Sharon Needles Crowned Queen On 'Rupaul's Drag Race'

by uInterviewMay 1, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

Season Four of Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race pitted the ultimate winner against some stiff competition from Chad Michaels and Phi Phi O'Hara, but "drag racer" Sharon Needles, 30, beat them both out, it was revealed during Monday night's reunion episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, when RuPaul honored Needles with the title America's Next Drag Superstar.

The final contestants were kept in the dark about who would win until the reunion episode was aired, reports EW. Each of them — Michaels, O'Hara, and Needles taped an alternate ending in which she had been the winner. The subterfuge is not something that fazed ultimate RuPaul's Drag Race winner Needles, however. "Being a drag queen is all about pulling out the stops and freaking them out," Needles told the magazine. "With Season 4, it really was the season of teasers and shockers and, you know, just constantly asking the audience to expect the unexpected."

According to Needles, her victory as America's Next Drag Superstar was "unexpected" even for her. "I thought I was going to be hammy, funny, kind of punk and then go home second or third," she told TheInsider.com.

But it's exactly the way it should be. "I don't like poise and perfection. I don't care about backflips or fishy faces. I like drag queens who make a mess or a big scene. I'm constantly trying to make you laugh, or boo or feel offended. That's my kind of drag. When I said that, what I meant is that I am the mascot for outsider transgressional artists. But that just doesn't sound as good as, 'I'm the Future of Drag!'" she said.

RuPaul will return to Logo with Season Five of RuPaul's Drag Race in early 2013.