Drag Race UK vs The World star Sminty Drop on Kate Butch’s shock decision: ‘You can’t police my feelings’

Few RuPaul’s Drag Race queens can say that their exit has been instantly cemented in reality TV’s Hall of Fame. But Sminty “Sad Twerk” Drop, now known as Sminty “Middle Finger” Drop, is one of them.

In episode four of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World season three, Sminty Drop went on a very rough ride. Coming into the week on a high, after slaying last week’s Snatch Game challenge, the Manchester queen was confronted by the ‘Girl Groups From Outer Space’ challenge; famously, she flunked the girl group challenge during her original run on Drag Race UK season four.

Already nervous, Sminty’s fears weren’t settled by her competitors, who proceeded to make disparaging marks about her performance during the rehearsal. Sminty overheard, and her confidence appeared instantly shattered.

Despite later making up with her competitors, during the actual performance of her group’s song “I’m in Love with an Alien”, Sminty drew a blank. She looked sickening, her bars were pristine, but RuPaul and co. didn’t love the performance as a package. She was called as one of the bottom three queens, alongside OG Drag Race star Mariah Paris Balenciaga and Serena Morena.

Things appeared to go from bad to worse, as Sminty’s Drag Race UK sister Kate Butch, whom she was to her knowledge in an alliance with, won the challenge – but opted to use the power of the ‘Chippy Tea’ to save Mariah, not Sminty. Unbeknownst to Sminty, Kate was also in an alliance with Mariah. Oof.

Sminty – who looked so incandescent with rage that there was practically steam emanating from her perfect beat – was left to lip-sync against Serena Morena. While the Drag Race Mexico star had a comical reveal hidden under her wig, Sminty didn’t know the words to the lip-sync song, “I Heard A Rumour” by Bananarama. Oof again. She was ultimately told to sashay away, but not before she could offer a parting gift to Kate: a furious flipping off.

Hours after her elimination, Sminty spoke to PinkNews about the tension with her peers, why she didn’t know the lyrics, and where she stands with Kate Butch now.

PinkNews: Sminty! How are you feeling? 

Sminty Drop: I’m feeling gutted because I feel like I had so much more to show. It’s sad that I didn’t get to show the rest of the looks that I brought with me and I had so many more reads to give. On the other hand it’s a sigh of relief that now the pressure of being on Drag Race has completely been taken off my shoulders. People online can be nasty and when you go into it being perceived as the villain, it opens you up to [fans saying] ‘Oh, well, she’s being nasty to everyone else so that gives us warrant to be nasty to her’ and I’m just like, ‘Guys please! I’m just a little girl!’

Were you really the villain though?

I don’t think I was the villain! Everything that I said was done with a wink and a cheeky grin. It was all said in jest; nothing was ever said in malice. Everyone knew that we were there to make some sickening TV and that was honestly what this was. I sat down with the producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race and I said I want to make history. 

You had some major highs this season and some major lows too. What is your overall takeaway?

I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been asked back to come and do it, and I think now was the right time for me because I’d got myself into a position mentally where I felt like I was comfortable to go back. I’m honestly so proud of myself for being high for the talent show and being in the top for the Snatch Game. All the things that people said from my original season that I was never going to succeed at, I ended up succeeding at. It does make me hold my head up high and be like, ‘Yeah do you know what? I am that b****.’

I wanted to knock down the legs of people that had something to say about me previously because everyone seems to think that what they see on TV is gospel to exactly how that person is in real life. Things are said on TV that are for TV, but also things happen that you don’t expect to happen. Drag Race is very much one of those situations where it’s like, once it’s happening, it’s happening and you can’t go back. So if you start panicking… There aren’t any redos. You just have to have your anxiety attack and plod on, get on with it.

Seeing you slay Snatch Game as Chelsea the Big Bad Wolf was wonderful, as it’s such a coveted challenge.

100 per cent. If you want to be in the top for anything, it’s Snatch Game. I want Chelsea to live on.

How many people can say they’ve dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf in front of the Pussycat Dolls?

When I was born, I can definitely assure you that on my bingo card was not being dressed up as a slim thick Big Bad Wolf in front of two of the Pussycat Dolls and RuPaul actually.

