>> My darlings welcome to another episode
of Whatcha Packin'
and this time we got the one and only Miss Asia O'Hara.
>> What's up, Michelle? >>Hi. How are you?
>> I'm great. How are you?
>> All the way from Texas.
>> Yes. Good old Texas.
>> And here you are. One of the Final Four.
>> Yes.
>> Congratulations. Con-drag-ulations.
>> Thank you very much.
Thank you. I'm so excited.
>> What was that like for you, Asia?
>> I use the word "life changing" a lot.
And I had this entire --this entire season--
this entire experience. But it definitely has been that.
And you know I knew coming into this
that it was going to be unlike anything
I had ever experienced before.
But it turned out to be that and so much more.
It brought out so many things in me
that I didn't know that I had
and it tested so many things in me
that I just thought were for sure qualities of mine.
>> How many times did you audition?
>> Three.
>> Do you think you did something different this time
around that Ru noticed you, versus the other?
>> You know the first time I auditioned
I was you know I'm going to audition
and I'm going to get on and I'm going to kill it.
And I didn't and I was like-- so I didn't even get
Did they lose my tape or something?
So the second time I probably did even worse
because I was just trying so hard
to be what I thought it needed to be.
I didn't audition for Season 9
but then when Season 10 was coming around I was like,
You know, I think this is something
that I want to try again
and I really just want to put myself out there
and see what happens.
My boyfriend and two of my very close friends
were like, you just--in everything you do in life
you just have to be yourself. Give people your self.
And so I did my audition tape in my bathroom
by myself on my phone
just being realistic and being myself
and not trying to be something that I'm not.
And I was like, I'm just going to turn it in and
whatever happens, happens.
And I got the phone call and she loved it.
>> We don't want some convoluted made-up character
that you think we want. We want you.
And that's why we have to beat you down with a stick for you
to then rise back up as yourself.
>> Absolutely.
Because what we're doing is beating out old habits.
Those old habits are not who we want we want.
We want who's at the core of Asia O'Hara.
>> Yes.
>> You know? And that's what I think you gave us.
But I think in the beginning you were a little guarded.
You were a little scared. You didn't want us to see it.
You just wanted us to see you as pretty.
>> Yes.
>> That's your pageant background.
>> Yes.
>> That's what you want to give us.
>> Yes.
>> And then you got greedy.
>> Yeah. And I think the most successful times in the season
that I had were times when I was greedy
and doing things that I had never done before
and that I had just trained myself was not nice to look at.
And I think coming from the South
we just, you know, nobody wants to see--
>> Ugly.
>> Somebody ugly or somebody, you know,
pretending to be parasailing. Like nobody
wants to see that stuff.
>> Apparently they do.
>> Apparently they do. Who would have thought?
>> Here you are in Top Four. When you first walked in here,
we know that you're kind of the matriarch,
the mother of the girls.
Was there anybody that you didn't get along with
fom the beginning?
>> It took Eureka and I a little bit to--
We did a lot of tennis playing trying to figure out
where we were with one another.
But I got along with everyone I think--I would like
to think--the entire season
and there was no-- there was never a time when I was like
oh, I just don't like this person.
But I think with-- with everyone
if I'm going to be the matriarch of the group,
with everybody that was in the work room
I had to find out my place with them--
like what-- I almost had to find out
what I could do for them or what they needed from me.
And just like a mother with her children.
>> Each child you know what they need from you
specifically.
>> Alien Extravaganza or whatever it was,
where you you fell pretty hard on that challenge.
Was that a wakeup call for you?
>> I can't say that it was a wake up call
because although I see--
I definitely saw my faults, in the moment
when I realized that I had dropped the ball
I was upset, but afterwards
I was just like, I didn't drop the ball,
I just kind of screwed up my dribble a little bit.
But you know what, I got it and I'm going to, you know,
I don't want to look back on this week or this challenge
and be like, you know, you screwed that up.
>> None of you screwed up it's just, it went challenge
by challenge. Which one was tailor-made to the ones
who win, you know, which one was a struggle
for the ones who were in the bottom.
One thing you did give us is lots of looks
and we've seen all of these-- Winter and Summer.
