Shangela hid fried chicken in her dress on Dancing With the Stars — and Tyra Banks ate it right up

Jillian Sederholm
·4 min read
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Shangela has been keeping fans fed all season on Dancing With the Stars with her spicy dance routines and delicious read of host Alfonso Ribeiro getting her name wrong, and now she's quite literally feeding people on the dance floor a meal pulled right out from under her dress.

On Monday night's live episode, the drag superstar and partner Gleb Savchenko performed a sultry tango to guest judge Michael Bublé's "Hollywood," but the queen saved her best move for after they'd finished dancing.

"Were my legs crispy?" the RuPaul's Drag Race all-star queen asked head judge Len Goodman, who'd told her the previous week to make sure they were.

After Goodman confirmed her "legs were flexed" this week, Shangela pulled a plastic bag holding a fried chicken leg out of the top of her dress to offer the judges a bite, explaining, "My mama said make sure I give you this crispy chicken to make sure that my crispy legs were just as crispy. Halleloo!"

DANCING WITH THE STARS
DANCING WITH THE STARS

Disney+ Shangela pulls out a hidden chicken leg on 'Dancing With the Stars'

"Wait, did you dance this entire time with a piece of fried chicken in your décolleté?" host Tyra Banks asked, stunned. "I danced with two pieces of fried chicken," Shangela corrected, revealing another treat-filled bag.

The America's Next Top Model star then fully gagged the audience by taking the second piece of Shangela's fried chicken out of the baggie and biting right in, licking her fingers afterward.

The dancing duo made their way to the sky box where a waiting Ribeiro grilled the A Star Is Born performer: "I have to ask, where'd that chicken come from, dog?"

"Well who knows what else I got in here, but anyhow," she laughed. "Len told me, he's been looking for crispy legs. Gleb has been drilling me on crispy legs and the only crispy legs I know are from KFC or a chicken place so that's what I brought up in here tonight."

Shangela further explained her tasty reveal to EW in the press line after the show, confirming it was her mom's idea. "I'm a Texan, I'm no stranger to having chicken close to my heart, and tonight I delivered."

Unlike many viewers at home, she was not surprised Banks ate her dress chicken. "I was impressed. Baby, let me tell you something, if you know how to go in on a piece of fried chicken, you can come to my cookout anytime and Tyra has a golden invitation."

Her partner, however, wasn't in on the gag.

"I had no idea until the end," Savchenko told EW. "Before the dance, I saw something tucked in and I was like 'Oh maybe it's the glitter,' but then no, it's fried chicken."

But Shangela had good reason for keeping her partner in the dark. "I didn't tell him because as the choreographer, I know he is laser focused on me, just focusing on the moves and the technique, and I want him to definitely be laser focused on that, but you know I'm Shangela, I like to bring a little fun, a little spontaneity, a little surprise, and it was one for him too."

In the end, the two piece and a (missing) biscuit surprise was well worth it as Shangela and Savchenko scored nines across the board from all five judges, including Bublé, landing them in fourth place with a total score of 45, and moving on to next week's competition.

Cheering Shangela on from the crowd this week were her costars from HBO's We're Here, Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka, as well as the latter's makeover subject from Drag Race season 10, Frankie "Eufreka" Grande.

Watch Shangela's hilarious reveal and Banks' bite above.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays on Disney+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Additional reporting by Maureen Lee Lenker.

Subscribe to EW's BINGE podcast for full recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions with the cast, special guests, and more.

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