In Episode 3, Ru told the girls that for this week’s Mini challenge they were having their own Noting Hill Carnival, where they would limbo for their life after they got into quick carnival drag. Superstar DJ Jody Heart played the music for the limbo. The co-winners of the limbo were Tayce and Veronica. Afterwards Ru told the girls to pair up with their best buddies in the competition. Then she explained your best friend becomes your frenemy with the maxi challenge of “Who Wore It Best,” and each team was given a colored box (chosen by the two winners) and then they had to try to outdo their bestie.
The bottom five were Tayce, Ginny, Tia, Asttina, and Ellie, with Lawrence Chane being the winner of the challenge, who received a coveted RuPita badge. The bottom two were Asttina and Tia with Asttina sashaying away.
It was a pleasure to sit down with Asttina for this exclusive Hotspots interview:
Q: At what age did drag become an interest of yours, and how did you pick your name?
AM: I want to say when I was in college, around 17. It became a career choice at 23. Asttina came from Tina Turner, and Mandella came from Raven Mandela.
Q: How exciting was it to be chosen for the second season of “Drag Race UK”?
AM: I was thrilled and gagged and shocked and couldn’t believe it. It was an array of emotions that I was cast on Season 2 and a big honor.
How hard was it to keep the secret that you were on “Drag Race”?
AM: Very hard considering everyone somehow knew I was doing it.
Q: Tell us about your “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” experience?
AM: Amazing and hard and funny and ridiculous. It was like walking into a toy store, and there are so many toys, but you can only pick one toy to play with. It was fun and explosive, and I learned so much about myself. And doing all this through a pandemic.
Q: What’s your marital status?
AM: I am single, but I am married to myself.
Q: Who are you closest with from the show?
AM: We are all very close, but I am closest with Bimini, Ginny and Ellie.
Q: What’s ahead for?
AM: I am so excited to see what happens, but I have recently booked a few tours and some campaigns. However, I definitely want to do some things for charity. And the most important thing is that I want to be happy.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you that you would like to talk about?
AM: Yes, I want to tell everyone: “Mental health is a real thing and its ok to feel low.”
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For more information on Asttina Mandella, follow her on instagram.com/Asttinamandella
