LadyGang - Drag Race Champion: SYMONE

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

The Drag Race winner and superstar Symone joins us today for a chat about her epic art and what really happens behind the scenes of Keltie's favorite show. Plus, the gang goes in on epic good and bad week rants.  Check out our holiday deals!!! Stamps.com: Go to Stamps.com and sign up with code LADYGANG for a special offer that includes a 4-week trial, plus free postage, and a digital scale! Nutrafol: Get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and use code LGPOD StoryWorth: Go to StoryWorth.com/lady and save $10 on your first purchase! L’Oreal Professionnel Metal Detox: Unlock healthier hair with L’Oreal Professionnel’s Metal Detox – now available at Sephora! Progressive: Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive! Huggies: Get your baby’s butt into Huggies best fitting diaper! Huggies Little Movers. We got you, baby.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Barbara aka your nursing educator on Instagram. I'm a registered nurse and I create content to help nursing students feel ready to take on anything and everything that comes with the job and trust me it's a lot. Here's one of my favorite and simplest pro tips. Upgrade your scrubs to figs. Figs are designed for us. They are super soft, lightweight, and breathable with four-way stretch to keep up with your every move. Polished professional silhouettes? Check. Functional details and pockets in all the right places, check and check. No matter what your day has in store, Figs has layers to match. Their underscrubs are perfect on their own or as a lightweight base layer to help keep you cool and dry.

And when the temperature drops, their outerwear styles are made for everything from chilly commutes to freezing hospital hallways. If you're in healthcare or love someone who is, check out Figs. Head to wearfigs.com and use code FIGSCA for 15% off your first order. That's wearfigs.com, code FIGSCA. hello hi just uh paying those last minute lab bills for i don't know you guys like you know what 12 12 like i understand primex clinical laboratories i owe you these this 12 and i want you to get your money but like i don't know that this is like we should just round up or down based on 50s at this point you know what i mean we would round up or down on things from now on i don't

mind if you round up on me when my thing is like $82, you can just go the full Hyundai and then not send me a bill for $12. Well, you know that my credit got royally from a unpaid $50 medical bill for like five years. Stop. Five years. Yep. That is so okay. Literally writing the check. I was going to just rip it up. Don't put it off because they'll come get you and then you won't be able to buy a house. I mean, it's better now, but like I had to contest it for, it was, it was a whole thing for 50 bucks. Wow. It's amazing. Some things in this country make so much sense and then other things just don't make any sense. There should just be one office you could discuss your case by case situation like that. Yeah. Well, the two things that don't make sense are

health insurance and taxes. Yeah, there you go. I know I owe taxes and like the way that I do it is because it's like a, I'm a corporation. I have to kind of prepare everything at the end of the calendar year. And then in January, they're going to tell me an estimate of like what they think I'm going to owe. And then it's never right. And then I always owe more. So then I can't anticipate what I can spend my frivolous money on until halfway through next year. We hate taxes and we hate paying $12 and $82, 82 cent bills. Uh, and it's time for good week. Yes, it is bad week. Oh, no. I'll kick us off, you guys.

Kick us off. I heard something incredible on social media. Our mutual friend, Emily, Kelsey and I, posted something the other day that said, when somebody asks you a question or asks you to get involved in something that, like, you really just don't have any business or desire to be involved in, your answer is supposed to be, I'm not on that committee. Oh. Oh, my.

I love this. So it's like if Zach were to come to me and be like, hey, I need to pick out presents, Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews. I simply say, I'm so sorry. I wish I could help you, but I'm not on that committee. Oh, it's so professional. Isn't it? It really is. So you guys, ladies, let's get used to telling people this holiday season that we're not on that committee.

And you know what? It's kind of confusing, too. Like if you say it to the right person, they'll be like, it'll go over their head or they'll be doing that math meme of the lady with like all of the mathematics. that I feel like it could work in your favor. It's true. It's true. So yes, you're welcome, everyone. And my bad week is so devastating.

I was seeing all over, again, social media. Do I live anywhere else? No, just on the internet. I kept seeing these clips of people that were at this big, I think the Fountain Blue Hotel opened in Vegas recently, and a bunch of people went. And Justin Timberlake, who I keep zero tabs on, but I was... She's not on that committee.

