Drag Race’s Shangela once pretended to be RuPaul to get her own way, says Laganja Estranja
Laganja Estranja has shared the time that Shangela pretended to be RuPaul to get on a train (World of Wonder/ Getty)
Legendary RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Laganja Estranja has spilled the tea on Shangela’s iconic shenanigans.
Laganja was appearing on Sissy That Talk Show, a series in which host Joseph Shepherd interviews Drag Race alumni about their time on the show and beyond, when she was asked about the Haus of Edwards.
Both Laganja and Shangela are members of the Haus, created by fellow Drag Race competitor Alyssa Edwards.
Over the years the group has disbanded and reformed a few times – “extended timeouts”, as Estranja called them.
She was asked to spill on some of the more “dramatic” events to happen to the group, and revealed all about the time Shangela pretended to be RuPaul to fool a ticket inspector.
“We were late for our train for undisclosed reasons and Shangela decided to tell the ticket person that she was RuPaul, and that we had to make this train in order for us to get to our gig,” Laganja said.
“This was very important. She was RuPaul. We had to go.
“And they made us put on a full show right there. The three of us did a full show. Like right there, so we could get our tickets to get on the plane.”
Excuse us while we scream.
The mode of transport featured in the story switches between plane and train – possibly to do with Estranja’s admission that she was high during the interview.
She continued to say that although the moment was dramatic, “the drama that we had was always fun drama”.
“There were definitely moments that were emotional but when I look back, I don’t know if it’s because I smoke a lot of weed or not. I just remember the good and the fun, and those crazy moments,” Laganja said.
She also dished on one of the most greatest moments in Drag Race herstory: her iconic “I feel very attacked” breakdown.
“It was my first and only panic attack I’ve ever had… but it became one of my biggest things,” Laganja said.
“I learned to laugh at myself and, instead of being the butt of the joke, I became the joke. And I made merch(andise), and I made money off of it.”
Sounds like a win to us.
Laganja Estranja returned to Drag Race for All Stars 6 as a lip-sync assassin. She gave us a legendary showdown against Trinity K. Bonet to Dua Lipa’s “Physical”.
It came shortly after she came out to the world as a trans woman. The boost in popularity led to fans donating tens of thousands to a GoFundMe fundraising page in support of her transition.
Shangela is perhaps one of Drag Race‘s most successful characters. She first competed on season two, becoming the first eliminated queen to be invited back a season later. She went on to return for a third time for All Stars 3, controversially losing out on the crown to Trixie Mattel.
She has since appeared on Dancing with the Stars and her own HBO Emmy-winning series We’re Here, alongside Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka.
