Mistress Isabelle Brooks’ return to “RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10” was a chance to snag the crown, but also another opportunity for some true television "moments."
Whether it was mentoring queens in her bracket or battling it out on the runway in a sickening lip sync, one thing is certain: Brooks is one of the queens to watch as we enter the semifinals. I sat down to chat with Brooks about her “All Stars” experience so far, the queens in her bracket and her interactions with them, and she dropped some sage words of advice that she has received from the mentors in her own life.
You truly made your return to “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10” a “moment” in every sense of the word. First though; you look absolutely incredible! What is your secret?
Thank you, baby! The girls are saying that I’m injecting Ozempic, but I think you’d need five, six or seven injections a day! I tell everyone that the secret to losing weight is that you literally have to put that shit down; you have to stop eating, baby, you gotta eat right. Honestly, I work out almost every day. I have a personal trainer and I watch everything that I eat. Everything that goes in my mouth I count the calories, you have to put the work in. It definitely has been a crazy journey, but it obviously has been so worth it.
You definitely delivered the drama, but on that runway you are, without a doubt, delivering the drag excellence. You have spoken about your drag mother Chevelle Brooks on the show; when we see you on that runway, do we see so much of what the iconic Chevelle Books taught you reflected?
Most definitely. My drag mother is undeniably, one of the most legendary queens to ever do drag and I think that her resume and her accolades speak for themselves. I think that Chevelle has taught me so much as an entertainer, but so much also as a functioning member of society. I feel like that is honestly what changes my perception and how I go about doing things. Chevelle is my drag mother, but I also consider her my mother period. One of the most important lessons she has taught me is “Who gives a fuck what people think about you baby. Go do your big one, do what makes you happy and as long as you’re not hurting anyone, it always works out.” I think that is one of the biggest things that you can do to succeed on “Drag Race.”
Speaking of the Brooks family, you had an extended member of the Brooks family in your bracket with Season 2 superstar Nicole Paige Brooks returning to the competition after 15 years and instantly expecting the Brooks lineage to be something the two of you bonded over and benefited from.
(Laughs) I live for the delusion, she’s the “other” Brooks. The way that my drag grandmother Kelexis Davenport says it, it always makes me laugh, “When you open the phone book, there are a whole bunch of Davenports, it doesn’t mean that they’re all related” and that’s how I look at it with the Brooks’. We’re in the phone book and we’re not related.
One of the facets about having a smaller group of girls made it a bit easier for you to focus on one of your competitors to perhaps try to get in their heads. It was clear that you and Tina Burner were going to bump heads the moment you stepped into the Werk Room, is that fair to say?
Tina Burner definitely felt a demonic presence when we walked in. With the girls, I always say, I’m a wild card. I don’t even know what I'm always gonna do or say so you gotta watch out.
Tina seemed to approach you first, but that might have proved to be a mistake in the long term.
The thing is, I have to feel the energy. I think Tina thought she was the biggest girl in the room size-wise so she thought she was going to be the HBIC and come and check me, but all you did was put the target on your back my love.
The way that you figured out how to not only have both Nicole Paige Brooks and Tina Burner give their own points away in the beginning of the bracket, to giving Lydia B. Kollins your point at the end of the bracket (and not Kerri Colby), you would be hard pressed to find a queen that can compete in this bracket-style “All Stars” as brilliantly as you.
Let me tell you something, my mind works a million miles a minute. I cannot be left to my own devices because my strategy with anything is to have no strategy. I am such an impulsive, in the moment person. The thing is, people cannot stop discussing my face crack during the first episode not lip syncing to “Love Sensation.” What pissed me off the most is that I was there to win the crown and win period. In that moment, I was like, “Fuck, if we’re not in the top that means we’re in the bottom. That means no points.” While the other girls are living and laughing to their performance, I’m doing the math in my head, the mental gymnastics. The only answer was “you gotta fuck these girls over.”