I'm not on that committee. I was not on that committee, but I was wise enough to know that he's sort of, hasn't been out performing in a while, you know, that I haven't seen, but clearly the fountain blue paid him millions of dollars to come and perform. And I am horrified to report to you. I found myself sexually attracted to Justin Timberlake again. You're back. I was never there.

I was never there. I have been, I, I never, even ramen noodle hair. era. I could not see the appeal. I, I never understood it, but he got me because he was dancing in a tux and you know, the tuxedo, it was a white jacket and he also is a very wonderful dancer. And you know, I have a weakness for male dancers. And so I was like, damn it, damn it. You know what? I think that maybe the X are like cyclical and only last a certain amount of time because it's like man of the woods justin was like so nasty well i got the ick when there was that like viral video of him the dad dancing yeah yeah that dance and so my ick is strong still so

even all of those fountain blue videos in the tux gambling looking sexual i'm like does not work all the way back to the people magazine when jessica was crunched in the designer dress and justin's doing a harkey we've talked about this on the podcast before on the people magazine as the wedding photo and i was like why you gotta outshine the bride just stand there like a groom and let her dress have the moment why are you crunched over jessica maybe i need to look at those pictures so that i can like yeah you need to fix myself but i will say like justin at the fountain blue opening it makes sense and he went back to what works for him which is his like you know future sex love sounds like big band era in the text that's what works for him and that's

the reason honestly that's the reason robin thick is always in a suit because robin thick in his joggers at his house in malibu at the kid's birthday party love the guy wonderful man so sweet sweeter than you could even imagine but like it's not as sexy but when he comes out in the suit and he's like shimming around in a shiny shoe you're like oh like i get it yeah yeah yeah so true but by the way i heard a rumor allegedly that many many people were offered that before Justin Timberlake he was not really he was not the first offer I'm not surprised like who can you give like a Cardi B Cardi B Rihanna like literally everyone everyone wasn't there like the big the big hoopla because he like stayed at the Wynn he didn't even stay there yeah wow

but the Wynn is a great hotel I just stayed there and it's beautiful wow and downstairs you go and there's like a warm there's like a juice place that does overnight oats where can you get an overnight oat in vegas nowhere only at the win that is very true good to know i didn't pay for it if i was paying for it myself i'd be a blind hollywood at the flamingo i'm just letting you know yeah we're we're aware we know how you select hotels we've been uh subjected to your your uh hotel picking on tour where we're it's i don't even know if you'd call it a hotel i don't know what what those things were jack or kelty who would like to go next i'll go my bad week is a good week kind of like turned into a bad week so uh i was obviously on tour with jared a little

bit ago and their fans started doing like the friendship bracelets like the taylor swift bracelets where like they make the beaded ones and i was like i never really got it until i started going to shows and like people made me like specific bracelets for me and it's so cute and i just like i think it's the sweetest little thing they do it for their songs i got like elder emo ones like jerry ones i just thought it was really cute and like i'm on that committee for sure but my bad week is i feel like the friendship bracelet now means that the jack vanek bracelet is not making a comeback shit you know it can because you need layers oh yeah that's true diversity of the wrist diversity of the wrist yes okay that's true because i was like it's like a make your own

jack vanik bracelet yeah it is make your own but i think it could be good if the jack van embrace was a little size smaller since everyone's wearing the tight friendship bracelets it's not as loosey-goosey as it was in the era yeah i did make little ones back in the day you could make skinny ones too i just need to make some taylor swift ones and then just call it a day and i feel like i could but you know her fans would be upset with us because we're not purists that's true and um they'd be like jack vanek is not a swifty don't buy her merch i got a swifty we could delete everything we've done this far in lady gang and start over in the new year because i saw this great article on the washington post from this uh tech reporter and she was like i think the

internet should be delete like it should delete after time like it should it should expire it should expire like a library card or credit card like everything you do when you're 12 shouldn't exist on the internet when you're 55 and so she's like pushing for this thing of like all social media accounts like all everything should just like delete over time refresh refresh anyway i love that i recently heard about kids going to digital detox like boarding schools because their lives have been ruined from social media yeah that's dark dark but i can totally see that happening it makes me so sad to think about it but yeah so be careful with your kids and social media is all I got to say. Well, my good week is that I am on the Bujo committee and I have

