RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
Register
Advertisement
RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki

Michelle Visage (born Michelle Lynn Shupack) is an American singer, television host, radio DJ, author, and television personality. She is a regular judge on RuPaul's Drag Race (since Season 3), RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under and RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World as well as the host of Whatcha Packin', a web series where she interviews the queen that has been eliminated that week in the competition. She was also a guest judge on Season 1 of Canada's Drag Race. She is set to become the host of Season 4 of Drag Race Down Under after RuPaul announced he would not return to host the franchise.

Biography[]

Her career began when she auditioned for and won a place in Seduction, an R&B and dance vocal trio assembled by Robert Clivilles and David Cole and that signed with A&M Records in 1990. The group had several pop and dance hits, including "Two to Make It Right". After the group's breakup, Visage collaborated with freestyle dance act TKA as a guest vocalist on the song "Crash (Have Some Fun)".[citation needed]

In 1992, she provided lead vocals to another dance act assembled by Clivilles & Cole, The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. song "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day", a cover version of the Bill Withers song "Lovely Day", was included on the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Bodyguard and became a #1 dance single that year, peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 early the next year.[citation needed]

In 1996 Visage became the co-host of RuPaul's VH1 talk shows The RuPaul Show. She also co-hosted RuPaul on WKTU's morning show from 1996–2002. She has also hosted such television programming as VH1's red carpet coverage of the 1998 Grammys and, in 2002, Grease's 25th-anniversary re-release party.[citation needed]

Visage was co-host of The Jamz Session on Hot 92 Jamz (KHHT) in Los Angeles from 2002–2005. In 2005, she returned to New York City where she served as co-host of The Morning Mix on WNEW-FM until December 2006. During the latter part of 2006, she was also heard on Sirius Satellite Radio's The Beat 36 but left Sirius. On March 12, 2007, she became a co-host of the morning show on SUNNY 104.3 in West Palm Beach, Florida. On January 10, 2011, she joined 93.9 MIA in Miami as the host of the new MIA Morning Show on 93.9 MIA in Miami; she left Miami and WMIA in December 2011 and moved back to Los Angeles. On January 24, 2011, Visage debuted as the second permanent judge on the Logo TV's reality-television series RuPaul's Drag Race, where she replaced former judge Merle Ginsberg, as well as appearing alongside Ru on RuPaul's Drag Race UK as a regular judge. She was also on Celebrity Big Brother Season 15 and placed fifth. She was a judge on Ireland's Got Talent for its two-season run from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, she was a contestant on the seventeenth season of UK dance contest Strictly Come Dancing, being paired with Giovanni Pernice and coming in seventh place.[citation needed]

Memorable Quotes[]

  • "Bitch, you're here!"
  • "Stop relying on that body!"
  • "Eloquent."
  • "THEEESE are breasts!" -To Alexis Mateo, critiquing her costume in Season 3
  • "I push up my boobs for Jesus."
  • "And you get some boobs, and YOU get some boobs, AND YOU GET SOME BOOBS!!!"
  • "My tits so high, they choking me."
  • "Label Whore." -To Willam
  • "I'm so fucking proud of you I could shit." -To Shangela
  • "I'm not as old as you wanted to make me, bitch." -To Sharon Needles about her Snatch Game performance as Michelle
  • "I hate the Oprah Winfrey Network."
  • "Square up, cunty." -To Jinkx Monsoon
  • "We've gone from Doritos to soot."
  • "Is that a prosthetic nose?"
  • "Did you forget who you are? You're a boy wearin' a dress, bitch!" (From Johnny McGovern's "Hey Qween!")
  • "*Finger wag* No." -To Kandy Ho, in Season 7, for having a contour that looked like a beard
  • "No, no you talk like this! This is how you talk!" -To Laganja Estranja, in Season 6, for being fake and inauthentic during the comedy challenge
  • "*While banging gavel* Order in the court! ORDER IN THE COURT!"
  • "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, or something like the truth, so help you Jon Bon Jovi?" -During Jersey Justice
  • "Obviously Jewish."
  • "This is my court bitch."
  • "Watch your fucking language, you kiss your mother with that fucking mouth?" -To Monét X Change during Jersey Justice
  • "Miss Vanjie..."
  • "Don't worry Ru, I'll always be your breast Judy."
  • "She's performing a solo act."
  • "You've got prosthesis" -To The Vivienne, thinking she was wearing a fake nose
  • ”Gurl, that’s a bubble butt!”
  • "Fart humor, yeah?" -To Rock M. Sakura
  • “Baby Gott Mik!” -To Gottmik about her “new single on iTunes”
  • "Calm down." -To Beverly Kills when she called herself a rapstress
  • "Black Peppa, I'm White Salt. Nice to meet you." -To Black Peppa during the first episode critiques
  • "No, obviously!" - To RuPaul after he asked Just May if they work in makeup
  • “They look like, you know Fisher Price ‘My First Boobs’” - To Sapphira Cristál about her breastplate in Episode 1

Trivia[]

