Things To Know About RuPaul And Michelle Visage’s Friendship

The seventh series of Drag Race All Stars is well underway, with past winners competing to be the queen of queens. As always, sitting behind the judges' table are RuPaul and his constant partner in crime, producer, and singer Michelle Visage, who has been a longtime friend who has known RuPaul since the '80s. 

Over the years, the duo has gone on to host talk shows, a radio show, and a podcast among the other TV properties they are a part of outside of Drag Race. But even behind the camera, they share a close friendship that is wholesome and heartwarming for their fans. Their bond is such that they even see themselves as “soulmates” at times.

They Met In The Late 1980s

Before RuPaul's Drag Race, Michelle Visage and RuPaul first crossed paths due to the former’s voguing skills. For the unacquainted, voguing is a modern house dance style that originated in the 1980s but also traces its origins to the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. 

In an interview with Vulture, Visage broke down how her voguing impressed nightlife personality Susanne Bartsch who would then ask her to vogue at her events and parties. As RuPaul would work at Bartsch’s parties, Visage befriended him eventually. She’s unsure about the exact year though and feels that it might have been 1987 or 1988. 

They’re Almost “Soulmates”

The professional duo has proven their worth in showbiz and given the fact that their friendship spans decades, it is a given fact that RuPaul and Michelle Visage are friends who only get closer with every passing year.

In fact, Visage has gone on to express how she feels RuPaul is like a soulmate to her. To quote Visage from a Yahoo Entertainment interview, “There's soulmates on different levels, just because you're not lovers doesn't mean you can't be soulmates. Ru's my soulmate as a best friend, we complete each other in many ways.” RuPaul has similar emotions as he told Deadline, “I know that we complement each other”.

Visage Knows The “Quiet” RuPaul

With all his business ventures, activism, and devising all versions of RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul’s life can be different on-camera and behind-the-scenes. So, while the legendary drag queen is full of energy in his shows, Visage has seen how he can also be quiet and reserved in real life. 

“I think people would be surprised to know how quiet, reserved and also private RuPaul is. Ru likes to separate his personal life and have some things close to him.” Visage could be heard saying in an interview with ET Canada. 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Wasn’t Their First Joint Venture

While Visage and RuPaul are known as the judges and producers of the different reality TV shows within the RuPaul’s Drag Race universe, their first professional collaboration dates back to 1996. New-age fans might not be aware that The RuPaul Show was a variety/talk show back then with Michelle Visage sharing co-hosting duties with the titular host.

The VH1 original lasted for 100 episodes and was one of the first shows to be hosted by an openly gay person. Celebrity interviews, comedic skits and field reports were some of the show’s staple elements. Even though Visage and RuPaul were friends since the '80s, it was this show that proved their creative genius when they joined forces. The rest is history. 

They Can Complete Each Other’s Sentences

It can sound slightly cliched but their friendship is so wholesome that Visage says that they can even complete each other’s sentences. While talking to ET Canada, she shed light on the almost-telepathic connection that Visage and RuPaul seem to share.

“We can complete each other’s sentences, we get exactly what each other is saying, Everybody has that one friend where you look at them and they know what you’re thinking.” Decades have passed since they first met and they still seem to share the same connection.

RuPaul Wanted Visage To Be Co-Judge Since Season 1

Given their creative partnerships, it is not surprising to know that Michelle Visage was RuPaul’s first choice to join the judging panel on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, a five-year-contract with a CBS Radio station in Florida prevented Visage from joining the show right away. 

In a HuffPost interview, Visage delved into the aftermath. Even when she was offered the third season, her boss still refused prompting her to resort to other measures. “I called up the vice president of CBS radio and told him what was going on, and he said that he had no problem at all with me going”. That is how Visage could finally become a permanent member of RuPaul’s Drag Race for every subsequent season. 

Regular Musical Collaborations

Before her fame as a radio and TV personality, Michelle Visage was known as a singer due to her stint as a member of the dance-pop trio Seduction. So, it would come as no surprise that Visage is still willing to lend her vocals whenever her bestie records her own original music. 

Before RuPaul's Drag Race queens recorded songs, RuPaul had been dropping music albums since the 1990s, some of which boast collaborations with featured artists like Michelle Visage. Starting with two tracks on the 1997 Christmas album Ho, Ho, Ho, Visage has been a guest on eight of RuPaul’s tracks with the last one being “Category Is…” from the 2016 album Butch Queen. 

They Were Always Meant To Be

While talking to Cosmopolitan, RuPaul touched upon how he feels his friendship with Michelle Visage was always predestined. “After seeing her so many different places, I realised, ‘Wait a minute, we were supposed to be together.’ It’s like the universe saying, ‘Hey, I’m trying to tell you something.’”

RuPaul adds that over the years, Visage has popped up in different situations of his life strengthening their friendship further in this process. 

Co-Hosting A Radio Show

Around the same time as the talk show from the '90s, RuPaul and Michelle Visage were also busy co-hosting a morning radio show for the New York-based adult contemporary radio station WKTU. 

The radio show dealt with similar fun-filled conversations as their TV show, inviting over musical guests and other celebrities. A significantly path-breaking episode was the one in which RuPaul interviewed gay pornography icons Chi Chi LaRue and Tom Chase about the workings of the industry. 

RuPaul Had Been Supportive Right From The Start

In a Cheatsheet article on their friendship, an anecdote bears testimony to how supportive and reassuring the friends have been for each other. Even though Visage and RuPaul had met each other at parties and ballroom events in the past, Visage met him again during a music seminar in New York during her post-Seduction career. 

After spotting RuPaul in the green room, Visage walked up to him and asked if he remembers her. RuPaul’s reaction went like, “B***h, I have been watching you for years. You are a f*****g superstar, of course I know who you are.” Fast forward a few years and they were already best friends by then. 

NEXT: 10 Favorite Queens Of RuPaul's Drag Race, According To Reddit