Source: Santiago Felipe / Getty
One of the shows that has brought me much comfort during the quarantine has been
Rupaul’s Drag Race.
The 12th season of the drag queen reality show has been my Friday essential winedown and my favorite contestant has been none other than
Jaida Essence Hall! Milwaukee native,
Jared Johnson, is the perfect blend of country Midwestern tendencies and diva glam lewks when he is on the drag queen stage. Sis, is GORGEOUS, her waist is snatched and that face is beat. Not to mention, she is hilarious!
Every week, I am crying with laughter watching her in these challenges, especially the presidential debate skit. That “look over there!” killed me every time:
But it was last week’s episode where
Whoopi Goldberg was a judge, where we saw Jared show his softer side:
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“I don’t want to get emotional, but, when Ru told us you would be here, it was miraculous because, preparing to come here, I constantly would listen to
The Color Purple soundtrack,” a tearful Jaida told Goldberg, talking about the iconic 1985 film Goldberg was in and was nominated for an Oscar.
“This competition is almost exactly like the journey of Celie in the movie. You go through all of these really hard times, but, on the other side of it, there’s so much joy. So, it’s like a sign to me that you would be here today.”
Baby, that later hug was real.
“For Whoopi to make that kind of connection with me is everything right now,” Jaida says later in confessional. “I feel like it’s a huge sign that maybe something good is going to happen, or maybe that’s a sign I’m going home. I don’t know!”
Take a look:
You gotta love that vulnerability.
Here he is, showing us the face and the alter ego for Cosmo:
It’s also important to note that now that the contestants have whittled down to the final five, with Jaida surviving last week’s lip-sync for her life, she is the last Black contestant left, so we wanted to celebrate this divine beauty, fierce queen and #BlackGirlMagic with all of her winning looks.
Good luck JAIDA!
