When Arrietty started her journey on the 17th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, no one expected the makeup artist and look queen to have such a villainous side. But wouldn’t you know, it would be a villain-based challenge that officially sent her packing. Admitting that comedy wasn’t her thing, this Seattle-based queen did find her footing when fashion was involved. Yet, when she was tasked to use her words, she struggled. “Comedy is not my forte and is not something that I do on the regular. It is not something I even watch,” she said.
But thankfully to this season’s twist, Arrietty’s run on Drag Race was extended, and the fans couldn’t be happier. An icon on the runway, Arrietty displayed her unique aesthetic to the world, and did not disappoint. But her legacy leaving the show may be the newly coined JokeGate. Stealing jokes from Jewels Sparkles, Arrietty made it clear why she did so: “I’m f-ing Latina bitch. I play with my heart, and I am gonna get you back.”
Arrietty’s Giggles Helped Her Break Out and Open Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

COLLIDER: She was the giggle queen of the season, with some of the best looks in Drag Race history. It’s Arrietty! How are you?
ARRIETTY: Not the giggle queen! HA!
You have the best giggle in the world. I have to tell you.
ARRIETTY: I appreciate that.
Congratulations on a fantastic run. If you could describe your Drag Race journey in three words, what would they be?
ARRIETTY: Ooh, three words. Escandalo. Let’s see, aesthetics and poise.
All right, I love that I’m here for it. What has shocked you the most now that the season’s been airing, and you’ve gotten to watch it all back?
ARRIETTY: What shocked me the most? Let’s see. Honestly nothing really shocked me because I was there.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
ARRIETTY: Okay, actually, no, I take it back. The giggle. The giggle. I’m like, bitch. Why are you giggling so much?
You were enjoying yourself!
ARRIETTY: I guess. But oh my god. Like I was like, “Shut up!” Like I’m giggling too much!
You came in a bit shy, but as the season continued on, you opened up, and you’ve become a fan favorite, breakout star. What is it like knowing how beloved you become the more you shared yourself with the world?
ARRIETTY: It feels so strange. It feels, I don’t know. It’s so wild. On my day-to-day life, I feel like I’m such an enigma. A lot of people just don’t understand me and not in like a “I’m an art kid, like, no one understands me” kind of way. But more of like people truly just don’t get my humor, or like anything like that. How I be, how I act and behave. I have a small group of friends that actually understand me, but everyone else, they’re like, “Oh, I don’t get you.” So it’s just so wild to me that a lot of people can feel that and connect with it, is just so strange. But also so comforting. And I’m like, “Oh my god, there are people out there.”
Absolutely now, you brought some exceptional looks. You slayed the design challenges. Where does your eye for design come from? I need to know about your brilliant brain.
ARRIETTY: Oh, thank you. I don’t know. I’ve always been in tune with esthetics and like creating art. And I’ve always just been an artistic kid, so it just, it’s just so natural to me to look good. It is! For me, like a lot of people, for them, it’s so easy for them to find a joke, or something like that. For me, it’s so easy to look good. It just comes so naturally. Like it’s before anything, I couldn’t already put an outfit or like a whole look together in my mind, and I’m like, “Oh, that’s good. Let’s do it.”
Arrietty Thinks Michelle Visage Went Hard On Her

When it came to makeup this season, Michelle Visage was a little harsh. I don’t agree with her.
ARRIETTY: A LITTLE?!
Listen! I don’t know why she came at you so hard, but yeah, what was it like trying to adapt yet still stay true to your aesthetic?
ARRIETTY: Well, I’m a makeup artist as well, so it wasn’t hard, to say the least. It was not difficult to just, you know, slim my nose down. Like it’s not rocket science. So it was, I understand the comment and the critique. And you know what I was like, ‘Okay, sure.” I didn’t take anything offense to it. I knew that comment was going to happen at any given time, so it’s not like I was surprised or anything. I was like, “Okay, here we go.”
And it’s not like, it’s not something that’s been on Drag Race before, where other queens have been critiqued for it.
ARRIETTY: Right.
But I appreciate that you were able to adapt. And like you said, you’re a makeup artist. You have an incredible, incredible eye for it.
ARRIETTY: Thank you.
Did you have a favorite of the three design challenge looks that you made?
ARRIETTY: I mean, the first one. I feel like that one was so fun, so pretty, so opulent. I just felt so, I feel so c–. And, yeah, I mean, all of them are fun because, I mean, the jelly fish was made out of literal trash. Which people, I don’t think they get the concept. If you watched the episode back, it’s literal garbage, So I’m they’re expecting some grand, crazy thing where I’m like, “You make something out of garbage and make it look cool!”
Absolutely. We don’t have to touch on it too much, but Baby Cupid.
ARRIETTY: NOOOO!
Is that gonna haunt you forever?
ARRIETTY: It’s okay.
Is it gonna haunt you forever?
ARRIETTY: Of course! I mean yes and no. I mean, it’s so bad…
It’s so bad, it’s iconic.
ARRIETTY: It’s so bad, it’s so bad. Like, why? Okay, the funny thing is, I had props. I had things written out, but in the moment, it was so, I blacked. I mean, I always black out and disassociate. It’s not new for me to do that. So when we got the questions, I was like, “Uhhhhh..” I had no idea what the f– to do in that moment. So I was like, you know what? It is what it is. The cards are on the table. Yes, I don’t have the comedy chops to f–ing in the moment to sporadically be like, yeah, some funny joke.
That’s fair. That’s fair. All right, this week, the mini-challenge was the return of the Badonka Dunk Tank. Let’s talk about your luck when it did save you the first time. Did you feel like it gave you a fire under your padded butt when you got saved?
ARRIETTY: Of course, yeah. I mean, yes. I got a second chance. And I was like, You know what, I’m not gonna waste this one. And I felt like, during the whole thing, the whole competition of my run, I tried my darnest, even though I’m not good at it, I still f–in tried.
Absolutely. Did you have fun getting dunked this week?
ARRIETTY: No.
Was the water cold?
ARRIETTY: No, it was a little warm, but I’m sure some of those bitches pissed it, so.
Probably
ARRIETTY: Probably, probably.