recently transferred my 2023 Bujo into the new 2020 for Bujo. Now I do want to make a big announcement. And if you're interested in what I'm using a St. Belford journal this year, if you're interested in just DM me, I know there's only three of you. Um, but what's different for me this year is I'm using a pre-made journal because I got really messy last year. So this year, the journal, I'm showing it to the girl, I'm holding it up like I'm a teacher in school. So it has drawing board, which is like where I'll put my notes and stuff. And then it has a personal tracker. And then each day has like already, it already has like a habit tracker and I, sorry, my camera sucks. But, um, and then the other thing that I did is that I went through, look at this

planner belongs to kelty it's very beautiful and i um did a period so what i did is i printed out you remember how i was talking about how it's so expensive to print on the podcast and then and then everyone was like laser printer late you'd use your use your laser labels so i started using my laser labels but i realized laser labels are the perfect size to print out when we were in la kelty announced to me like she was telling me some deep dark secret she goes i'm getting i think i'm getting a pre-planned bujo this year oh my god it was so wild the tone of voice she was using it was it was like don't tell anybody yeah she was like i'm just a mess just a mess have you seen the things i'm sure you have but like on tiktok i got a few bujo tiktoks through my for you page

of course you did and there's like ones that have like all these little like they're almost like gelatin stamps that you like take off and like put on do you use those i use stamps in my first few years but to be honest with you i don't feel like my hands have control on the stamp to make them level with the paper the way that a pen does and so when you stamp a february or to-do list stamp and it's not if you're trying to make it straight and that bitch is a little off or the other thing that bothers me about stamps and it could be Kelty, could be a Kelty issue is that when you put it in and then you stamp something and you get a little corner of the stamp on the ink. So it's not anyway, it just drives me crazy. Aren't you glad you asked about the stamps, Jack?

I immediately regretted it. Same. Um, okay. So my, uh, bad week is, uh, it's not that bad, but I'm, I'm leaving today to Vietnam, which is so exciting. I have a big interview over there And then I'm staying for vacation with Chris and I was influenced by the lady gang community after our conversation about smut reading. And there's a whole thread going on about everyone talking. Well, the first of all, the shame,

they couldn't believe the two of you didn't know what smut was. I mean, I'm not a reader. Okay. And anyway, they were like, how do they not know smut? Every,

I was like, no, it's just us read book girls. It just sounds like such a bad word. Like it's not, I know. I don't like it. i don't either anyway so there was this whole thing and then everyone's like hey i'm trying

to like put some hop in my sex life in 2024 what's what's up what's smutter you guys reading and then the like i didn't realize the ends of the earth that our girl goes to for an erotic fic and i have so many ideas about this but anyway so i asked people like i was looking at who is the best and i bought there's a series allegedly that people are like this is the most amazing thing so then i got all three books i'm taking them to vietnam with me i'm going to read only fairy porn no no and the one the one that the other girl was like you should get this and it was about a door it was called unhinged and it was about a woman who's like a door handle and i was like i can't do this it was like stop so weird yes it's i didn't i'm interested this is bizarre

look it up it's called unhinged and it was like we weren't sure if it was a door or a man like it was just she was i don't know it was so weird anyway so i got these three books and i thought to warm myself up i would try a colleen hoover on my kindle the week chris is gone so i was like let me just you know get in the mood for a rom-commy sex book i hate colleen hoover you guys i can't get into it it's like these two 18 year olds and it's all sex and she's touching which is so weird right why i don't like that they meet up once a year they meet and then they meet up once a year for five years because she can't be in a real relationship she's 23 but it's all sex and all like he's rubbing his manhood into my and i just i don't know and so now i'm so worried because this

is my big vacation of the year and you know i love to read on the beach i'm bringing my kindle as backup i may throw i may throw the smut in the trash i will report back but like what if i get there and i only have three shitty smut what are the books you got what are they called the ones that you got it's called there's three it's the raven hood collection flock exodus and the finish line hold on let me look up unhinged and just read you the synopsis just so you guys can like really yeah uh book hold on book unhinged an erotic door romance it has 4 000 reviews on amazon It is $8.99, has a 3.1 on Goodreads. Okay.

