RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World fans were in for a shock during the latest episode when winning queen Tia Kofi opted to save her UK sister Gothy Kendoll and eliminated Dutch powerhouse Keta Minaj instead.
Although Keta had been in the bottom two the previous week, the Dutch drag queen had previously been in the top two and had been impressing the judges with her flawless outfits, while Gothy’s latest look was criticised as too “safe” for the competition.
However, exclusively opening up to HELLO! following her elimination, Keta admitted that she felt it was her “time” to exit the competition. “I wanted to show myself and be that fierce queen and go to the end, but it was not meant to be,” she told us.
“I had the feeling this was my time, with it being my second time in the bottom, you can’t be that lucky twice. If I was Tia, I would have done the same, get rid of a strong competitor, keep your friend, look good for the UK and save the alliance. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
© Guy LevyOn the prospect of a UK alliance, which seemed in shatters at the start of the episode with Tia revealing she would have eliminated fellow UK queen Jonbers Blonde the week before, Keta joked: “I think there was a UK alliance, but not maybe all the UK girls were included.”
Keta was eliminated from the competition following her impersonation of American actress and comedian Fran Drescher in the show’s iconic ‘Snatch Game’ challenge. On Drag Race Holland, Keta had won the challenge, but she admitted that she was carrying nerves when performing on UK vs the World.
© Guy Levy“In Drag Race Holland, I was really prepared, but this time I was less prepared because I was so focused on making my looks,” the performer admitted. “The preparation for the show was so intense, and I had difficulty with time management. I wish I had a little bit more time, especially given there are nerves and mental breakdowns and anxiety that plays along.
“I thought: ‘I’m gonna wing this and I’m gonna kill this’, but it doesn’t work like that when you’re in front of RuPaul. There was one moment that Gothy and I were looking each other in the eyes going: ‘We are sucking so bad’. We didn’t say anything, but our eyes were saying to each other: ‘Oh, my God, this is horrible’.”
© Guy LevyWhen pressed on whether she wished she’d followed La Grande Dame or Marina Summers in impersonating someone from their home country, Keta admitted that one of her plans had been screen icon Audrey Hepburn, who has Dutch heritage.
Explaining how she would have portrayed the silver screen starlet, Keta explained: “She comes across as very poised and maybe a bit shy and I think you can make that very funny. If you do the research and get the jokes in there, but the same can be said for Fran Drescher. If I prepared it a little bit better I could have made her funny, instead it was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was like an out of body experience I could see myself like: ‘Girl what are you doing?'”
© Guy LevyKeta had ended up in the bottom two the previous week after her immersive experience didn’t translate to the judges, but explaining her vision to HELLO! the star said: “I wanted to transform the Brit Crew into a drag queen. My intention was to give him a ‘Keta Morphosis’ and go from this gorgeous man to this gorgeous drag queen. I also wanted to integrate Amsterdam and Van Gogh’s paintings. We would paint, and then we would roll, and then bam, he’s a gorgeous drag queen.”
While many international Drag Race franchises are still going strong, Drag Race Holland hasn’t aired since 2021, and Keta expressed a hope for a third series.
© Guy LevySpeaking about the Dutch drag scene, the star shared: “We have a lot of ‘look queens’ here in Holland, but it’s very diverse. This time, I wasn’t able to show the spontaneous and outgoing side of myself that we have in the Dutch drag scene because it’s very vibrant, very fun, very diverse and there’s always a big party when you go to a drag show in Holland.”
Keta even had a dream cast list, naming Miss Cartier, Roseè Sheneè Plastique, The Kameleon, Stevie Stunner and Licka Lolly as possible contenders.
© Guy LevyAnd asked whether she would compete on Drag Race again, the star joked: “I need to redeem this, because everybody now knows that I can pull looks, but I also can pull a fierce Snatch Game. This time, I was a reindeer in headlights, I was a scared little witch.“
RELATED: Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha reveals why Drag Race experience made her want to ‘puke’
READ: Drag Race star The Vivienne reveals whether she would return to show – exclusive
