Watch: Here’s How the Drag Race Queens Actually Voted for Miss Congeniality Monét X Change won the coveted title, but here's what the queens really had to say. On Thursday last week, Aquaria was crowned the winner of the 10th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Monét X Change won Miss Congeniality. Related | The Newly-Crowned Aquaria Looks Back at a Drag Race Dream Come True While the vote is usually decided by the fans, the queens actually voted this year due to an online hacking issue, as Gay Times mentioned. Who did the queens actually vote for? Watch the video below to find out.<doc-sep>The finale of RuPaul's Drag Race season 10 was aired last Thursday. (Netflix) The library was very much open at the Drag Race Season 10 finale. RuPaul took advantage of the live RuPaul’s Drag Race finale to throw a ton of shade towards the White House. Addressing the Los Angeles audience, RuPaul said: “Here in the House of RuPaul, everybody is welcome. There ain’t no walls here to divide us. There’s only love. “Now, let’s say it loud enough that they can hear us in Washington DC. Everybody say love!” RuPaul quipped: “Now drive that down Pennsylvania Avenue and get your ass outta here!” The show also included footage of Drag Race fans holding ‘Sashay Away Trump’ and ‘Lock Him Up’ signs at a Pride event during a montage. Elsewhere RuPaul referenced alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election – after the online poll to decide the winner of the Miss Congeniality award was disrupted by fans who used bots to cast millions of votes for The Vixen. RuPaul explained: “I have some breaking news. The online election to decide Miss Congeniality was made null and void due to outside interference. “But unlike those other shady elections, we’re doing something about it! “We decided to have Season 10 queens vote and decide which queen they want to be Miss Congeniality.” Scroll down for spoilers. The winner of Miss Congeniality was Monet X Change. Meanwhile Aquaria took the $100,000 grand prize and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar. Four finalists lip-synced for their lives during the grand finale on Thursday, but Aquaria overcame them all to be crowned champion. Kameron Michaels, Aquaria, Asia O’Hara and Eureka all battled to become season 10 champion but it was Aquaria who stole the show. There were plenty of guest surprises in the finale with video messages from Oprah Winfrey, Dame Judi Dench and Finty Williams. All four finalists had twists and turns in their journey to the season 10 finale. After pulling out of season nine with a knee injury, Eureka made her comeback this season but at the start she was stifled by PTSD linked to the mishap. While Kameron Michaels was underrated by the other girls for much of the competition and her label as “the quiet one” left the judges asking for more. Asia O’Hara had an emotional connection to the series and almost faltered by being “too motherly” when sewing for the other girls instead of putting herself first. O’Hara explained to the other contestants how she lost both of her parents at a young age and that drag was now her family. At only twenty-two years old Aquaria was often overlooked as “dumb” and “naive”, but she sailed through the competition without ever reaching the bottom two. Throughout the series she was criticised for “not having a personality”, especially from New York rival Miz Cracker. The season was also controversial with the themes of race and discrimination being paramount throughout. During her time on the show, The Vixen opened discussions about being black within the drag world and within its fan base. On the Reunion episode of the show The Vixen walked off set after an argument with RuPaul and Eureka, when tensions from the show were being discussed. RuPaul responded to the outburst and said: “There was nothing anyone could do to stop her.”<doc-sep>So first of all, congrats on Miss Congeniality. What does it mean to have that sort of validation from your sisters? It puts more of a value on who I really am as a person. Now that the show is so big, some queens will come in thinking, “What are the fans gonna think, or how are people gonna think about this?” I did not go into that mindset -- I went in, tried to be as honest about who I am as a person. And that's laughing; that's being able to take jokes about myself, and -- as you know -- make fun of other people, but in a silly way. With the whole bot thing with online, the Miss Congeniality voting got kinda fucked up. So as you saw, we ended up having to vote amongst ourselves. And honestly, that's how most pageants do it; the girls vote for Miss Congeniality. So I'm happy that my sisters think that I was very congenial and I was a sweetheart through and through, because that is really how I am in the world. Can you speak more about this bot thing? What happened with the voting? I mean, I don't know, listen -- I don't f--k with technology. Apparently there was some type of interference. You know, it's probably some 11-year-old kid on his grandmother's iPad. And it just fucked up the goddamn vote, you know what I mean? I had jumped from, apparently, 100,000 to 800,000 [fan votes] in two seconds, to a big number like 18 million. So I think that Viacom and the powers that be realized that it was ridiculous and they did it the right way by letting the girls vote and I think that's how it should be going forward always: the girls should vote for who should be Miss Congeniality. Totally. May I ask who you voted for? I voted for Monique Heart. I thought that Monique was always someone who wore her heart on her sleeve in the competition. And, you know, some of the show is very strenuous, and to have people like Monique and myself and Asia, who would just fill the room with energy because -- yeah, we're here to win $100,000 and make TV, but we're also there to have fun. This is an experience that none of us will likely ever get to relive again, so why not relish in that moment and have fun as much as possible? And that's what the three of us strived to do as much as possible while doing the show. And I think that showed to our other competing sisters and to the people at home. Did you know that Asia O'Hara was gonna bring out a sponge during her finale performance? I did not, girl! I gagged when she pulled out that sponge and she was soaking it up on stage and then she saw me sitting at the front and threw it at me and I picked it up. It was so cute that she did that. Can we talk about that? She said that that sponge is good luck, and you went home when you didn't have a sponge on you, correct? Yes, girl. And then she threw the sponge into the audience and we had butterflygate. Do you think the sponge could have saved the butterflies? Sponges are definitely a good omen, girl, and when you alleviate your body of the sponge you let fortune take control. It's the luck of the draw, girl. What was it like being in the audience, watching your friend’s reveal go wrong? Asia is a legendary pageant queen. She is known for pulling out these really intricate and crazy numbers that she has snatched crowns and trophies for. So I think that it was just the time and place and I guess the butterflies may have had a