Let’s talk about this episode. During rehearsals, you heard a few comments from the other group, and it knocked your confidence. Had you shaken them off by the term the performance came around?

It was still weighing on my mind. It definitely did help put me more at ease when The Only Naomy apologised for what she said, and she didn’t have to do that. She could see how I was feeling after that altercation. When she got on the stage, it was actually a lot harder than she thought it was going to be. I think she was like, ‘Oh my God, I need to say something because it actually was really nerve-wracking.’

To hear giggling in the corner when it’s something that I was really anxious about and already felt self-conscious being up there not in drag, it was definitely a vulnerable moment. It definitely did throw me through a full ring of fire. But I would definitely be copping out if I said that is what made me jitter in the performance because it wasn’t.

I was up all night learning the choreo. Girl, I could not stress this to you enough: I knew that choreo like my hand. But it just so happens that in that moment I saw RuPaul’s face I was like, ‘Oh my God, no, no, no. It’s happening again.’ So, yeah, it was very much one of those black holes.

The fandom did seem to love your lyrics at least.

One thing you can’t take away from me from that girl group challenge is one, how puss I looked, and two, how incredible my verse was. Who else is going on the main stage of Drag Race and saying ‘There’s a facehugger in between these thighs’? Like, so many different references that we’re clocking.

OK, let’s talk about Ms. Kate Butch and the Chippy Tea moment. Why do you think Kate made the decision she did?

Well, first of all, Drag Race is very daunting. It’s exhausting and I think, especially when you get to this part in filming – which is obviously for you guys, four weeks down the line, but [for us] everything’s quite compact [filming wise] – we were all so tired. I think episode four is just where my brain tends to be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so tired now, I can’t do this.’ Kate could probably see that I was getting a little bit drained of carrying the season on my shoulders…

I also didn’t know about this alliance with Mariah either and I think she probably treasured that more because the only time we ever really spoke about the UK alliance was in episode one, when Kate was the one to approach us about it…  I digress. I think she spoke to Mariah more about [their] alliance.

I do get it. It’s strategic gameplay. She played the game. I can’t be mad at the fact that she played the game, but I can be mad at the fact that I thought we were really close in the competition and she just decided to throw me to the wolves after I just flopped a girl group challenge where I had to perform, and then she’s like: ‘Do it again!’

In retrospect, you can appreciate it as gameplay, but in the moment…

I was obviously going to feel a certain type of way about it. But I feel like the fans, they make your mind up for you about how you’re supposed to feel because it’s how they want you to feel. You can’t police my feelings. I’m gonna make some good TV, but also, my feelings are still valid in that time and moment.

Did I know the words? Hell no, I didn’t know the words! I think I’ve probably heard of Bananarama maybe once in my life. This is obviously no shade to them. Serena very successfully managed to pull off knowing the words and it’s not even her first language. I just struggle with memorisation! I need to say that when we were given the lip-sync songs prior to filming Drag Race, we thought it was gonna be the lipsticks [elimination format]. I was not expecting to win every single week, so why am I gonna learn every single lyric to every single song verbatim? Then they throw this Chippy Tea in and now I’ve got like three days to learn every single song properly and I’m like ‘No! I did not want this to happen!’ So honestly that Chippy Tea can choke. I hate her.

Lastly: the middle finger moment. How do you feel about it retrospectively, and are you and Kate on good terms now?

I think from the way that the camera was angled and the way that my hair was down onto one side, you couldn’t see the fact that I was [pulling a face]. Serena was literally laughing because I was pulling a face, but it was more so one of those [faux anger faces] and that’s why Serena was like. ‘Hahahah!’. So it wasn’t out of malice, and Kate knew that it wasn’t out of malice, and she knows now that it wasn’t out of malice. 

Me and Kate Facetimed last night and we said once again, ‘Oh my God, the fans are going to be crazy again this week’. But as long as we know that we love each other and we’ve got each other’s backs and that’s all that matters. At the end of the day it made amazing TV. I can’t be the one that’s like, ‘Guys, we need to bring the drama, bring the TV!’ and then as soon as it flips around on me and people are making good TV at my expense – I can’t be mad at that. I’m part of a season that’s going to go down in history.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World continues on BBC iPlayer and WOW Presents Plus on Tuesdays.

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