I’m also in a different situation than most of the girls. At this point, I have traveled and these girls have seen my original season. None of these girls are going to trust me baby, I have one chance to do my big one. I think in that moment, that is what made the most sense to me and I have no regrets.
Returning for “All Stars” is a major decision for anyone, but how do you think returning to a tournament style “All Stars” both helped and hindered you?
Regardless of how it was going to be played, I think that “All Stars” was always going to be fun and games for me. I say that because we all want to win and the crown is the end goal most of the time, for me it always is. I think going back to “All Stars” for me was going back to make great TV. I think that is what is most different than the first time around for me.
I'm coming in knowing who Mistress is and what the fans want from me. I'm here to give great TV. When I heard it was going to be a different format, a tournament style I was beyond excited. It's the first to be done and no one is going to do it the way that I did it; I think that was both positive and negative. We are kind of learning the ropes as we go and are the “guinea pigs.” In that same breath, it gives us the opportunity to fuck people over with the points because they don't know what to expect.
That said, how do you know what to expect in some circumstances? You said on the runway that you knew what Kerri Colby would do when she didn't give you her point.
Let me tell you something, I am a pageant girl. I may not have competed in a lot of pageants, but I am a watcher, in anything I do in life. It's harder now, but people kind of know my personality from watching me on TV and YouTube. When people first meet me most of the time they think I’m shy, but I'm not shy, I'm a watcher. In any social situation, I will watch everyone and then I'll interact. I think when it comes to competition, you have to let your competitors go about it. We’re together so long filming “Drag Race” that after a while, you will see how people move and operate and then use it to your advantage.
What was it like being in a bracket with someone like Nicole Paige Brooks who had not been on the show in well over a decade, or Lydia B. Kollins, who literally just wrapped up Season 17? It must have been surreal.
You know, I love Nicole Page Brooks, that woman is unwell. One of the most exciting things about our bracket airing is that I was telling everyone that they were finally going to get to experience this woman that harassed me all summer long. I was excited to see Nicole there, but I would not say that Nicole was competing, Nicole was definitely in the room with us (laughs).
I just think that it is one of these things where the style of drag and the way that she goes about things is just so different from how the “Drag Race” stratosphere works nowadays. Often times, I would find myself a little saddened for her because Nicole is such a sickening drag queen. I just think she really couldn’t keep up some of the time on “Drag Race” with us. It was one of those things where I almost wish it wasn’t the point system because i think if it had been regular “All Stars,” I think I would have helped her a little bit more.
Seeing you with your bracket was wonderfully chaotic, but at the same time, you took Lydia B. Kollins under your wing and truly tried to help her succeed. What was it about Lydia that made you kind of take her under your wing?
To be honest, I think a lot of it happened to be off camera. I'll never forget the first day that I met her, you have to remember we all kind of knew each other, all of us in the bracket. That is what is so different about “All Stars” everyone is a little familiar, we’ve worked together, we’ve seen each other at gigs, we’ve done tours together, and Lydia is coming not just fresh off her season. She is fresh meat and none of us knew who she was. When the camera cut down, I remember she was so nervous. We went to the bathroom and I was getting out of drag after our first runway and she was like, “I’m such a big fan, I love you so much, I really don’t know anyone here.” I remember, I just told her, “Girl it doesn’t matter who you know and who you don’t know. You’re here now so you better do your big one and stop acing like a pussy; you better get it together.”
After that moment, I realized she was scared, so I decided to help her. I think that is when I opened up a little bit more and I got her more involved in the conversation. I think that's when she got more involved in the conversation and realized that the evil monster likes me! I honestly have a soft spot for people like that because I think Lydia is very real and I gravitate towards people that are not afraid to say how they feel and if they are little bit nervous, they say it; I always appreciate it. I'm a very protective person, that’s why I'm Motha!
Follow Mistress Isabelle Brooks on Instagram @mistressisabellebrooks