little stage fright and it didn't go according to plan, but Asia is a very smart person. I think it was just a misstep and just some I's weren't dotted and some T's weren't crossed to make sure it would go over as well as she wanted it to. I mean, personally had it been me, and the song was [Janet Jackson’s] "Nasty," I would've done something a little more nastier -- like I would've put a bucket of slime in my pussy and then do a cooter slammer and just have green ooze all over the stage. I mean that would've been real nasty. That's so good. Totally 360 here, but your season 10 sisters weren't the only people that gave you validation. You tweeted that you had a phone call from your mother recently. Can you tell me about that? Yes! I was filming some stuff for my new YouTube series I Feel Skinny and we were coming back from the shoot, and I missed a call from my mom. She doesn't usually call me on weekdays, it'll be the weekend. But yeah, she was just telling me about how in her group chat with her friends, she got this video that I did for Ru and everyone was like, "Do we know who this person is?" and she watched the video. And she was like, "Oh my God! That's Kevin." Even though I had told her, "Yeah mom, I'm doing RuPaul's Drag Race on VH1,” I guess it just didn't click on what it was. So then when she actually saw me in drag in this video, she started looking up the show, and she started reading-up about Monét X Change and all that stuff. So she told me she wants me to know that she's proud of what I'm doing and that she loves me and I'm doing a good job. It was just a really sweet moment and sweet words to hear from my very conservative -- my mom is like a spitfire, like a very straight shooter all at the same time. She does not mince words, so to hear her express her love for me so sweetly and so serenely, it was so genuine. That’s beautiful -- I’m glad you had that moment. I'm not going to make you rehash your beef with Azealia Banks, but I am curious: a year ago, you wouldn't have been on her radar. Is it weird that you're able to get into these beefs that news outlets cover? You know, it is weird, but I think it's good because often times certain people in our community don't have the voices -- or don't have the verified check mark to do so, you know what I mean? So the fact that I can directly access Azealia Banks and call her out on her bullshit and be like, "Hey, so girl, we've loved and supported you for all these years, how dare you!" And I think I echoed what so many people in our community wanted to say to her and want her to see; but because they don't have a little blue check mark on their profiles, she may not necessarily see it. So I am totally happy to represent the voices in our community as best as I know how. Now listen, I don't always say the right thing, and I'm wrong a whole lot of the time, but when I am right, I'm happy to be a voice for our community. You’re a classically trained singer and you released your debut single “Soak It Up.” Are you going to be following that up with more music? Yes! I am starting to work on an EP that I'm very excited about. Music has been a part of my life for a very long time, so I'm very excited to have my audience see more facets of Monét which involve music. And not just necessarily pop or R&B or disco, but other genres. Different types of genres inspired me in high school and in middle school and in college so I'm happy to share those things with my supporters.<doc-sep>
It was very sad. I know the majority of the girls on this season saw Asia as a fantastic example of a drag queen, and someone who was rightfully deserving of the crown. To watch that as people who know her and know her good intentions with something like that was very sad. That's just clearly not the way she meant for things to go. Accidents happen and all of that, but it's how we pick ourselves up from the accidents that matters. Your win was almost overshadowed by Asia O'Hara's lip sync butterfly fiasco in terms of social media reaction to the finale. What was that like to watch in real life? I've definitely not processed it yet, and I'm overwhelmed with excitement for my future and the future of my career. And very grateful for everything that RuPaul, VH1, and the fans have afforded me over the past year. But it's slowly but surely starting to click. I'm walking down the street and people are congratulating me who I've never seen in my life, so it's kind of fun. I was definitely shocked, because no matter what you expect – to watch in real time, I was speechless and not sure how to deal with my emotions. I had so many emotions I almost had no emotions. But you have to go into the competition thinking you're going to win or you really might not win. For me I was like, "If I do not see the finish line and see myself crossing it, I will never make it to the finish line." It just feels freaking fantastic. You entered the season with a lot of confidence. When you won, was it like, "Yeah, this is what I expected," or were you shocked? We got to meet your parents on the finale. Were they always supportive of you and you being a drag queen? For me, my parents were always supportive of me whether I was a bowler of a dishwasher or a drag queen. As long as I was good at whatever I was doing and enjoyed whatever I was doing, they were supportive of it. So for me to drop out of school and find being a drag queen as my profession, most of their reaction was like, "All right, are you gonna be happy? Are you gonna be able to afford your rent and whatnot with that? Okay, fine." As long as those boxes were checked they were like, "Okay, here we are. You're good, do it, turn it." I feel like affording rent is no longer a problem for you. You know what, I don't think so. We should be fine for at least another year or two. Did you see anyone getting further this season than they did? Mayhem Miller was one of those people, because when I walked into the Werk Room I was excited to see her because I was a huge fan or her work and I was like, "Oh bitch, now I'm gonna have to really step it up to beat her," because I saw her as top 4 with me. She is a well-rounded and polished queen and I would have loved to see more of her drag. Did anything surprise you in the editing about yourself? The way you look or act or anything? No, for me, I kept a journal of everything that happened on the show so I would remember in between filming and everything airing. Most, if not all, of the content shown from the show, I stand by the editing and whatever the story line of it was. It truly is what happened. I don't think there are a lot of instances where people get some shady edit that they didn't already given themselves in real life. What do you think is the biggest misconception about the show that fans have? I feel like in the same vein as your previous question, a lot of people like to claim the edit for some things or try to perceive the show as biased to one queen or another. At the end of the day, the show is going to be the show no matter who wins. They're not looking for a big girl to win or a twink to win, the show is just the competition as it presents itself; the people who continue to succeed in challenges will continue to progress.