That's not that good. Dangerous coming, a knocking. Someone's been watching Tanya closely, but he's a lot closer than she realizes. From intimate moments to lazy afternoons on the couch, he's secretly seen it all and fallen for her along the way. The problem is that someone else is watching, too, and his obsession with Tanya is a lot more dangerous. When a man claiming to be her front door enters her dreams to warn her about an imminent threat to her life, Okay, I'm good. I'm all set.

You're welcome, listeners. How are there 4,000 people that read door porn and were like, yes. It's a paranormal romance story that involves a woman getting it on with her front door, which later turns into a guy. I hate this so much. I have logistical questions, but I'll keep them to myself. I'm going to send it to you. I wish you would read it and please give us.

I'm not going to. I like weird shit. That's too weird for me. Wait, wait, wait. and there's a quote if i had arnie been made if i hadn't already been made of wood i'd be stiff as a board at the site oh god kill me what this is upsetting this is like the guy on that show like strange addiction where he like makes love to his car or like a balloon yes weird um well anyway i'm so excited because um simone is here from drag race one of my favorite drag queens of

all time and i'm i know that i have drag race fans in the lady gang and i'm so excited to talk to her and she was so fun so um enjoy the episode and i'll keep you posted on the smut unhinged unhinged hi i'm barbara aka your nursing educator on instagram i'm a registered nurse and i make content that's all about helping nursing students thrive one of the first and easiest things i tell nursing students if you haven't already done so upgrade your scrubs to figs out with these stiff boxy scrubs in with the ridiculously comfy well-designed figs that were specifically designed with us in mind they're super soft lightweight and breathable with four-way stretch and moisture wicking fabric that keeps up during long shifts pockets are exactly where you need them the fit

feels modern and tailored and they hold their shape wash after wash whether you're in class at clinical or working the floor you deserve scrubs that work as hard as you do go to wearfigs.com and use code FIGSCA for 15% off your first order. That's wearfigs.com, code FIGSCA. Now back to the Lady Gang. Our guest today is one of the greatest who has ever done it. The New York Times called her a love letter to blackness and queerness. She's an American drag superstar and a prominent figure in the entertainment world she gained significant recognition and popularity for her appearance on the 13th season of the reality tv competition rupaul's drag race which she won she's known for

her distinctive style charisma and memorable performance on the show she's also known for that boy day but i am not the only super fan of this queen riri herself dm to share her support she slayed the carpet at the emmys mtv awards and the freaking met gala and brought down the house with her appearance on the Savage X Fancy show. She's been featured in Vogue, nominated for a People's Choice Award. She's got a brand new television series, Avalon TV, which she stars

in, featuring the House of Avalon. And I just want to say, you guys, I practice this so hard. Welcome to the Lady Gang Summit! Oh my god. I just flicked my

RuPaul fan. I love, I'm obsessed. i have to tell you that is maybe one of the best intros i've ever heard my entire life we'll send it to your team yeah bio please send that over you are such a revelation and so incredible but but as we know in hollywood you never feel that way so are you do you feel like okay i made it I'm like a superstar or do you feel like what am I going to do today? You know what? Sometimes I go, I go back and forth.

Sometimes I'm like, you know what, girl, you are the one. And then sometimes I'm like, Oh God, girl, what did you get? Get a grip. What's going on? I go, I go back and forth, but you know what? More these days I'm, I'm very much waking up being like, okay, superstar, what are we doing? Hell yes.

Yes. I'm definitely waking up more in that lane. Well, if you're ever down, I just want you to go and do like a walk down memory lane. I don't think I've ever seen somebody walk a carpet and work a carpet the way that you do. I could look at pictures of you on a carpet all damn day. You know what? I think that's what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to get me a video montage.

