RuPaul's Drag Race queen Jax reveals what she said to Anetra after shocking LaLaPaRuza twist
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Jax, the lip-sync assassin of RuPaul's Drag Race season 15, has survived the cutthroat New York City drag scene and a cursed Kylie Minogue song that broke her pinky, so she's used to pushing through the pain — even when it comes to her unexpected exit after a shocking LaLaPaRuza twist that led to her elimination from the show.
Below, Jax tells EW in a candid exit interview what it felt like when Anetra chose to save Spice (after RuPaul introduced a twist that gave one queen the power to save a sister from the final LaLaPaRuza battle round), plus she details what the pair spoke about during their first conversation after the jaw-dropping moment. Jax also reveals how the Drag Race experience changed her artistry for the better, and reveals how she and close friend Jasmine Kennedie — who, in a twist of fate, met her end on the Drag Race season 14 LaLaPaRuza — bonded over their similar trajectories on the show.
RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Read on for Jax's full elimination interview.
MTV/VH1/World of Wonder Jax talks Anetra saving Spice during 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 15 lip-sync LaLaPaRuza.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I'm surprised, given your skillset and how you've slayed lip-syncs in recent weeks. I thought you'd be safe after the first round. How did you feel when Ru told you to sashay away?
JAX: Each week I was getting critiques of how to heighten myself, polish myself, and work on proportion. They saw so much potential in me. They told me every week, "You're a superstar performer every time you go on the stage, our eyes are drawn to you, we know what you can do, we just need you to polish yourself." I came from a background in New York, we don't have dressing rooms, so I never had anyone giving me pointers, trying this or switching it up. Drag Race was my first time being critiqued that way. While I'm a fierce performer, I needed that time to take a break, regroup, and polish myself. I'm just going into my day to day now of a heightened version of myself. I've been having a disconnect watching myself on TV. I don't look like that, I don't talk like that.
Nobody performs on a stage like you, unless they know they're good at what they do. Were you shocked by the elimination?
I was shocked for a few of the lip-syncs that I didn't make it through. The [final] one, me versus Anetra, I wasn't shocked, because of track record purposes. In my brain I was like, I love Anetra, the bitch deserves to stay here. I want to be there, too, but, if anyone's going to send me home, I'm happy it was her.
We know she can walk that f---ing duck, if you're going to succumb to anything, it's good to succumb to the duck.
I'll never be able to eat it again. Trauma!
Before we get into the meat of the lip-syncs, let's talk about some prior moments — particularly with Malaysia a few episodes ago. You ignited some chatter when you looked shocked onstage after she said her design look was the first thing she'd sewn. Why did you have that reaction?
I love the girl. I told her this to her face, I was like, "Girl, it was a shower curtain." All love to Malaysia, one of my favorite — and least favorite — things that's happened lately is people making supercuts and zooming into our faces, analyzing what we're thinking. I have a resting bitch face, so I can always look like that…. We're going to blame it on the resting bitch face. It did shock me, and most of us, not just me, that she was in the top that episode. She put together her garment and the judges wanted what they wanted that week, and that was me in the bottom three!
Apparently, someone else they didn't want in the top this episode: Loosey entered the Werk Room upset that she wasn't in the top for Daytona Wind. You called her out at the beginning of this episode, so give us the tea: What was the extent to which she was mad? Was she talking about it a lot?
She was talking about it for a solid little bit. I understand where she comes from, because she's an actor, she has that musical theater background, it's something she wants to excel in…. simply for me, I'm like, ya'll, I almost went home, shut up. What about me? What about Jujubee? It's that kind of moment. I love Loosey, she's the one I'm probably the closest to. We FaceTime every single day, we have similar shared experience in how we grew up, and I'm happy to have her as a sister. Sometimes you have to tell your sister, like, girl, shut up!
Going into the LaLaPaRuza, I assume everyone had an unspoken fear for Spice. Did you all talk about that, like, oh, s---, Spice is in trouble?
I think we all had the understanding that Spice didn't have as much performance background as all of us. She's an amazing, polished, gorgeous queen, and the twins are the definition of marketing geniuses. She doesn't have that experience being onstage, knowing how to navigate and switch stuff up and improv. We kind of worried for her, not because we were trying to eye her down, but that's how they introduced themselves. They're aware of it. Being thrown into a ring with Sasha Colby, that would terrify anybody!
The first round, you lost against Mistress Isabelle Brooks, and the queens backstage seemed to think that you won. How did you feel about the result?
I was shocked, of course, because it wasn't like I was just going half-assed or anything. I really was going full force, this is the first round, you don't want to have to keep going on and on in this roster. She's a fierce entertainer, end of story. I was, however, shocked that I didn't win that one.
This is the second season we've done the LaLaPaRuza. I remember Jasmine Kennedie telling me she and Bosco were so physically broken by the end of the day. How much of a physical toll did this episode take on you by the last lip-sync?
We all know TV is very much condensed from the actual timeframe; it was a much longer day than most people assume. There was a lot of time between stuff, so, by the end of it, we're standing up there for a few hours, waiting to see who's going to go up against who and how this is going to happen. Jasmine and I are very close, we do brunches together, and there was a moment after I lost to Mistress where I was like, this feels all too familiar right now. That was in the back of my head. Once I lost to Mistress, I wasn't going to give up by any means, but I'm not going to stress myself out. I'm going to have as much fun while I'm up here and be a big idiot in a wig rolling around on stage.
Because you and Jasmine are so close and you had similar trajectories, what was the first thing you talked about when you returned?
She was like, "Girl, we're twins!" When I was able to see her again, I was like, "Girl, it's a journey, I know exactly how you feel right now." Drag Race is something you can't explain to anybody that hasn't been through it. It's such an interesting experience that I'm very thankful for. I'm disconnected from the person I was a year ago because I've just changed as much from all the critiques. I'm thankful for it.
MTV/VH1/World of Wonder Jax spills on Jasmine Kennedie parallels after 'RuPaul's Drag Race' LaLaPaRuza elimination.
The final round saw the twist introduced, where Anetra was given the choice to save either you or Spice and lip-sync against the other, and she ultimately chose Spice because she said in a confessional it wouldn't have been fair for her to lip-sync against Spice. How do you feel about that decision in the moment? Were you blindsided?
I was blindsided as it happened, so if someone was like, "I want to fight you in this moment," it's like, oh, s---, I'm pissed. Knowing Anetra, me and her both come from athletic backgrounds, she did Tae Kwon Do, I was a gymnast and cheerleader, we don't like to settle, we like to challenge ourselves. I fully understood the mindset of being like, okay, the girl wants a battle, we're on a TV show right now, we're going to give a battle. It wouldn't be fair for someone as experienced as Anetra to go up against someone like Spice. I fully understood it, there was no ill will toward Anetra from my end, unless she wants to lip-sync again.
For your own sanity, have you since polled the girls on who they would've saved?
Girl, I would never do that…. How I approach life now, everything is on mute, everything that's happened in the past doesn't affect me anymore. I have to move on each day. It's a thought in my mind that I don't even want to try to bring up. I will say that some of the girls were very, very shocked. I won't say names!
Who's one who was shocked?
Her name is Jax.
Good answer. What was your first discussion with Anetra like after that? Did you speak to her about why she made that choice?
We worked together in Vegas and I had a little bit of a conversation with her about it. It was exactly what I thought it was. She was like, "It's a show where we're trying to prove we're the best at what we do," so, a battle is a battle, and you want to beat the best of the best doing something you excel in. There was never any ill will there, whatsoever.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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