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Arrietty Discusses JokeGate on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 17

So, this week we did have another big comedy challenge, the Villains Roast. You were nervous from the start.
ARRIETTY: Of course. Comedy is not my forte and is not something that I do on the regular. It is not something I even watch. I don’t watch comedy things. To me, comedy is the last thing I watch. I watch romance or horror movies. I don’t watch comedy things.
What was it like having Whitney Cummings there as your mentor?
ARRITTY: Who?
See, there’s a comedy! There’s your comedy right there.
ARRIETTY: Yeah, being a f–ing bitch. I guess I gotta lean into that.
Absolutely. Now you were a little pissed off with Jewels Sparkles’ running order. Do you think she was being strategic or shady?
ARRIETTY: No, she was being strategic. But also being strategic in that way against your friend is shady. So, it’s a gray area when it comes to what Jewels did. Yeah, especially when I confided in her beforehand. I was like, “Hey, I don’t feel good. I know I’m gonna do bad.” And then she took that information and put me behind the funniest girl, and then her after me so that she can look better. So I was like, oh,?
And then we had JokeGate. You stole some jokes.
ARRIETTY: JOKEGATE! HA! I sure did. I sure did. And you know what? At that time, I was like, “If you’re gonna play the game, I’m gonna play the game.” And I’m f-ing Latina bitch. I play with my heart, and I am gonna get you back. I’m also, I love black and white. I love balance in my life. So if you’re gonna get me, it’s tit-for-tat, I’m gonna get you.
And listen, we had some of the most tense painting sessions ever before this challenge. The girls were fighting.
ARRIETTY: The girls are fighting.
We’re gonna play a quick round of Tea Time. I’m gonna give you a name of one of your sisters, and you’re gonna give me the first word or phrase that comes to mind. Are you ready?
ARRIETTY: Oh, Jesus, let’s do it.
Hormona Lisa.
ARRIETTY: Spooky.
Joella.
ARRIETTY: Funny.
Suzie Toot.
ARRIETTY: Ugly.
Crystal Envy.
ARRIETTY: Boring.
Lexi Love.
ARRIETTY: Tall.
Lana Ja’Rae.
ARRIETTY: Umm. That’s the word.
Onya Nurve.
ARRIETTY: Nerves.
Sam Star.
ARRIETTY: Country.
Lydia B Kollins.
ARRIETTY: Jesus.
Kori King.
ARRIETTY: Big
Jewel Sparkles.
ARRIETTY: DING!
Lucky Starzzz.
ARRIETTY: Awww.
Acacia Forgot.
ARRIETTY: My bestie,
And Arrietty.
ARRIETTY: The most glamorous, gorgeous bitch ever.
Absolutely. Now, I talked to her about it when I spoke to her at the exit interview. But your friendship with Acacia blossoming off the show. I think it’s so amazing. What is the origin? How did you come so close?
ARRIETTY: Honestly, it’s so, I am so angry with myself that I did not give her a chance on the show. Not chance, but I should have talked to her at least once. Because the first time we had a conversation, I connected with her immediately. So I was like, if I only had that one conversation with her, I’m sure we would have been so good at on the show. I’m like, damn. But no blossoming off of the show has been one of my favorite things, because I did not expect to come out of that with such a good friend. Especially one that I was like, her bully.
It’s true. It is true.
ARRIETTY: It’s true! Like, I was bullying that bitch. I was slapping her around. But, and then afterwards, I was like, “Oh my God, we are so similar. It’s so funny.” It’s not even funny. It’s kind of scary how similar we are. Yeah, it’s been one of the best things to come out of the show, and I’m so appreciative of that. Of it.
My final question for you is, now that you’ve been on Drag Race, what is the next big dream?
ARRIETTY: Next big dream? Well, I want to do a lot, baby. I want to make my own collection. Of course, start YouTube. I want to, honestly, I kind of want to be on other like reality TV shows, because it’s so fun.
Put it on the universe. What do you want? Which one?
ARRIETTY: Oh, honey. I want to be on The Challenge. I want to be on Big Brother. I want to be on all of it. Like, I want to backstab. I want to have fun. I want to compete.
The universe is listening. I can’t wait to see it. Arrietty, you are incredible. Congratulations on an awesome run.
ARRIETTY: Thank you so much.