- Hello there everybody.
It's Michelle Visage,
and welcome to another episode of "Whatcha Packin'."
(upbeat funky music)
Add today, all hail the queen from Atlanta.
It's Tamisha Iman.
Hey, darlin'.
- Hello, how are you?
- Well, I am wonderful.
You are wearing my favorite color combo.
It's black and white and red and gray.
And I don't see enough of that.
- Thank you, one of my favorite colors as well.
- You hit a milestone birthday.
What did you do to celebrate your big Five-O?
- I stayed in the house and quarantined.
(laughter)
Thank God for allowing me to get to this point,
and, I sat my butt down.
- Did you eat a piece of cake?
- I didn't do anything.
And I'm not mad,
because that way I can celebrate it next year.
- Well, honey, don't you know the clock stops ticking at 50.
- Hello. I'm fine with that.
- You were originally cast on season 12
of RuPaul's Drag Race.
- Correct. - And you couldn't make it
because you were diagnosed with,
- Stage three colon cancer.
- How did you know or didn't you know?
Were there symptoms, were you're not feeling well?
- I went to my doctor and I was like,
"I can't get rid of this hemorrhoid
or whatever the case may be."
She did a quick examination.
She was like, "I don't think that's a hemorrhoid.
You need to go and have colonoscopy."
When I had the colonoscopy,
I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer
and I got the call on Friday that I had made the show.
But then I turned around and got a call on Sunday
stating that I had to start
aggressive chemo and radiation that week.
So like everything that I had worked for
and waited for the perfect time, was shattered.
But, it motivated me.
And I fought to actually get to season 13.
- You are not only a chosen one,
you are also a warrior and a survivor.
And you came back with a vengeance.
It's so inspirational because you are of a certain age.
And because you did aggressive chemo and radiation,
you were able to bounce back
and you came and did your thing
on RuPaul's Drag Race season 13.
- I did. - Did you feel
an effect mentally?
How did you handle that in the high pressure world?
- The effect that I had is the fact that
I did not disclose I had an ostomy bag.
Having this ostomy bag, saved my life.
I was still fairly new with it.
So I was getting familiar with it,
at the same time, being challenged to be my very best.
So it was a struggle to balance the two.
It was a lot of stress.
Physically, I was not up to par.
My legs were still weak,
but I was not gonna miss the opportunity.
So I just wanted to actually be an example for other people.
Regardless of what you're going through.
If there's something that you really want, push forward.
Life is not over until you give up on yourself.
That was not an option.
- Amen, honey, and you are an inspiration to me.
When I heard and you told us it was like, "What?
You've been doing all of this amazing work
on top of the amazing life work
that you're doing on yourself
and beating that cancer and kicking it out the way."
- Right. - So when you were
in the workroom, getting changed,
did anybody notice?
- No, I camouflaged it well.
Because I didn't want to be a crutch.
I didn't want it to allow me to stand out.
I wanted everybody to have a fair shake.
I didn't come to ride on sympathy.
A bitch is broken now,
but don't let me return because the fight is on.
You know what I'm saying, so?
I'm the mother of the House of Iman.
As the matriarch, you can't be just another member.
You have to actually stand out
and be the role model for your kids.
So I wanted to be an example for my family.
And at the same time, I wanted to be inspiring that,
"Hey, 50 is not old age.
The broom still sweep, trust me."
- Oh, amen, honey.
And what you just said was so powerful and so meaningful.
And with that, you are, and will always be
an inspiration to people that,
not only are going through what you went through,
but things like it.
And they just need to see somebody like you
who is the mother of the house.
- The dynasty.
- Dynasty, darling, dynasty. - The dynasty.
- I got so much joy
when you would come out on that main stage.
And I loved seeing you.
I don't know if you felt that from me.
'cause my face can be a little digging.
- I did. - All right, good.
I would just light up when I saw you.
What I loved was the pride that you took
in the garments that you made.
Who taught you how to sew?
- Actually, drag taught me how to sew.
When I decided to make this my career choice,
I knew other designers were expensive.
People didn't wanna get you your stuff on time.
My mother used to sew back in the day.
She never gave me a lesson or anything like that.
But, I was able to figure it out.
As my career went on, my sewing got better.
My gay grandfather used to sew
for Patti LaBelle and Phyllis Hyman.
- Ooh, okay.
- Yeah, he gave me the basis of how to do an actual gown.
And I took it and I ran with it.
- My mother used to teach sewing.
That was her side hustle.
- (laughs) really?
- And I would go with her every Saturday.
It was something called Saturday Scene in Central New Jersey
and adults would go in there and learn how to sew
and my mother was a teacher.
She had a whole setup in the basement.
And every time I say, "Teach me,"
she'd be like, "Get away, you're in the way."
Never taught me.
So thank God you had somebody to teach you because really,
it's your thing.
The construction of your garments is amazing.
Like the red power suit that you walked in with
with those shoulders, was like, "Girl, yes."
- Thank you. - You do have a drag dynasty
in your house but people,
I'm assuming already buy garments from you now.
