While the RuPaul's Drag Race fandom is still in a state of shock following Crystal Envy's surprising elimination during last night's episode, the New Jersey-based queen has had months to process her exit. After earning spots in the top on three of the previous five episodes, Crystal's Snatch Game impersonation of Nicole Richie left her in the bottom two. She then lost a lip sync against Lana Ja'Rae and was told to "sashay away" with ten competitors still left in the game.
Luckily Crystal has known that she'd be eliminated in Episode 7 for nearly a year and has planned accordingly.
"I chose to be home for my viewing party in my home bar, Paradise in Asbury Park, because I knew I would be surrounded with nothing but love," she tells Parade the day before the episode is set to air. "I think that's gonna make me feel really good."
Despite having months to come to terms with her elimination, Crystal knows she's still going to be emotional when she watches it happen again on TV.
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"I'm gonna make sure I give myself a good hour in between the viewing and the show after to completely redo my makeup, because I will probably be hysterical," she says. "I just feel my feelings very very much, and I cry, so I think it'll definitely take a toll on me."
To add insult to injury, Crystal was sent home not in one of her finely tuned glamorous looks, but in a werewolf-themed outfit complete with extra long toenails.
"It'll also take a toll on me to see myself getting eliminated in that werewolf look," she laughs. "Listen, that look is sickening and c*nt, but it's not howI usually look sickening and c*nt like. I'm like, 'Oh my god, I go home with a full Neanderthal brow bone on.'"
Ahead of her elimination, Crystal Envy sat down with Parade to discuss her Drag Race journey from her iconic Doechii lip sync and cosplaying as a tumbleweed to her Snatch Game choice and ultimate elimination.
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Crystal Envy and Lana Ja'Rae lip syncMTV
Crystal, oh my gosh, I am still so shocked, When I got the text this afternoon that you were eliminated, I was gagged. You're like, "This isn't real. They had a typo on this."
Exactly. I was so surprised. What was going through your head when you were eliminated?There's a typo on this. No, I was angry. I was mad. I was sad. I guess you could say all the negative emotions. You put your heart and soul into the competition, and it can be taken from you so, so fast, especially when you're doing pretty well. I mean, I was kind of killing it. Almost every week, I was in the top. So when you land low, and you immediately get the boot, it's a heartbreak. It's like, damn one little mess up can really really send you packing.
How did you process that over the next couple of days and then these months that you've had since?I'm super super grateful that I have an amazing support system behind me. Because I don't think without them, I would have been able to bounce back as fast. I think this probably would have taken a bigger toll on me, but therapy is a great, great thing. I'm an advocate for therapy. My boyfriend is a therapist, so I get free therapy at home even if I don't want it. Just take care of yourself and your mental health because the competition and reality shows, in general, are tough. Anyone doing a reality show needs to take care of their mental health. It's taxing. You give yourself open to the world to give their unsolicited opinions about you all the time.
Let's talk about the Snatch Game. How did you decide to pick Nicole Richie, and were there any other options floating around in your brain?I had two that I auditioned with, and they were the two that I went into the show with. I was very confident in my Nicole Richie when I auditioned with it. Snatch Game is hard. It was one of those challenges I knew either I would like glide by, or it would be my downfall. Unfortunately, it gave me the boot. I chose Nicole Richie because she was a reality star I grew up with. I watched her on The Simple Life all the time, way too young watching The Simple Life. Her and Paris [Hilton] were iconic to me. I love the two of them. I would have probably done Paris as well, but she was already done. I wanted to do someone who hasn't been done yet, so I went with Nicole. My second option was another reality star I grew up watching from Jersey Shore: Jwoww. I think maybe if I did that, I could have been safe. But who knows because maybe I wouldn't have opened up and let that wall down. I think I was just so nervous in Snatch Game. It was scary girl.
RuPaul brought up that you and Sam Star were too polished. He's said that to other queens in the past. Was that something you were worried about coming in?Absolutely, because that's just, unfortunately, who I am in my day-to-day life. I do strive for perfection. I do strive to look super poised and polished. In my real life, I do let my wall down. I am a real person, but when you're in that setting, you're so hyper-focused on competition mode that you tend to forget that, "Hey girl, you're a real person behind the drag character." You get so focused on killing it that you forget that letting loose and opening up is the key to killing the challenges, which is what I did in the "Bitch I'm a Drag Queen" challenge. I completely let loose in that, and that was where I excelled. I used my poised perfectionist to help my team and get us on a good roll with the whole challenge. But I also was rolling around in the background like a tumbleweed, which was my way of letting loose.
Whose idea was that, and how many somersaults did you do while filming? Oh my God, I think my shoulder is still bruised from those somersaults. I don't know how the idea came about. You can see it play out where we we're literally rolling the tumbleweeds, and they weren't rolling. So I was like, okay, we need to fix this. I want to say maybe Hormona was the one that was like, "Crystal, roll in the background." I just kept rolling and literally did it like 40, 50 times back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, because we shot each take, I think, for around 15 minutes or so. I was doing it the whole time they are doing their little lip-syncing.
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You had so many highs this season. The Dochii lip sync was so incredible and that song was trending afterwards. What was it like watching yourself do that on the big screen?It was crazy to see. I mean, I knew I was going to excel in these things. No shade, but I know my talents, and I know things that I do well. Being at the viewing parties and seeing the reception from everyone in the audience cheering for you when you come on screen and you turn the corner in your runway and you're killing it was so, so, so heartwarming and so rewarding. Like all the hard work and dedication I've put into this craft, and this art form is truly coming to fruition, and I'm getting my flowers.
How has your life changed since the season started airing last month?I think I've been in more locations around the country in the last month than I have been in my whole 28 years of existence, which is crazy. I've been traveling so much. I've been meeting new amazing local entertainers and other queens, which is probably my most favorite part of this process, to meet other people and see that my art is reaching the fans. I don't really like to call them fans; I just want to call them friends. You know what I mean? "Fans" sound so like I'm Lady Gaga. I'm more attainable and touchable than Lady Gaga is. I don't have security with me and the FBI when I travel. I get to meet people who are like, "You inspire me. You've inspired me to push my art further." It's crazy to hear that because I have told other queens that. So when other people tell me that it's very surreal.
Thank you so much for chatting with me. I'm sad that you got eliminated, but I'm excited for you to be one of the robbed queens of RuPaul's Drag Race and have the fandom up in arms on your behalf.Oh, girl, I hope they're up in arms on my behalf. Call RuPaul and say, "Hey, we want her back for All Stars!
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
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