Yes. Like, you know what? When you forget who you are, put on the montage, mama. there she is so i want to start with the rihanna of it all yeah where were you when were you how did you know it was real and how does that work this happened this is actually we were going to film um do the pictures and the video for my beads look and we were um going to the desert um that was real girls not photoshop and it was like four or five in the morning the sun has not risen it is cold it's chilly in the car face wig on and i just get on instagram you know happy go

lucky me and i look at my dms and it says bad girl reread and i'm like this is not this is not real like you know is there an extra i is there an extra g it's not a fan account like sometimes you get a check mark and never know a fan account so i go and look and it's her and i'm freaking out and so i read the message and she basically tells me that like you know congratulations and i i love you and to keep going and to specifically never take your um foot off their neck and which i you know i i i hold dear to my heart but it was crazy because i have such a love for her still and it's only grown from that moment and she's so influential in like my package and how i looked and how i approached drag so like to get that from like someone i love and adore and

admire like was insane to me and like and to get it right before going into a shoot and doing like a photo shoot and the video for one of the looks was just incredible you know and it like really made me feel like i i was on the right path because that was like yeah maybe four or five weeks in then we'd already filmed it like this it was coming out of course and so like i don't know you just you just have this feeling of like who's watching like what are people saying and so to get it from like someone who was so so so major was just like kind of all i needed other than of the rupaul giving me like a hundred dollars you know it's like literally the next best thing you know so it was very very affirming oh that's amazing for if i i need to do uh i want to jump in and

do like a drag for dummies and i mean that with love like you know he's like driving a car for dummies those yellow books that you get at the bookstore for people who do not have never watched have no idea um you know can you explain how the house works because your new show is based on the house and when you watch drag race people are like oh that's my drag mom or like we came from the same house can you like give us a drag 101 how that all works for sure so like house culture it comes from ballroom which if you don't know that's a whole another sector of the gay community but our house specifically we're not we're not part of ballroom culture which you know is like the voguing and the different categories and such like that but it definitely comes from that and

i would say we're a collective of artists each one of us have our own like i minus drag and marco he's very good at you know we were discussing the nuggets earlier um he's very crafty very such a brilliant imaginative grant is pop culture savant another great artist hunter he does photography um editing online the technical the managerial skills so to speak caleb he's very good videographer and um that's the the five main of us and then of course gg and riley are also other drag artists with me and gg was also on the show so um and riley is now we're gonna she's a pop star drag um a pop star of sorts that's that's how i see her um it's basically all of us are a collective of artists and we we have this

vision of um you know we love pop culture and uh we all kind of came together on that love of pop culture and our love of drag our love of you know art and fashion and all those things and we all meld that together to create this show which we call avalon tv hey hey on wow presents plus um and it's really a love letter to television we we love television we exploited television and we put in our favorite things that we love about it. So I do my talk shows called On Tonight with Simone, and

I interview a few guests and Riley does Riley on the Street where she goes out and she asks people random questions and random crazy, crazy questions to see how they react. We have some skits in there.

We have a segment called Drag Ass, which is you know our parody of um jackass and it's just like a combination of everything that we love about television everything that like kept us sane because we're not all of us are all five of us are from arkansas but all of us are from small towns and so it's like it was what kept us going how we you know communicated with the world you know so it's kind of our way of giving back to it and being crazy congratulations it's huge to get a show made it's huge to get a show made yeah it's huge to harness like that much creativity and have it like you are filled with

so much creativity and and so is everyone in the house and to not have that like tampered down by the time it becomes the show is the biggest hurdle sometimes and the fact that you have been able to keep that in there and like the essence of who you all are is creative geniuses it's so amazing and that was really important to us we really wanted it to be authentic to us we didn't want anything um to feel fake because we're not us and we wanted everyone to feel like when you're watching us live our because there are some real life moments as well we wanted everyone to feel like hey we're those are our friends we're going to watch our friends on TV right now. And, you know, we want to be immersed in our world. You know, we didn't want

it to feel disconnected at all. So I want to talk to my friend, Simone, about going to the Met Gala, like discuss what I really want to know. Okay. So here's all my questions. Okay. So first of all, you get the invite. Is it a paper invite? Is it an e-vite? Does your team reach out and say, Anna can you come can can Simone come like how did that work so I went uh with Moschino um and Jeremy Scott was um creative director at the time shout out to Jeremy Hager uh and he he asked he brought he invited me to his studio um that which is in Hollywood I had no idea I was like okay why is Jeremy asking me I'm thinking like maybe he's asking me a part be part of the campaign or like you know right something i don't know i don't so i go and he sits me down and he's like so i just