You're gonna be a very busy Beaver, for sure.
- That's amazing coming from you.
- Aww! - You know, I would love
to make a garment for you.
- Oh, that will happen, sold, done.
So you did the first lipstick against Simone,
and you thought, "I went through all this (beep)
I finally come back and here I am,
in the not winning group,
I'll call you." - [Tamisha] Right.
- [Michelle] What was that feeling?
Were you like, are you kidding me?
- [Tamisha] It was disappointment at first.
I was devastated.
It was like, "Oh, okay."
Well this is my normal position.
I'll always have to prove myself.
- Right. - Being at the bottom,
it just made me wanna fight even more.
I knew my body was working against me.
But my mind was still going.
The fight was still there.
- What was going through your mind when you heard,
uh oh, this is a sheer runway.
Having to hide a physical situation.
- [Tamisha] I'm the artist of illusion.
- [Michelle] Go on.
- I have to roll with the punches.
At the end of the day, nothing was gonna stop me
from producing my best products on that runway.
But I wasn't even thinking about the colostomy bag.
I never thought I would ever get
the reaction I got from you guys.
I was hoping for it.
But our community, can sometimes be the cruelest 'em of all.
So, my sewing is never good enough for this
and it's never good enough for that.
But you recognized my talent for being just what it is.
And I was thoroughly grateful for that and humbled,
just to know y'all recognize my 30-year effort
in this industry.
- Are you kidding me?
If they say it's not good enough or whatever,
just show them the door.
Because the quality of the work that you turned out,
the color combinations,
you understand all the proportion, you get it.
And whoever has something to say, baby,
pay them no mind because they are wrong.
- Thank you Michelle.
- Now, one moment that you had,
was some drama with Ms. Kandy Muse.
- It really wasn't any drama. - Okay.
- Kandy has a bully kinda spirit.
Being in this industry,
you can either rush to get to the top
or you can enjoy the journey.
Kandy was tryna get to the finale,
and she didn't care who she stepped on to get there.
And, she kept excluding the fact that
I was in the room and other girls within the room.
It was like, "Symone is my competition."
So after a while it's like,
"First of all, little girl, you don't know who I am.
You don't know what I bring to the table.
I don't know you."
We don't have to be nasty about it
because, I came for the sisterhood.
And I wanted to walk away from the show
with something genuine.
The comment was, I was like,
"Even though I don't like a lot of you girls,
I have to give you props, y'all are amazing."
All Kandy heard was, "I don't like you, girl."
- Ah, you know what, Tamisha?
It's life experience.
I can talk here woman to woman of a certain age.
And I remember my older girlfriends
saying things to me like,
"You're too young, you don't get it."
And I would get so defensive and so angry,
because I'm like, "No, I do get it."
With age comes wisdom.
We have to go through that only hearing the negative (beep)
to get us to where we are today to say,
you don't need to rush to the top.
Take your time, smell the roses.
It's worth the journey.
- Right.
- And you're speaking from experience.
Not just drag and the house,
but I'm talking about life experience.
- Exactly.
- [Michelle] Are you cool now?
Did you all make amends?
- [Tamisha] Yeah, it was just the fact that,
New York meets Atlanta (laughs)
- I was about to say, girl,
that's a New York kid too.
That was raised on the streets.
- Right.
- And then you have a scrappy Atlanta girl, too,
who's going up against it, yeah.
- At the end of the day, you're not gonna pump me.
Period, I don't care who you are.
- Ooh, okay.
If you could redo one look,
which one would it be, and why?
- It would be the black dress that I got eliminated in.
Because, keep in mind,
I am so overwhelmed with actually packing and leaving.
All of the stones
and things that were supposed to go on the dress,
was left on the table.
So that's the only look that I would really redo,
because, you didn't get the full effect of it.
It was a showstopper, it was just unfinished.
- Oh my goodness.
Okay, well that explains a lot.
Tell me about this beautiful piece behind you.
Was this your finale number?
- Yeah, this was my finale number.
So prior to me coming to drag race.
Keep in mind, I had to learn how to walk over again.
There was a competition in our community, a pageant.
And I made this strictly for my fans,
just to let them know that I still had it.
You understand?
And, my creativity is never gonna die.
So this was my evening gown.
This is my new baby.
One of my babies, I have several pieces.
But this right here,
this is a blue iridescence on top of a new mesh.
And then I added a cape to it just to make it vintage,
my version of a haut couture.
- It's absolutely stunning.
But more importantly, Tamisha you bring so much spirit
and joy and passion to what you do.
It was such an honor to get to watch you
and what you brought to the main stage this year.
- Thank you, Michelle,
it means the world to me.
You don't even understand.
- Keep that energy going.
Stay healthy - I will.
- Stay safe, and welcome to 50, darling!
- Hello (laughs)
- Next time I'll be able to hug you, I hope.
- Okay (laughs)
- Exactly, virtual hug.
And that's another episode of "Whatcha Packin'"
I'll see you next time, bye.
♪ All I want, all I want is to stay up, uh huh ♪