Nicole Paige Brooks On Her Drag Race Down Under Exit: ‘Some Girls Only Need Two’

Atlanta icon Nicole Paige Brooks talks Raven’s season stopping gag, her heartbreaking elimination, the Snatch Game we missed and why she will always say yes to another shot at Drag Race.

Drag Race Down Under Vs The World delivered its biggest gag yet in episode two, but the twist came with a heartbreaking cost as fan favourite Nicole Paige Brooks was sent packing.

After an opening episode that had the queens — and viewers around the world — convinced Raven was back in the race, Michelle Visage finally revealed the truth. Raven was her secret mole and would instead take a seat on the judging panel as the week’s extra special guest judge.

Once the shock had worn off, the remaining queens were thrown into a Kylie Minogue girl group challenge before taking to the runway in tribute to the Australian pop princess.

Art Simone and Flor emerged as the top two, while Nicole Paige Brooks and Coco Jumbo landed in the bottom. With Art winning the lip sync to Kylie’s What Do I Have To Do, she faced the near-impossible choice between her season one sister Coco and the Atlanta, Georgia icon.

In the end, Art saved Coco and sent Nicole home after just two episodes, but as Nicole reminded us, she has never needed much screen time to make an impression.

Nicole Paige Brooks does the Porkchop maths

For a queen whose name has remained firmly lodged in Drag Race history since season two of the original US series, Nicole was more than ready to laugh about another early departure.

“Well, I do love Porkchop, actually” she muses.

“I was just thinking the other day: okay, so now I’ve been the first eliminated and the second eliminated. And then, if you count All Stars, I guess I went three episodes for that. So I’ve been one, two and three, but I did it backwards, I think. I don’t know. But officially, isn’t Flor really the Porkchop?”

“They just didn’t send her. You know, she actually would have gotten eliminated; she just got saved. So she’s really the Porkchop. I’m kind of like leftovers, I guess. But that’s all right. I don’t mind being Porkchop. I love Porkchop” she quipped.

Keeping the Raven gag under wraps

The Raven twist had been the subject of feverish speculation before the season even premiered. Yet cast, crew and judges held the line, insisting she was genuinely back as a contestant right through the launch.

Against the long history of Drag Race spoilers leaking before broadcast, the fact that the season’s biggest surprise remained intact was a feat in itself.

“I’m really surprised that we kept it. You know what I mean? I think we all made a pact in the very beginning that we weren’t even going to say that she was a contestant or anything. We did that. The fact that it didn’t leak out is so crazy. I think we’re pretty proud of ourselves as a whole for keeping the secret.”

Nicole also credited the production team with protecting the gag, particularly when other spoilers about the season had circulated online.

“Yeah, and a lot of the spoilers they have out there seem to be inaccurate about our season. So I guess it goes to the crew they were amazing there. All the handlers and everybody who was helping us constantly on set, they were all amazing. Maybe they understand the NDA better than other franchises. I guess we can hold it up to the crew and the cast for keeping a good secret.”

‘I was pissed off’

Nicole’s face in the workroom said everything when Michelle finally confirmed Raven was never really competing. For Nicole, however, the reaction was about more than losing a formidable competitor from the race.

“I was pissed off. But also, subconsciously, we were like, ‘Is this real?’ the whole time. The fandom was kind of like, ‘This isn’t—we don’t believe it.’

It was the same feeling for the girls on set she reveals.

“We were kind of going through that in the first episode. But then when she competed, was out there for the runway and then she was safe or whatever, I was like, ‘I don’t know?”

“Still, the whole time, you’re kind of like, ‘Is she really doing this?’ She had us convinced” Nicole confirms of the twist.

“As you can see on my face. I was like, ‘This fucking bitch. Are you kidding?”

It was also a disappointment for Nicole who had spent the first episode bonding again with her season two sister.

“We actually had a really good time filming the first episode. We had a really good time hanging out. We bonded. She actually gave me the hair that I wore for my outfit, and she helped me, showed me how to make the boa, the cover-up thing that I was wearing. She was the one who told me how to do that.”

