Violet’s Knockout tourmate Gottmik calls season 7 “the most amazing Drag Race cast ever.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race fans, known for their commitment to generosity and unrelenting kindness, have spent years politely telling queens how they really feel about the Emmy-winning reality competition series.
Just kidding! A specific sector of the fanbase’s toxic energy has long crept into the collective consciousness of Mama RuPaul’s TV empire, with particular vitriol lobbed at 2015’s season 7, which has unofficially taken up perch as one of the most disliked seasons of Drag Race to date.
Winner Violet Chachki and her upcoming Knockout tour co-headliner Gottmik, however, tell Entertainment Weekly they don’t understand pushback the season received at the time — especially when three of the season’s iconic cast members now have crowns after Ginger Minj triumphed on All Stars 10 earlier this year.
“I think season 7 was a pivotal point in drag culture and Drag Race. It was the beginning of the end of an era,” Violet tells EW, highlighting that “seasons 1 through 6 are the fundamentals of what Drag Race is and what the TV show was, and season 7 is the turning point of where we were at culturally and TV-wise.”
Violet points to the transitional phase of pop culture, when Drag Race began cultivating a loyal fanbase of not only people who consumed the show on TV, but also sought to build a digital community for the fandom on social media.
“It was a period of change, and people don’t like change,” estimates Violet. “The challenges were pissing people off. It was a weird season. The cast was so good. People now realize it was something great at the time, and we just didn’t know it.”
Gottmik says season 7 represents “the most amazing Drag Race cast ever,” because “every single one of these bitches is an icon,” from eventual All Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel to RuGirl legends like Miss Fame and future All Stars contenders Kennedy Davenport and Jasmine Masters.
“What the f— were they doing that season?” Gottmik says of the cast. “It was crazy!”
Still, Violet says that, even though the challenges that “were bad are wildly entertaining,” singling out the iconic ShakesQueer acting challenge that saw RuPaul chastise on the air virtually the entire cast for failing to prepare.
“[It was] so bad it was iconic. Looking back at episodes, [I look] so pissed. I’m f—ing pissed the whole time, and it’s so entertaining,” Violet adds. “There’s something that’s so bad that it’s good. There’s people out there that haven’t gotten their flowers, like Max, Fame, Kennedy. I’m happy for everyone. I’m happy for Ginger, Trixie, and everyone’s success.”
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After winning season 7, Violet went on to forge a career as a live performer, recording artist, and fashion star, even scoring an invite to attend the Met Gala in 2019.
Together, Violet and Gottmik launched their successful No Gorge podcast, and head out on their Knockout tour beginning Sept. 12. They also just released their new “TKO” music video, the production of which the pair admits led to them both getting “punched in the face” for real as they filmed the boxing-inspired scenes.
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