Over the last 15 years, RuPaul’s Drag Race has transformed from a modest, underground competition show with a virtually nonexistent production budget, to an undeniable cultural juggernaut. Its contestants, all multitalented drag performers, come into the show as entertainers and leave as superstars, maybe breaking a nail or 20 in the process. The stresses of Drag Race are known to be monumental. But hey, it takes a lot of heat and pressure to make a diamond.
All of the blood, sweat, tears, breastplates, and duct tape are documented in the new book, And Don’t F&%k It Up!: An Oral History of RuPaul’s Drag Race (The First Ten Years), out this week. In the tome, author Maria Elena Fernandez aggregates a massive series of interviews with Drag Race cast alumni, producers, judges, and of course, the show’s esteemed host. For fans of the show, the book’s juicy specifics from cast and crew will provide a wealth of new background about their favorite unforgettable moments, as well as details about things left on the cutting-room floor.
One such revelation comes in the book’s second chapter—each numbered chapter breaks down a different season of the show—when Season 2 contestant Jujubee admits to being blackout drunk during a famous “Lip Sync for Your Life” performance. Jujubee and the other queens on set started imbibing while cameras were rolling earlier in the day, asking for “a little liquid courage” before their episode’s main challenge: a live performance of a rock cover of one of RuPaul’s songs. To save her from embarrassment, the final episode cleverly cut around Jujubee’s excessively inebriated state, but the Drag Race fan-favorite is no longer shying away from talking about it.
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“When I drink, one’s too many and a thousand’s never enough,” Jujubee, who is now sober, says in the book. “I was trying to curb the drinking, but I told myself, ‘Juju, you’re probably [going to perform in the challenge] first, so just get all of these drinks in you now.’” What Jujubee didn’t know, according to Season 2 castmate Tatianna, was that Jujubee would be the last to perform out of all of the remaining queens.
“I actually blacked out while I was performing,” Jujubee continues. “I don’t remember the performance. All I remember is that I went out there, and I was like, ‘Ooh, ooh, don’t throw up!’ … It was my one chance to show the world that I could sing and impress the judges, and to sing RuPaul’s song in front of RuPaul. And I fucked up the lyrics, I fucked up the whole thing. I just didn’t know where I was ’cause I was so fucking hammered.”
Season 2 judge Merle Ginsberg says in the book that both the judges and the producers were aware of Jujubee’s worsening condition as filming went on. Producer Chris McKim admitted to feeling terrible as they watched the effects of the alcohol provided to the contestants start to take effect. “It was a disaster and it was an awful day,” McKim remembers. “I was just sinking in my chair because I felt so awful and so responsible because I approved the drinking.”
Jujubee’s fellow contestants all worried that she was going to either quit the show or receive the boot from RuPaul. While murmurs and whispers flew around the production, Tatianna and castmates Pandora Boxx and Raven reapplied Jujubee’s makeup, while their incapacitated castmate lay on the ground. “They knew I had to lip sync [for my life]… It was just nice to have a family,” Jujubee recalls.
“The words ‘lip sync for your life’ didn’t mean shit to me until I had to do it,” Jujubee says. “I said to myself, ‘If you don’t fucking win this, you’re going to die.’ And that’s how I drilled it into myself.”
Watching the lip sync by itself now, casual viewers might not even realize that Jujubee was so intoxicated. Her state of mind actually lends itself to the lip sync song—Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet”—and she’s able to channel an uninhibited sex appeal that made her the clear winner. Jujubee may not have ended up winning Season 2, but she stayed to compete another week, and got her own fight back, too.
“It shows the tenacity of the human spirit,” producer Tom Campbell remembers. “She just had her worst day ever and she killed the lip sync.” Executive producer Randy Barbato sees it the same way, but noted one big change that the show made when transitioning into its next season: “We changed the policy, starting in Season 3. They only get one drink.”
These sorts of dishy discoveries are packed into And Don’t F&%k It Up!, and will no doubt give diehard Drag Race fans answers that they’ve been clamoring for, primarily when the book addresses the strict production rules and schedules that have resulted in contestant self-eliminations, injuries, and disqualifications. But at times, each lengthy chapter can feel a bit drawn out, covering more ground than is ultimately necessary for a show with no shortage of dramatic moments and production shakeups to hone in on. While that might make the book a daunting read for anyone turning the ignition for the first time, Drag Race devotees will pour through it before faster than RuPaul can say, “Start your engines!”
