Drag Race Down Under star Max Drag Queen has opened up about how “difficult” it was to mourn the death of her mother on such a public stage.
The 25-year-old Melbourne Queen, who spoke to Ny Breaking Australia on Friday after her elimination, lost her mother just a month before filming for the Stan series began.
Max broke down in tears about the grief during episode three, saying it was a “heavy” feeling during the grieving process during a publicized drag competition.
“It’s definitely a unique experience that I found myself in,” she said.
“It’s something that I don’t think a lot of people necessarily take into account when considering prep work for Drag Race.
“I don’t think they’re thinking about it when they’re clearly not showing us going back to our hotel rooms at night. They don’t show us in the low moments.’
Drag Race Down Under star Max Drag Queen, 25, (pictured) has told how ‘difficult’ it was to mourn the death of her mother on such a public stage
She added, “They don’t think about it, even in the story world after episode three where I talk about it, how that grief can still affect that person.
‘It’s really tough. It was difficult to navigate.”
Max went on to say that she was “very grateful” to have fellow queen Vybe by her side, “who was someone who held my hand throughout the entire Snatch Game.”
As for episode three, where producers spotlighted the “story” of Max’s grief when she broke down in tears while preparing for the runway, Max said she decided to rewatch it.
“I was warned in advance that it might be difficult to rewatch this particular episode. It was hard to watch everything [the season] back,” she said.
“I have a very unique space where I look at how I grieved and the person I was while I was grieving… It’s sad. It’s sad in the end.’
To this day, Max still questions whether it was the right decision to enter Drag Race Down Under so soon after her mother’s death.
‘I still don’t really have an answer as to whether I should have done it or not. “I’ll probably never get the answer to know if this was the right time for me to do it or not,” she said.
The Melbourne Queen who spoke to Ny Breaking Australia on Friday after her elimination lost her mother just a month before filming for the Stan series began
“I think unfortunately it’s just something I have to make peace with. I’ve considered quitting and eliminating myself a few times.
“But I had a really good cast reminding me to keep going and that they would be with me. God, I felt like crying just thinking about the love those girls gave me.”
Max was sent home during episode six on Friday night after failing to impress the judges during the acting Maxi Challenge.
While she killed it on the catwalk with her drenched Liquid Dreams look, Max struggled to come out of her shell during the soap opera challenge Platypussies on Fire.
Judges Michelle Visage and Rhys Nicholson, as well as guest judges Isis Avis Loren and Matt Okine, all agreed that Max was a ’10/10 on the catwalk’.
However, when it came to the Maxi Challenge, comedian Rhys, 34, said Max tended to confuse ‘funny with loud’, adding that her performance was ‘not a slam dunk’.
“It was just one note. There have to be levels,” agreed host Michelle, 56.
“I wanted to see you respond to what Rhys told you in a different way, so you could show us those different sides of Max, the actress.”
As Max failed to impress the judges, she was asked to lip sync for her life for the second week in a row, this time against Nikita Iman.
Last week Max sent Brenda Bressed home when they ended up in the bottom two together.