RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon's new reign will be an 'antidote to the s---' in the world

Like water off a duck's back, $200,000 has freshly fallen into RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon's pocketbook.

With the same finesse as Judy Garland finding her camera to pull off a show-stopping 11 o'clock number, the season 5 champion made her-story on Friday night's episode, becoming the first queen in the franchise's 13-year existence to win Drag Race twice.

Below, EW has the exclusive first coronation interview with the newly crowned Queen of All Queens, who joined us for a spirited Q&A from the road while traveling the world on tour with fellow Drag Race icon BenDeLaCreme. Read on for the full conversation, in which Jinkx reveals what she was doing the moment she won, the tea behind landing "85 percent of a cartwheel" on the Main Stage, how she really feels about the finale's lip-sync smackdown, and her refreshed perspective for navigating life as a winner 10 years after she first triumphed.

World of Wonder/Paramount + 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7' winner Jinkx Monsoon.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We're feeling the rain in Monsoon season again! How are you feeling, processing that you are the first queen to win Drag Race twice?

JINKX MONSOON: I'm still in the throes of processing. Good sleep is so important. I had a show last night, so I found out in the middle of doing my makeup for last night's show and then just had to get back to work. I'm going on three hours of sleep right now, so it doesn't live in my body yet, but my brain is still in the midst of processing everything.

I love that the emotion of the reigning queen of All Stars 7 is like, sleep, leisure, rest.

It's kind of great that I was on tour this last week because there was lots of stuff to distract me. If I was at home, I'd probably be pacing around, stressing out my cats.

So, you were doing your makeup when you found out. Did DeLa burst through the door?

DeLa and I were getting ready together. I went to her hotel room with my makeup. We watched the episode and it was surreal, it was just like on Drag Race, when the queens have these heartfelt, candid conversations, pouring their heart out, but they've got an orange beard because they're in the middle of blocking out their face. We took a little video and pictures during me finding out, and I'm just a blank canvas. I've got three layers of grease paint on, but not contour or highlight. I look like a lightbulb, finding out that I'm winning Drag Race.

This is the biggest prize in Drag Race her-story: $200,000. Have you given any thought to what you want to do with it?

There are some home repairs that I've been putting off. I know how boring that sounds, but as an adult it's very exciting to get the plumbing redone. My husband and I got married during the pandemic, and there were other things on our mind other than finding our wedding rings, so we'll be buying our forever rings with some of the prize money.

Jaida has joked a lot about splitting people's prize money this season. Do you have any plans for that, maybe even for Yvie, since she is the only one who didn't win money this season?

I hope that the other queens know that I have their back in any endeavors, so if they're looking for a silent investor for their new, I don't know, I was going to say tucking panties, like it was original, but Trinity already has those! I'm happy to be a silent investor in any endeavors my sisters may come up with down the road.

Even if it's just dinner at Cheesecake Factory, it's on Jinkx tonight.

Cheesecake Factory: It's a great place to celebrate. You can get everything on the menu.

Winning 10 years apart, I imagine it's an entirely different experience, maybe a different kind of validation, because you have now won at two very different points in your career. What perspective or experience did navigating a career after winning season 5 give you for how to navigate it now?

After season 5, I spent a long time being really focused on work, and it reached a point where I had to be extremely honest with myself and say I have to spend some time focusing on me, the human being, making sure I'm at a good place. The reason I felt ready for this competition again is because I put forth so much work into my craft…. and dealing with the human being that has to create the work and live the experiences.

Are there certain mistakes or obstacles you overcame that came with focusing too much on the work?

The biggest lesson I learned in the time between the two seasons is that I have to really like what I'm doing and be doing the work that makes me feel inspired, and the kind of work that feeds my drive as an entertainer first and foremost. I've found that leaning into the kind of stuff that I like to create the most is what's empowered me the most through the last few years. A great example is the work that I do with DeLa, our holiday tour and our film, and work we have planned down the road. My original shows with my music partner. I've been journeying more into scripted work and voiceover work on television, but I think I feel most inspired creating my own work and taking that to bigger levels.