>>Yes. >> Your Nicki Minaj ski moment.
This is your Final Four dress.
Which to me read as very Egyptian.
I don't know-- I figure that's what you were going for
because you had that
jewel on your chin which is symbolic of King Tut's beard.
>> Yes.
>> And this Tweety Bird which is
if not one of my favorites from the season
one of my favorites from all the seasons.
>> Aw. Thank you.
>> Because it was the first time that we saw Asia as having
--and don't take this the wrong way--a personality.
>> Yes.
>> And it came through with the blowing of the hair
and it was so brilliant.
>> Thank you.
>> Really really brilliant. Was this your concept?
>> It was my concept.
Like I use feathers a lot and I was like
I don't want to do something showgirl or burlesque.
I want to do something fun with feathers
because I don't think that's what people normally think
of when they think about feathers. And I love the fact
that it has just enough shape at the top
and I love the color and I think it's fun.
And even if the judges don't love it, it's going to be fun.
>> But you also held your arms out, which helped. You had
the--yeah--the orange gloves.
>> Yes.
>> All of the details ,which is what I look for,
Were there.
>> So normally I would have a problem
with not seeing the shape, but because it was a character
and you gave it the
iwas all there and this is going to be talked
about for many years to come.
>> Thank you. I'm so excited that you remember all of that.
>> Because it was flawless.
>> Thank you.
>> And I don't get to say that often.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Because I am a picky bitch but there's a reason for it.
And I want to see you go
as far as you can take this, you know?.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> This is your moment. It took you three chances to get on.
You're here. You're in the Final Four.
What do you want to get out of this, Asia?
>> It's not really what I want to get out of this
is what I want to do with this. >> OK.
>> I talk about giving back to drag. Family is not something
that I was blessed with, that I'm blessed now with a lot of.
So you know drag at times when I needed a mother
or a sister or a friend or a child,
Drag was all of that to me. So I want to get back to that.
>> Because you lost your parents when you were young.
>> Yes. Um. And, I lost my parents when I was young
and I don't have, you know,
a lot of close family or friends, and so
Drag has been my family and my friends.
so what I want to do with this is I want to make drag as big
and as beautiful and as fabulous as it possibly can be.
And whether it's creating opportunities for people
to showcase their drag
or just making sure that people have the tools and the resources
and the knowledge to get as close
and as intimate with drag as they can.
And I want to help people find their niche
because I think there are--
there are so many people that love drag
and love Drag Race that are not drag queens.
And it's hard for them to feel a part of it.
>> I think it's starting to open it up
and make it ok to be a female who wants to do drag
or, you know, be an ally who's part of the community
or just to watch the show and like it
and not be involved in the community. It's all OK.
And the more that we keep forging ahead and the more
that we keep fighting and letting it be known
that this is a place of safety and equality and love
and non-judgmental zones,
the more we can make that happen.
>> Yes absolutely.
>> And I love that message that you're putting out there.
And Asia, you have worked very hard
to be in this Top Four. You in no way sailed through.
You worked your ass off to get there
and you 100 percent deserve to be standing--
>>Thank you. >> --amongst these other girls.
>>Thank you. Thank you. Thank you .
>> So good luck to you. And I just want to say --I would feel
terrible if I did not get the chance to say this--
I think everybody comes into this experience
terrified of you. And from Day One even though
you may be saying that you don't like something,
it is so apparent that everything that you say
comes from a place of love.
And I think it's so rare that we get that from someone
that is not a fellow drag queen.
So to know that you love our art that much
and that even when you are critiquing
something you're saying it from a place of love
and that you appreciate and respect what we do,
makes all of this worthwhile. And I want to thank you
for making that a wonderful experience
for all 14 of us all season long.
>> You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who worships drag
the way that I do
and I have so much love and respect for you kids.
I was weaned off the cotton teats of drag queens
and I wouldn't trade it for the world
and I'm so honored to be a part of this community.
I'm so honored to walk hand in hand with all of you.
I will be fighting with you and for you 'til the day I die.
>> Thank you.
>> So it's my pleasure, Sweetheart.
And thank you guys for watching another Whatcha Packin'.
We will see you next time. Bye.