wanted to formally invite you to the met gala like like and i was like i was like are you serious like i was on the verge of tears because i didn't expect it i did not expect it i was like but the and it's crazy because when i was on the show i was like there's two things i want to do i want to go to the met gala and i want to do the salvage fenty show i had no idea how either any of it was gonna happen well him to ask me because we'd been he'd known about us since we lived in arkansas so this was kind of like a full circle moment so he asked me to go with him and of course i like jumped on the opportunity and um and how it works is they you know how um designers get a table and they get to invite of course with anna's approval so anna knew i was coming darling

she approved you yeah she approved of me and so um they invite who they want to invite as part of their table and he and i was and i was like okay so how does this work do do i like design like it's you do you design you give to me like how these work do you say well i'll um design a look for you and of course i want you to feel like yourself so i will this i will of course want your input but i'm going to design look and i'm going to send it over a couple weeks go by and he and we go back to the office and he shows me the sketch and i die like i like it i die because it's so mean like it was such it was like a like a hyper glamorized sleek version of me that but through the moschino lens like through jeremy's eyes

and i was just enamored and it was literally that dress that you saw that 20 it was a 20 pound dress by the way so i'm holding it looks heavy yeah i still have it but um so like to pick it up it took like two people to put like at least two people to put me in the dress because there's also a corset built into the dress so to put it on and then to corset the dress and then to zip up the dress it took like it took like two people to put me in it but it was a dream come true one of the best days did you discuss that at your high school reunion that you just went to i know we got to talk about the high school reunion did you wear it to the high school reunion oh i wear it to the high school reunion no i'm magical wear but um they did not ask me about that but they did ask

me about rihanna of course rihanna and t.s madison i got those the most yes understandable you're listening to the lady gang so before we started recording we were discussing that you just went to your 10-year high school reunion in arkansas and i was just thinking obviously it was as if like the queen rolled in and and i'm sure the seas parted and they were like But what was high school like for you? I'm just so curious of like, what was the, the last time you walked into those were, it was in that school.

What was that experience like? And versus now, obviously you're, you know, high school for me was interesting in the sense that, you know, I think most of my bullying was definitely middle school, middle school would be worst, specifically eighth grade. but by the time I got to high school the bullying definitely didn't go away by any means but I felt like people were not necessarily okay with it but people at that point didn't care but I think I had much more of an issue like high school for me was like a very hard time because I had a hard time being myself and being okay with being gay and so like when I discovered drag that was kind of my

gateway into like owning myself and to be much more okay with myself and because I started drag when I was 16 um years old and that was like what season like eight or nine of drag race so like I got a job and I've like saved all my money up and I like bought makeup here and there and I was like practicing and people and I would post and when I felt comfortable and I was like okay I'm and people can you know i would post on instagram and so it really helped my confidence wise i think i think high school is more difficult internally for me um and drag really helped me come out of that and be much more myself so by the end of high school i didn't really care what anyone thought you know because i had because i kind of at that point had built a gay community outside of it

Because I started performing when I was 18 years old. So, like, as soon as I could. So, by the time I graduated, I was like, see ya. I'm like, I know this is what I want to do. Like, I didn't know exactly how I was going to get here. But I knew that, like, drag was my vehicle. I knew drag was my way out. So, and I say it all the time, like, drag truly saved my life.