“So we had a really good bonding time, and I was just like, ‘No, was all that just fake to get me on her side for some reason?’ But I don’t know. It was killing, but it was also entertaining.”

The twist divided viewers, while Nicole’s departure prompted an outpouring from fans who felt they had barely been given enough time with her they also took to the internet to vent their frustration, rating the episode one of the lowest in the Down Under franchise history on IMDB.

“Yeah, I can’t keep up with all that. Sorry. But they’re more upset about me going home than her becoming a judge. I think that’s the real reason why they’re sad.”

“I’ll take that bad rating as a compliment to me.”

The package fans did not get to see

Nicole has already competed on Drag Race season two and All Stars 10, but Down Under Vs The World was meant to show a different side of her drag. This time, she arrived determined to serve a stronger runway package alongside the personality fans already loved.

“I’m sad that I don’t get to show my package, because that’s what I was excited about this time around. On All Stars, I came to show more personality and I was less focused on the package; this time I was really more focused on the package. So I’m excited. I guess I’ll just have to drop it all online like the girls do, but it’s not nearly as much fun as actually being able to. I would love to have done Snatch Game and a few of the other categories coming up.”

While those unseen looks may now make their way online, one missed opportunity stings more than most: after three appearances in the franchise, Nicole once again fell just short of Snatch Game.

“I know, I know. Any time I get even close to the end, in my mind I just resign myself to the fact that I’m going to be leaving. So I’m just like, ‘Okay, well, I’m just going to go ahead.’ Then I found out Snatch Game was coming up, and I was like, ‘Oh, damn. Maybe I would have fought a little harder if I knew Snatch Game was next.’”

The Snatch Game we missed

After bringing her roast to Australia and reminding audiences that she can run her mouth with the best of them, Nicole had two characters waiting in the wings.

“Well, I am obsessed with Carol Burnett, and one of my favourite characters is Eunice from Mama’s Family. So I was going to do Eunice from Mama’s Family. And then I also had Janice Dickinson, who was going to be my original one from season two. Season two was the very first Snatch Game, so we all had to turn in characters, and that’s who I turned in—Janice Dickinson. So I also had that one, depending on which way she was going to lean in the interview. But yeah, I was excited. I love to run my mouth, so I was excited about doing an improv or a comedy challenge. But they wanted to put the girl-group challenge and a sewing challenge first. Boo, boo.”

Nicole knew the lipstick decision was coming

It was difficult to imagine any scenario in which Nicole survived the elimination. Art and Coco entered the franchise together in season one, while Flor faced the prospect of sending home another Down Under queen.

Nicole could see the numbers as clearly as everybody watching at home.

“Well, to be honest, Coco was very upset, so I wouldn’t say that I really campaigned that hard to stay. Also, I figured they know each other. Me and Art have crossed paths a few times, as she said, and we’ve always been pleasant, but they’re more like sisters and we’re more co-workers at that point. So I definitely didn’t put up much of a fight because I really didn’t see a reason.”

Still, Nicole has found a way to turn another brief Drag Race run into a punchline that only she could deliver.

“Yeah, and I’m already a fan favourite, and they wanted to get rid of that real quick, I’m sure. Like I always say, some girls need six episodes; some girls only need two.”

Nicole Paige Brooks will always say yes

If the Drag Race phone rings again, Nicole will answer. More than 15 years after her original season aired, she remains proud of her place among the queens who helped transform the franchise, and drag itself, into a global force.

“I will always say yes, because I just love being part of this franchise. I think we have really changed drag across the world at this point. It’s really changed us into actual artists instead of just being fetishes or freaks at the club. It really puts us on another platform, and I’m really honoured to have been one of the originators of this franchise—and also to be able to maintain everybody’s interest, and a career, the way I have. Not a lot of girls can say they’ve been doing drag successfully for over 30 years.”

“Yeah. And only 15 of it’s after Drag Race, you know what I mean?”

Drag Race Down Under Vs The World is streaming on Stan in Australia every Friday at 5pm.

Check out our chat that we had with Nicole ahead of the season premiere below.