Shangela Quotes

She’s quite the professional, but I think the true Gaga – the magic of Gaga – is she knows how to dive into any element and really just be comfortable in her own skin.

I think everybody should have the right to do drag if they want to. Even if they look busted!

The drag scene in Miami has always been top notch to me.

I mean, who cannot name at least three of her songs that you‘ve broken a sweat to in the club? She’s also been such an ally and an advocate to the LGBTQ+ community for so many years when it wasn’t popular, and for that reason alone I say hats off, or should I say wigs off, to Madonna!

Lady Gaga is a professional, truly, and someone who I aspire to be like as an entertainer.

Life is about putting forth your best effort and showing up. When you show up to the gig fearlessly and put forth your best, who knows what could come of it?

Seeing RuPaul go out there and not only create music, but TV and film roles, and continue to go down so many creative avenues – that is inspirational. For a person of color like myself, I see RuPaul and I say, ‘Oh, honey, I can do it too.’

I think that’s what happens when drag starts to go mainstream: All of a sudden, you’re watching ‘The View‘ and there are three drag queens on there and it’s not a joke. Yes, we’re here, we’re queer and you better deal with it. ‘Cause we ain’t going nowhere.

When it comes to a lip sync, Kennedy Davenport is someone that, when I first turned 18, I was going to the clubs in Dallas, because I went to college there, seeing, and tipping, and would live. She’s the dancing diva of Texas.

It’s always been my dream, it’s always been my vision to work as an actor in Hollywood, in drag and out of drag.

I needed to get attention a lot of times – I’m a performer, that’s who I am.

Baby, everything I have I’ve worked for and gotten myself.

When I started in ‘Drag Race,’ I didn’t know anything about drag – my makeup was a mess, my hair was a mess, but I love what I was doing.

RuPaul’s Drag Race’ is the holy grail of drag.

I don’t have a sugar daddy, I’ve never had a sugar daddy.

I would love one day for us to all get in to drag together and all hang out. Wouldn’t that be fun, me and Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in drag skipping around the city?

I get a daily master class in Jenifer Lewis, and that’s been so special to me. If I haven‘t prepared for something, she’ll ball up the script and throw it at me. She’ll say, ‘You’re not ready for this! Go downstairs and work on it.’

I am Shangela, I’m a working girl professional who owns her truth.

I think going into any competition, you feel pressure.

I don’t have any problem with drag being more mainstream… I enjoy the fact that we’re moving toward a place where people are a lot more open.

I grew up as a little gay boy in Paris, Texas, which was a very conservative community and I had a strong religious background as well.

I not only went back to the ‘All Stars‘ gig for myself but also for my fans. I wanted them to see the story of even if you get knocked down, you get back up, you keep going and you can win.

I made it from Paris, Texas, to Paris on the Strip. Who else can say that?

I’ve always had the spirit of a survivor.

It’s not what color you are or how you fare with fans, it’s who you are and what personality you have.

Bradley Cooper was amazing as a director. Like you hope the director is nice, you hope they are cool, and he was at the top of the list.

On-stage I like to give people something that they will remember, something different but something electric.

Becoming a drag entertainer and really embracing that helped me to embrace who I was as a gay person even more.

If you can find your passion in life, hold on to that. Go for it and don’t be afraid to put in the work: things will work out for you.

As a ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ queen, I meet so many fans from so many walks of life.

My dream was always to come to Los Angeles and make it as an actor. I kind of just fell into drag.

I’m a work horse.

You never know where I’ll pop up, I’m Shangela, OK?

I’m the Nancy Drew of drag!

For someone with darker hair in the beard area that likes to sometimes sprout during a 14-hour drag day, I must have a thick, yet smooth foundation.

Every good look needs a storyline.

For me specifically, after travelling around the world I noticed that performers who had web shows had huge international popularity and that segued into a lot of events reaching out to book them.

Keep working hard and you will have your day in the sun.

I have a lot of talent and sometimes, you know, when people see you’re a drag queen they go, ‘Oh, he’s a drag queen. That’s what he does.’ But I’m always excited to… stretch the boundaries on how they see me.

I know what it feels like to be on the outside, a place that you don’t belong, feeling like you’re the only one of your kind.

A lot of times, in other films in the past, you see some drag roles that make you go, ‘OK we’re the punch line again.’ You know, someone comes in and they’re like, ‘Oh is it a man?’ that kind of thing.

When things go wrong, I like to keep on working and move on.

Even last minute, you can find a great makeup artist at your local MAC store or department store makeup counter, and a lot of times they’ll hook you up for free.

Michelle Obama, one of my inspirations, said ‘when they go low, we go high,’ and it was a thing that I really carried with me.

As a drag diva auditioning in Hollywood, I’ve run the gamut.

I’m from a small country town and to now be moving around with some of the largest names in Hollywood is a dream come true.

One thing that Gaga taught me was less about makeup and more about how to be just natural through the makeup – really allow your talent to shine through, no matter what you’re doing.

It’s great that we have so many people from so many diverse background in the ‘Drag Race’ family.

Honey, you know no matter how much time I spend, I’ll never look spot on like Marilyn Monroe.

My grandmother will watch any episode of a show I’m on, but she watches her soap operas every day. When I was on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’ you would have thought I had won an Oscar. She told everybody at church that I was on her favorite soap.

Let the record show I would never turn down a role with Lady Gaga.

Any queen who’s ever worked in a drag bar, or even been in a drag dressing room, knows that underlying all of that is a sense of family.

I would say my biggest piece of advice that I would offer LGBT business owners and people looking to segue their talent into a business would be to utilize all the resources that are available to you.

I’m track 3 with fabulous French dialogue on the ‘Star Is Born‘ album. I’m track 3 ‘NASA‘ on Ariana Grande’s album. From ‘All Stars 3,’ went to ‘Drag Race’ three times, never won. Three is my lucky number.

It’s amazing how far that we’ve come and the strides we’ve made in the LGBTQIA community with regard to acceptance and equality and really honoring ourselves and who we are.