Like, it saved me. It saved that little kid. it gave me something to look forward to past like living in common Arkansas you know um because I'd always I'd I knew I'd never lived there the rest of my life I knew after high school like I was getting out of Arkansas I didn't know how I didn't know when but I knew I was getting out and I think once I did drag and I did and I performed and I felt what it was like to be on stage I was like okay that's it that's how that's how i'm getting out of here you know yeah go back later i think i felt a sense i say all of that to say i felt very proud of myself and very i could believe but just

like to actually go back and feel what it felt like to be on the other side of like fulfilling not necessarily fulfilling my dream but like really going for it and like I did it you know I got out and I did it and I did what I said I was going to do and like people said that they were like I'm so proud of you because you I remember you saying it and I remember you being doing drag and going to prom and you did it and we're proud of you and like congratulations so it felt it felt great you know it's like such a full circle moment for you it is it really is and like I don't know it just made me like really proud of myself for doing it you know it was not an easy road and there are a lot of speed bumps but I did it man I did it

tell me I'm you know what I think it's also like people will forget that they'll be like oh yeah I went you know and they're excited for you but it's those mile markers for yourself where like you're like oh wow because you get caught up in everything that you're doing and what's next and have to keep the hamster wheel rolling and it's nice to like go back and be like oh wow like it's been 10 years and like look at what i've accomplished and you like can take it like stock or like inventory on that and i think i think i needed that because like sometimes you know like you were saying you're like keeping going what's next what am i doing you know and you forget how far you come and like in 10 years like so i've done a lot in 10 years and you know some people

didn't and i was some people told me this they're like i'm i it was so great to see you get out and do you because i that gave me permission to do it you know how many ever years later you know so like you sometimes you forget like that doesn't it doesn't happen for everybody you know and and some people don't go for it or it doesn't happen for them or it hasn't happened for them yet so like you know it was good to go back and like really feel that and be like wow like you you you're a rare one you know you're a rare one you're a rare one mom okay i have two more questions back to met gala i'm so sorry to do this i have covered the met gal i've stood on those stairs as a journalist for so many years and i've never i don't know what's past the

doors so i'm dying to know when you finish being epic on the carpet both sides all the way up like then what happens because people people are like it's an exhibition and then you go for a dinner and then madonna comes out like what was that what was the second half like and were you like i wish i could change into my sweatpants at some point and like you know not sweatpants but i wish because the dress was so heavy and i like pressing down i wish i'd worn a different shoe by the end of it i was definitely crawling out and you don't take your shoes off like you're at a wedding in florida at the met gala like you're not walking out imagine barefoot in the mech in the met imagine no ma'am i don't even take my shoes off at weddings i am offended when

i see someone in a flip-flop at a wedding no gross and a flip-flop gross you know when they bring like a pair of dancing shoes i mean like at least bring a something classy you know not is flip-flop a flip-flop like a javier on a flip-flop offended mama answer your question so we go in and it's a cocktail hour so it's like all this all the celebrities and and the upper echelon are in this uh it's not the actually it's like a gallery i guess um and you you know it's a champagne hour so you go you in with your people and then you talk to whoever else is invited for like an hour and then you make the journey to the hall where the dinner is being served and you go you find your table you sit and there's like i think for us it was like three

courses it was like a salad and then like an appetizer and then the actual meal um you sit and you eat you talk i was sitting next to roger p henson who i love i love such a fan of baby boy that was like a staple that's like a staple black film and um empire cookie so of course i was like i couldn't believe and we were sitting chatting and she was just telling me about like her journey and like how she'd gone through everything and like we were talking about her being vegan and like her weight loss and like all that kind of stuff and then the other side of me was um what is this thing uh uh daily daily tom daly so sweet the olympic diver who loves to knit yes yes and we were just talking about that and his kids and his husband and all those things and

actually fun fact about him i love him shout out to you hey tom um he i'm looking and uh whoopee was at this one as well and i love whoopi i watch the view every day sister acts all of it do you see sister act three is coming i did see that i did i was like big news finally because you know they were saying they were like oh no one's gonna watch that like no one there's not a thirst for it and i was like wrong many times people have watched the first two i didn't specifically i didn't even know there was a first one didn't know for years sister act two is definitely the best oh yeah and that is rare to say the sequel is usually not the ones but for that but um so whoopie's there and so tom was sitting next to me i was like i i i'm convulsing because like i i want

to go meet her it was like what do i what do i do and he's like oh i've met her i'm good friends so do you want to go do you want to go meet her i'll go introduce her to you and i was i was like would you really he's like yes yes at this and so he he walks me over such a gentleman and i go over i say you know what i i just wanted to say that i loved you so much and thank you so much for everything you've done i watched this direct 5 000 times and she was so sweet she's like thank you thank you so much i would get up but this dress is too heavy you're like i gotta say that to you and she's like thank you so much you look beautiful tonight and i was like i appreciate it And then I just that's all I need in that moment. We went back to the table, but it was truly a magical night just to be in that room, you know, and to have done it the year the year I won, you know, it was it's just it's crazy because you it's a room full of like the A-list celebrities and people with millions, gajillions of dollars.