  • Michelle became involved in the production of RuPaul's Drag Race as an associate producer beginning in Season 8. She was promoted to co-producer in Season 9, producer in Season 11, and senior producer in Season 14.[1]
    • In a similar vein, Michelle became an associate producer of All Stars beginning in All Stars 2. She became a co-producer in All Stars 3, producer in All Stars 5, and senior producer in All Stars 7.[1]
    • She is additionally credited as a producer on all seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World, as well as on Whatcha Packin' beginning in Season 14.[1]
  • Michelle Visage is the longest-serving Drag Race judge other than Ru herself, having appeared on the panel for all US, UK, and Down Under seasons other than US seasons 1 and 2.
    • Michelle Visage made her Drag Race debut in Season 3. Since then, the only episode Michelle has not appeared on as a judge was Season 12 Episode 9 (Choices 2020) as she was in the UK rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing. She did, however, appear in the episode as a reporter for the queens' debate.
  • Michelle Visage is well-known on Drag Race for her dislike of the colour green, queens wearing the same hair colour throughout the competition (e.g. Max), queens wearing the same makeup throughout the competition and queens gluing materials to a corset in a design challenge (e.g. Aiden Zhane).
  • Michelle Visage has two daughters, Lillie and Lola, with her husband David Case, and they live in California.
  • The only English-language Drag Race spin-off Michelle Visage has not appeared on is Drag U.
  • The only time Michelle Visage has appeared on Drag Race without RuPaul was on Canada's Drag Race, when she guest hosted the Snow Ball.
  • Michelle Visage is the only Drag Race regular judge to have one of her songs lip-synced while she was on the panel, when Detox and Coco Montrese lip-synced to her former group Seduction's song "Two to Make It Right" during the makeover challenge on Season 5.
    • Detox and Michelle lip-synced together during the performance, and she sent Coco home as a result of the lipsync.
    • Another of Michelle's songs was lip-synced to on Drag Race, nine years after the first instance, on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under where Hannah Conda and Molly Poppinz lip-synced to her song "Heartbreak in This City" with Steps.
  • In 2020 Michelle Visage presented the BBC Three series How's Your Head, Hun? detailing her life in lockdown with her family as well as interviewing guests such as Jade Thirlwall.
  • Michelle Visage has said in the past that she would be open to hosting her own drag competition show for female performers.
    • Since this statement numerous trans women have competed on the show, as well as one cisgender woman, Victoria Scone.
  • Ru actually asked Michelle Visage to judge Drag Race for Season 1 but her employer at her radio station at the time refused to give her the time off, which she later put down to homophobia in an interview with Hey Qween, and Merle Ginsberg was given the role instead. When Merle left after Season 2 she was asked again and asked the executives at the broadcaster of the radio station, who agreed to let her have time off to film the show.
  • Michelle Visage co-hosts the podcast What's the Tee? with RuPaul, and they often record episodes during breaks in filming on Drag Race.
  • Michelle Visage was famous for her breast implants when she joined Drag Race but has since had them removed, citing her experience with Hashimoto's disease.
  • Michelle Visage's first book, The Diva Rules, was published in 2015.
    • Michelle's outfit for the cover was given to her by Raja, who also did her makeup.[2]
  • In 2019 and 2020 Michelle presented the series Michelle Visage's Fabulous Divas on BBC Radio 2, and in October 2020 guest hosted Rylan on Saturday for Rylan Clark-Neal.
  • Michelle Visage has appeared on a variety of reality and panel shows in the UK, including Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Big Brother, Glow Up, The X Factor, Celebrity Juice, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and The Only Way is Essex. She was also a judge on both seasons of Ireland's Got Talent.
  • Nicole Falkner also known as LipstickNick is Michelle’s makeup artist for Rupaul’s Drag Race, Whatcha Packin and many more events. Although, it is unknown how long she has done her makeup. On the other hand, her hairstylist is Craig Marsden.
    • However during RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, her makeup artist was MakeupwithLeyla.
  • Michelle Visage said that if she could, she would have judged in every single installment of the Drag Race franchise.[3]
    • Michelle Visage even texted the producers at World of Wonder to see if she could be part of the judging panel of Drag Race España as she was taking Spanish classes during lockdown. However, World of Wonder turned down the idea.[3]
  • Michelle Visage has said before and on Season 14 that she was adopted. In later years, she met with her biological mother and has come to terms with the decision her mother had to make on an early age.
  • Michelle Visage's favorite lip-sync is Anetra vs. Marcia Marcia Marcia, to Boss Bitch by Doja Cat.
  • Michelle was added to the Season Pass of RuPaul's Drag Race Superstar in December 2023, alongside the tag "Jersey".
  • Michelle will be starring in the 2024 London Paladium production of The Addams Family as Morticia Addams.[4]

Gallery[]

Gallery pic
Check out the lookbook gallery to see Michelle's looks from each episode.

Videos[]

Discography[]

Bibliography[]

Title Release Date Cover
The Diva Rules November 10, 2015
The Diva Rules

References[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
Advertisement