Yahoo Movies RuPaul's Drag Race's Maddy Morphosis was blindsided by casting backlash
RuPaul's Drag Race star Maddy Morphosis has spoken about the backlash she received after joining the show.
The queen is the first heterosexual contestant to be featured on the show, with some fans airing their annoyance the move had happened when female and trans contestants are still fairly rare.
"I've been doing drag for about five years or so," Morphosis said to Out.
"There's always been some reaction from people when they find out I was straight, but it was always just kind of like, 'Oh, you are? Okay cool.'
"There was never any issue, no one ever said anything, and I've done shows, pageants all over the place."
She continued: "Going into the show, I thought it was gonna be, you know, a little blip, a little fun fact.
"I had no idea it was gonna be the topic of so much discussion and such a polarising thing for people. Definitely not what I anticipated."
Morphosis did get some public support from season 13 finalist Gottmik, the show's first trans-male contestant.
"When I first got announced on the show, I was flooded with people who did not think I should be on the show or I shouldn't be doing drag," they said.
"Drag is for everyone. It's an art form. It's not about your identity."
Maddy previously explained how she got into drag, saying: "The people I met, and the experiences I had helped me understand more about gender and sexuality, what it meant to me, and where I fit in with everything.
"Doing drag the past [five] years has given me even more opportunities to further explore my own identity, and also understand more about others'."
"I'm not here to show the world that 'straight guys can do drag'," she added.
"For anyone saying that I'm representing an underrepresented group, I appreciate you, but straight men are not a persecuted and excluded group within the drag community.
"I've always felt welcomed in every drag space I've entered... But I know many entertainers who have been discriminated against for being AFAB, trans, POC and more."
RuPaul's Drag Race US airs on VH1 in the US, and season 14 episodes premiere on WOW Presents Plus in the UK at 4am every Saturday.
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