RuPaul Talks to Queerty About The Subversive Power Of His New Game Show ‘Gay For Play’

As you probably already know, Gay For Play Game Show starts this coming Monday, April 11 on Logo—right after a new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Mama RuPaul called up Queerty to discuss about the subversive undercurrent of game shows and why he doesn’t give a fuck about what people expect from him.

Queerty: You’ve riffed on Match Game with “Snatch Game” on Drag Race, and now you’re hosting your own game show. Have you always been into game shows?
RuPaul: I love ’em! I love the ones in the ’70s especially because they were so cheeky and irreverent and so much fun. They were also encoded — encrypted with a secret gay language that was so important to me growing up. There was always a wink-wink to gay aesthetic, which has so much to do with irreverence and making fun of how hypocritical and mediocre the world is.

They definitely had that campy quality that speaks to a gay audience.
Yeah, on the initial first layer it looks like camp. But actually it’s very important, especially for young people who feel disenfranchised, and feel like, Is anyone else recognizing that this is all bullshit? That’s how I was as a kid. I was thinking, Why is nobody talking about how this is all so mediocre and so bullshit? So these game shows, or anything that alluded to the ridiculousness of the world, I gravitated toward.

Obviously you’d destroy the competition if you were competing on Drag Race, but how do you think you’d do if you actually had to playGay for Play?
Oh, I’m really good with pop trivia! I’ve always had the ability to see everything—much to my own dismay! I pick up on everything. If I’m in a restaurant, I’m not only having a conversation with you, but I’m actually listening to everyone else’s conversations. I can’t help it. It’s a blessing and a curse. So in terms of pop culture, everything that you see, I see it too and then some.

Why is that dismaying to you? I feel like that would put you a step ahead over everyone else in general.
It has, but just like on Drag Race, sensitive souls who pick up on too much information end up blowing their circuitry. That’s the danger when you’re super sensitive to this world. You’ve got to learn a way to navigate and equalize your emotions. You’ve got to learn a practice to center and balance yourself when you’re picking up too much.