Winning Drag Race in some people's eyes comes with responsibility. What do you want to do with the crown and the platform that it gives you?

We're at this point in history, this time right now, where there's just so much s--- to have to deal with constantly, every day. It can be a scary time, and that's why I think it's so important to see the power of celebrating one another and uplifting one another, even in the midst of a competition. What resonated with people is just getting to celebrate people doing something they're passionate about…. it's the only antidote to the s--- we have thrown at us right now.

World of Wonder/Paramount+ Jinkx Monsoon, the Queen of All Queens on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7'

You won so many challenges, you had the best Snatch Game of all time, you made peanut butter sandwiches the new hottest accessory at the club, and it all came down to these lip-syncs in the final. How did you feel about the finale being structured like a lip-sync?

As a Virgo, I liked knowing the rules…. The lip-sync smackdown is something you can strategize and prepare for. It's no secret that we have our little iPods, so we can practice the songs. The weekend leading up to that smackdown, I think all I did in my hotel room was listen to the potential songs and zone out playing video games. It was Zen, you know?

I heard a lot of rumors about you and lip-syncs this season, particularly something related to the cartwheel?

I'd say I did 85 percent of a cartwheel, and all I can say is that I'm not the editor, I'm not the producer, I don't know or presume to know what goes into the decision making. I guess they edited some of the crunch out of my cartwheel. [Laughs]

85 percent of a cartwheel?

Hey, you know, that's a B+! That's nothing to scoff at.

As there always is, this fandom has a lot of thoughts and feelings about how the finale went down in terms of structure and why it was a lip-sync. What has it been like sifting through and navigating the chatter on social media today?

A big part of me taking care of myself at this stage of my life is setting up certain boundaries and not engaging where I don't think it's going to be constructive for me to engage. I see some of the chatter and I stumble upon things, and what I've been saying to myself is: We did so many challenging things this season, we showed so much great work, there's so much positive stuff to focus on. If we find the crack in someone's defense walls then we can just pick it apart [so] I'm choosing to focus on all the stuff I'm proud of rather than letting someone's opinions get in my head.

Your runways got a lot of attention this season, especially the burning stake look. When I spoke to DeLa, she told me how your looks came together, and that she talked you out of a Mario Kart design for the spikes runway. How else did DeLa influence your runways?

The Mario Kart thing was the big one. I've always enjoyed DeLa's aesthetic, and it's one of the reasons why I love her producing our shows, because she's a perfectionist and she makes sure everything meets this shared aesthetic that we try to infuse in all of our shows. When she was talking me out of the Mario Kart thing, I was like, I'd be a fool not to listen to this person that I trust very much. What I love about my fashions this season is that I've worked with so many of the designers that designed for me for so long that they know what I like in fashion, and they know my aesthetic and my brand so well, it really feels like a collaboration. The flame dress, designed by Diego Montoya, that was his idea, borrowing from American Horror Story: Coven since Myrtle Snow is one of my favorite characters.

I know today is all about you but we do have some tea to get into with some other people, speaking of community: Your runner-up, Monét, dropping a bombshell that she hooked up with one of you on the cast. Do you have any tea on that?

I have no tea. I'm so sorry. I'm still stumped, and I keep forgetting that I never got the answer to that question. I think everyone's biggest fear is: Was it me and I forgot? But I can't imagine anyone would forget hooking up with Monét X Change. It's a mystery to me.

What do you want people to remember most about Jinkx on All Stars 7?

That it was extremely challenging. I want people to know that we do this because we love it, and it's not easy, and it can be painful and it's long days and tour life is a double-edged sword. It's so wonderful but you spend so much time away from home and living out of hotels. I just hope people know that we do it because we absolutely love it…. I want everyone to see how great it can be when we're given the resources, love, and support to be our very best. That's something that was great about this season: When production called and said it would be a celebratory season, you're still kind of on guard because it's a competition and reality TV show, but I can honestly say production did everything they could to make sure we had everything we needed to be our very best, and that was so appreciated. The sisterhood we formed throughout the competition, every step of the way, I felt that I had everything that I needed to do my very best work.

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