So it's like to, and to be in the room and like sit there and look around and be like, I, I did this, you know, I made this, I made this happen. I manifested this moment. It, it's, it's, it's, it's a power that you don't feel all the time. A power, like a confidence you don't feel, you know, and it kind of helps you, it kind of helps you move on and move forward in your career and be like, wow, I am that bitch, you know. You are that bitch. really humbling moment and so my last question is early early on in lady gang i think you guys were talking about this when i was off we had rue on um and i mean it was one of the best episodes we've ever had still in seven years she is a she is a true revelation she's a gem like a prophet

on earth goddess prophet yeah prophet yeah very much a prophet she gave us so many like ruisms and wisdoms and we use them still to this day where we're like if that bitch ain't paying your bills pay them no mind like yeah yeah and so i want to know as our last thing for lady gang like what's the best thing you learned from rue and like is there a piece of advice that you got that you take with you that has made you so successful because of her absolutely um well what even before the show it was that quote if those um and the bitches ain't paying your bill and them bitches don't mind because i was a very self-conscious kid and a very like shy kid so that was really really really monumental but from the show it was at the tic-tac lunch or um and you

know the interview that you do with top four and i was sitting there and she she said to me um the power that you have in drag is the same power you have out of drag and that blew my mind because i never thought of it that way because i always thought of simone not necessarily a different character but kind of for lack of a better term like a different person you know like i it was kind of like a like alter ego yeah yeah like me but like like to the nth degree but like still like an alter ego so when she said that to me like it was like turning the lights on for the first time you know like like let there be light you know yeah um because i just never thought of it that way you know i thought of it like oh when you're in drag you're this person when you're out

of drag you're just you know reggie you know you don't have all that but like it's she's basically saying you are the same person when you're in drag you're the same person in drag as you are and rue totally is that's what i think is what is so powerful is you're like yeah the drag is incredible and beautiful but then it's like out of drag it's you're you're as like i'm as taken aback by as captivated yeah yes by the energy and it's like it's something some people have it naturally but for me it's something that i had to work towards like because like i said drag gave me confidence so i think i had to take i had to take simone with me in my life you know and like use that especially after the show like navigating everything and like being in specific rooms and

stuff like that like advocating for myself and like asking for what i wanted like and not being afraid of that you know like using that power of drag in my everyday life you know usually it's the other way around for people but like it for me i had to take that power um from drag and use it in my everyday life so that i think that's been the biggest biggest piece of advice and another one she gave in that same lunch she um said to me you know how an inception like there was like always the totem that the person had like for them she said when you ever forget whatever it is whatever your totem is find what that is to remind you like of who you are that like those were the two big advices and i carry them with me to this day wow yeah that's so much well if you

are like the rest of the world and the season ended too quickly and you need more simone in your life you're very lucky because every monday on wow presents plus you can watch avalon tv and watch all the ridiculousness and fabulousness but if that's not enough for you you can even go on to instagram and follow the underscore simone not just simone the underscore simone join her over 1 million other fans and followers and get all the content and we're so happy for you i this is like such a dream you are such inspiration and i feel like you're just getting started so thank you for being here and we will let me get my fan out see you next tuesday thanks for listening the lady gang is produced by alex ingber steve delameter and jared monaco make sure you subscribe

rate and review our podcast and if you love it share it with your friends on social media like oh my god i just listened lady gang this episode's so great swipe up to listen and if you really want to which we know you do please follow us on social at kelty at becca at jack vanek and at the lady gang sign up for our newsletter at the lady gang.com and join our secret facebook group it's super fun see you next tuesday eating well shouldn't be complicated but somehow it turns into recipes prep cleanup and half your sunday gone factor solves all that these are fresh ready to eat meals designed by dietitians delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes.

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