If you ever spotted RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage out and about in Auckland, it would be easy to mistake her for a local. When the former popstar is in town, she dines at iconic Ponsonby restaurant Prego, spends arainy Sunday at a nearby Barre class or gets her nails done in Papatoetoe – which she says with her totally flawless Māori pronunciation!
And as if we weren’t already convinced Michelle should be made an honorary Kiwi, the reality TV superstar reveals that if she ever had to give a public “lip-sync for your life” performance, she’d queue up Royals by our very own Lorde.
“Every time a drag queen does that actual song, there’s a different interpretation and it’s so powerful,” the 55-year-old tells Woman’s Day. “To see that done right, it takes your breath away because it’s slow. You can’t sha-blam and throw yourself on the ground. You can’t duckwalk or showboat it., you can only perform it.
Michelle knows what she’s talking about. Having come to fame in the late ’80s with her girl group Seduction, amid New York’s LGBTQ+ ballroom scene, she’s honed her expertise across more than 30 seasons of Drag Race around the world.
Her instincts have only been sharpened since she inherited the role as host of Drag Race Down Under from her bestie RuPaul Charles for the show’s fourth season, which wrapped filming in Auckland in March.
Michelle tells, “Being my best friend for so long, Ru was like, ‘I need you to do this. Just do you. I want you to do it your way. I trust you.’ All I could focus on was giving these queens the best time, making them feel like they deserve to feel, which is incredible, and letting them know how talented they are.”
The experience also allowed Michelle to continue her love story with Aotearoa. “I love it so much in your beautiful country,” she gushes. “It is just literally Heaven on Earth . Even when I go to Australia, New Zealand is just different.”
Correction, Michelle – it’s actually better!
Laughing, she says, “Spoken like a true Kiwi. It’s got its own magic about it. I feel like you’re just on this jewel in the middle of the water.”
Michelle’s own jewel is the greenstone around her neck, which she wears in photos for Drag Race Down Under.
“It’s really meaningful to me,” she says. “The colour of that one in particular is so beautiful and it gives me power when I wear it. I buy pounamu as gifts for very important people in my life. I try to support local artists and I pay good money.”
Michelle doesn’t only wear her one here in Godzone. “It actually travels with me,” she tells. “I have it with me at all times and I wear it when I need power. It’s a beautiful stone.”
Michelle has a real affinity with South Auckland. “There’s a family vibe – a togetherness,” she says. “I can’t put into words how much I love learning about culture.” A US education, she notes, doesn’t lend itself much to learning about the Pacific and our cultures.
“When I meet Māori people, I have so many questions and so many things to ask,” she says. “I love turning on the local news channels and seeing Māori language. Seeing how far you’ve come and how far you continue to go is just beautiful. There’s a sense of community.”
To her surprise and delight, Michelle wound up being in town for this year’s Auckland Pride parade, which was a bit more low-key than her Big Gay Out appearance in 2021, where Drag Race fans were drawn to her like moths to a flame.
“Nobody knew that I was here,” she laughs. “I was just walking down the street, going to get ice cream at Duck Island, and everyone turned around, like, ‘Is that Michelle Visage?!’”
When talk turns to the new crop of Kiwi and Aussie queens on this season of Drag Race, Michelle says, “You’ll be so impressed. Ru will agree this is the strongest season yet. You’re going to be blown away, which makes my job as a host and judge very difficult because there’s no low-hanging fruit. It’s just powerhouse after powerhouse after powerhouse!”
The fourth season of Drag Race Down Under premieres Friday on WOW Presents Plus.
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