Wilson Lai sounds off on why he never returned to the 'Drag Race' Pit Crew
Wilson Lai is speaking up!
X (@itsWillylai)
Wilson Lai first appeared as a Pit Crew member on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4, then returned for Drag Race season 11. Unlike other Pit Crew members, however, Lai was only seen for a few episodes during those two seasons.
A lot of fans found it odd that Lai, who immediately grabbed the attention of fans, didn’t come back in a similar way as mainstay Pit Crew members such as Bruno Alcantara, Bryce Eilenberg, Asaf Goren, Calix Quan, and even Jesse Pattison, who recently returned to Drag Race after a hiatus. In recent episodes of season 16, trans actor, model, and singer Laith Ashley also returned to the Pit Crew.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, GreenGay — a content creator known for creating video essays about Drag Race on YouTube — shared an X (formerly Twitter) post with a picture of Lai, writing: “I just wanna know why they haven’t brought him back yet, and when we can expect to see him.”
After thousands of likes and over 800 reposts, this X post caught Lai’s attention and prompted him to explain why he hasn’t been back as a Pit Crew member on Drag Race.
X (@itsWillylai)
“Y’all can thank @SirenSantiagxxx for bringing this thread to my attention,” Lai wrote in his first response. “Imma just clear up some shit since [a lot] of y’all like to speculate and make assumptions.”
He then proceeded to share his very detailed thoughts through statements written in the iOS Notes app.
“1. Why doesn’t ‘Drag Race’ bring me back?”
X (@itsWillylai)
Lai wrote:
“Ok what you guys need to understand is that I was never part of their core Pit Crew group. I was never offered a contract. I was never suggested or hinted that I would be part of their main group. They only ever contacted me when they needed to cast a lot of people for a specific mini challenge or for whatever the show required that needed more bodies. Whether or not I was in popular demand, I don’t think was not a factor to them.”
“Additionally, this is just speculation on my part, but I don’t think the budget for excess Pit Crew members was very high. Especially when you consider how many celeb guest judges were on the show.”
“2. Will they ever bring me back?”
X (@itsWillylai)
“I highly doubt it,” Lai wrote. “The producer called me a year or two ago but I didn’t respond [because] at the time I was busy, stressed, and dealing with a lot of work-related sh*t. So [there] really wasn’t time for me to take time off to go do an episode.”
“3. Do I want to be back on the show?”
X (@itsWillylai)
“Honestly I’m not against it, but not really looking forward to it either. Initially, it was a dream come true just to be a part of the show, but the attention I got from Drag Race fans was very overwhelming and not necessarily in a good way. (To add context, the seasons I was on the show, the Drag Race community was at its highest in terms of toxic behavior). I remember multiple times some friends would get harassed and stalked just based on their proximity to me, I would see comments on the internet of people just trashing my boyfriend, and he would see it and get hurt.”
“People would start fights with me on [Instagram] for the stupidest sh*t because they had put me on a pedestal or had crafted an idea of me in their head. Plus, the pay rate to be on the show isn’t worth the time and effort it would take for me to make it work on my schedule. You can argue it would open more opportunities for me, but it didn’t really open much, and a lot of the opportunities weren’t sustainable.”
“4. Why didn’t you smile when you were on ‘Drag Race’?”
X (@itsWillylai)
“Omfg, everyone talking about me not smiling or having a reaction, I HAD A REASON. I was trained by my friend who modeled back when modeling was unhinged and abusive so my perspective on taking these gigs is to be professional as f*ck and not overly happy or fanboying. That face I’m fucking making is [because] I’M HOLDING MY SH*T IN CUZ WTF I’VE WATCHED THIS SHOW SINCE I WAS A KID of course I’m excited, but I’m trying to remain professional and not act like an annoying fanboy.”
“That face is a combination of me holding it in but trying to ‘look sexy’ even though I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to look like. Literally, if you saw me in the other season with [Vanjie], I was got more relaxed and facially responsive [because] I understood better what they expected out of me. All Stars was the first time I worked with them.”
“5. ‘He has no personality’”
X (@itsWillylai)
“Big talk coming from motherf*ckers that co-opted their whole personality off Drag Race reruns and misogyny.”
“6. My personal complaints”
X (@itsWillylai)
“A lot of the times when I would get [called] onto the show, they would ask me to help cast people for the show. Now I fully understand the opportunity and privilege this made for helping with diversity and representation and believing I was trying to push for it with whoever I recommended, (there was a segment that never aired due to Sherry Pie but I had brought in a Korean bodybuilder, a Vietnamese and a half white/Pinoy fitness influencer, and a transgender man. The lineup I brought was sick AF).”
“But honestly at some point I started to feel like I was being taken advantage of because I wasn’t being paid extra for helping cast people and it’s honestly not my job to begin with. Plus, too, a lot of scheduling and planning would be done last minute, which made it hard for me to accommodate since I was [trying to] do my own thing.”
Lai then shared the Instagram handles of the Pit Crew members that he allegedly help cast on Drag Race season 12 for a segment that never aired — which you can see below.
Ajay Holbrook
Instagram: @ajayholbrook
David Yoo
Instagram: @dadadavidyoo
@b_fit_xtreme
Instagram: @b_fit_xtreme
Kyle Panela
Instagram: @kylepanela
X (@itsWillylai)
Back to the discourse! One X user responded to Lai’s thread with “compensate fairly” and tagged the official X page from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“Please don’t tag them,” Lai wrote back. “I signed an NDA that I think expired, but also I was being vague on details [because] I’m not supporting to talk on details.”
X (@itsWillylai)
Lai added another follow-up response: “Plus, I’m not [trying to] seek grievances, I just wanted to set the record straight.”
If you’re still thirsting over Wilson Lai and miss him on Drag Race, scroll through to check out some of his posts on Instagram!
