitely struggling."

"She didn't feel comfortable, I don't think. And, you know, in that moment, I was like, well, we can't stand here in silence, so I will turn on the Frankie and I'll just start going for it," he recalls. "There was actually a point where I turned to her and I said, 'Is there anything you would like to ask me now?' and that didn't make it onto the TV show, but I was really trying to get her to engage with me and it just wasn't happening."

RuPaul's Drag Race Frankie Grande and Malaysia Babydoll Foxx sampling pizza on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

"But I just love her so much," he says of Malaysia, who was eliminated at the end of the episode. "[I'm] just sending her all the love and light in the world and telling her that she did a great job this season. She should be very proud."

Malaysia's exit came after a lip-sync battle against Salina, who is Grande's longtime friend and sober sister.

"The reason why I'm sober today is because of Salina EsTitties," he shares. "She and I met... when I was judging a drag show eight years ago and she was so wonderful and I went and I met her after the show. I was f---ed up. And I knew at that point that I was an addict and an alcoholic. I knew it, but I wasn't doing anything about it."

Two days later, he attended a meeting to face his addiction and encountered her again. "I was in the back of the meeting all by myself and I was so scared and Salina walked up to me [out of drag] and said, 'Hi, I'm Salina EsTitties from the drag show the other night. Are you trying to get sober?' And it was so crazy because from that point forward, we were best friends."

Frankie shares that he has now been sober for five-and-a-half years. "I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for Salina EsTitties."

Elsewhere in the podcast, Grande reveals he owns the real jacket that Loosey recreated during the show's Night of 1,000 Beyoncés runway.

"I have the Beyoncé jacket that she revealed her baby bump in — the actual jacket, not the same jacket as in the same designer. I have Beyoncé's jacket that she wore."

He explains that when her stylist returned the sparkly Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo jacket the day after she wore it, his contact at the fashion house called to see if he'd be interested in it, and after learning it had just graced Queen Bey herself, he sure was. "I wear it all the time. I'm obsessed with it."

Courtesy of Frankie Grande; Kevin Mazur/WireImage Frankie Grande wearing the jacket alongside Jojo Siwa; Beyoncé performing at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards

Grande can next be seen in the horror comedy Summoning Sylvia (in select theaters and streaming in April), about a gay bachelor weekend at a haunted house where his witchy character decides to have a seance to resurrect the spirits "and then all sorts of insanity ensues."

He says the leads, directors, writers, and producers are all LGBTQ+ and they even filmed it during WorldPride in New York City, which made a special impact on him. "It felt like I was the proudest I've ever been, shooting that kind of film, with those cast members, everyone."

RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. Listen to Grande's full interview with EW in the podcast above, and check out more interviews with Drag Race superstars in EW's Quick Drag feed below.

Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including interviews with the queens, special guests, and more.

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