Morgan McMichaels

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Morgan McMichaels
Dragcon3-SUN-16 (47942888242).jpg
Morgan McMichaels at RuPaul's DragCon in 2019
Born
Thomas White

(1981-05-28) May 28, 1981 (age 40)
Scotland
OccupationDrag performer
Years active2001–present
Known for

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 3)

WebsiteOfficial website

Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981)[1] is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White,[2][3] best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition RuPaul's Drag Race, as well as the third season of the show's All-Stars spinoff.

Early life[]

White was born in 1981 in Alexandria, Scotland to a Scottish father and an American mother, and spent parts of his childhood in both Scotland and the United States.[1][4] White attended primary school in the US before returning to West Dunbartonshire as a teenager, attending Paisley University, now University of the West of Scotland University, for biochemistry and immunology before leaving at the age of 18 for California, where he decided not to return to the UK and instead pursue a career on the stage.[5] First becoming aware of drag through Paul O’Grady character Lily Savage, McMichaels stated his own alter ego wouldn't have emerged if he'd stayed at college.[5] White chose the first name "Morgan" in homage to Morgan le Fay, the queen of fairies in Arthurian legend and also links to his own Scottish heritage, and the surname "McMichaels" from his drag mother, Chad Michaels, who appeared on the 4th season of RuPaul's Drag Race and 1st season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, winning the latter, and his drag father, Adam Magee.[6][7]

Career[]

RuPaul's Drag Race[]

McMichaels performing as the Evil Queen

McMichaels joined the cast of the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2010.[8] She was eliminated after losing a lip sync performance battle to contestant Sahara Davenport, placing eighth out of twelve.[9]

McMichaels later went on to participate in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, where she was eliminated first by BenDeLaCreme for saying she would send home the best competitors if she stayed. This placed her 10th in the season. She returned in the 6th episode among five eliminated queens (Thorgy Thor, Milk, Chi Chi Devayne and Aja) and was selected to be brought back by BenDeLaCreme, ultimately placing 5th.[10][11]

After Drag Race[]

McMichaels, along with fellow contestants Raven, Jujubee, Pandora Boxx, Nina Flowers, Shannel and Tammie Brown appeared in RuPaul's Drag U, a spinoff Logo series in 2010, where she appeared as a "professor" for three episodes.[12] She remained in the cast on the second season of Drag U, which made its season premiere on 20 June 2011, and was a professor for two more episodes. She returned again for one episode in the third season of Drag U in 2012.

Other than Drag Race related shows, McMichaels was featured in the music video for "S&M" by Barbadian singer Rihanna in 2011.[13] On 11 April 2013, McMichaels made a guest appearance on Tabatha Takes Over at the VIP Nightclub in Riverside, California where McMichaels performed a lip sync as Tabatha. Morgan was also featured in Lady Gaga's lyric video of "Applause" along with other drag queens.[14] She hosted an internet show for WOWPresents called Living For The Lip Sync where she talks about lip sync fan-recorded performances by Drag Race alumni. It premiered to YouTube on September 4, 2014, and ended on January 22, 2015.[15] She made an appearance on Entertainment Tonight to talk about All Stars 3 in 2018.[16] She was featured with Laganja Estranja, Farrah Moan and Jaidynn Diore-Fierce on season 13 of Germany's Next Topmodel as a guest for the episode 14 challenge.[17] He appeared in a music video for Lizzo's song "Juice" on April 17, 2019.[18] She was a backup dancer for Nico Tortorella in an episode of Lip Sync Battle in 2019.[19]

In Episode 4 of All Stars 5, she made a guest appearance as a "Lip Sync Assassin", where she lip-synced against Miz Cracker.

Music[]

McMichaels released her first single, "Why You Mad Tho?" on February 3, 2018, with the remix by producer Drew G Rdr.[20] McMichaels performed the single live on the Drag Race: All Stars 3 premiere episode talent show.[21] She released a second single, "Yazz Bitch" on May 11, 2018.[22]

Personal life[]

In October 2018, White broke his hand in self-defense after a physical altercation with a man who proclaimed to be a Nazi.[23][24]

Filmography[]

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
2010 RuPaul's Drag Race Contestant Season 2; 8th place
2010 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Contestant Season 1
2010-12 RuPaul's Drag U Mentor Season 1–3, 5 episodes
2013 Tabatha Takes Over Herself Tabatha impersonator
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Contestant Season 3; 5th place
2018 Germany's Next Top Model Guest 1 episode
2019 Lip Sync Battle Backup dancer
2020 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Guest Season 5, 1 episode

Film[]

Year Title Role
2019 Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts Herself
2021 The Bitch Who Stole Christmas[25] TBA

Music Videos[]

Year Title Artist
2011 "S&M" Rihanna
2013 "Applause" Lady Gaga
2019 "Juice" Lizzo
"All The Queen's Horses" Shakespears Sister
2020 "Nerves of Steel"[26] Erasure

Web Series[]

Year Title Role Note Ref.
2013 Transformations Herself Guest [27]
2014-15 Living For The Lip Sync Host [28]
2014 Bestie$ For Ca$h Guest [29]
2015 Hey Qween [30]
2015 Drag Queens React [31]
2018 The Pit Stop [32]
Whatcha Packin [33]
2017-2019 Fashion Photo Ruview Guest Co-host [34]
2019 Try Guys Episode: "The Try Guys Lip Sync Battle Drag Queens" [35]
2019 Follow Me Episode: "Mariah Balenciaga" [36]

Discography[]

Singles[]

Year Title
2018 Why You Mad Tho?
2018 Yazz Bitch
2020 Ass Like Mine[37]

Featured singles[]

Title Year Album
"Sitting on a Secret"
(RuPaul featuring Aja, Chi Chi DeVayne, Milk, Morgan McMichaels, & Thorgy Thor) 		2018 Non-album single

References[]

  1. ^ a b McMichaels, Morgan (July 22, 2015). Bonus: Morgan McMichaels is The Scottish Scandal. Hey Qween! (YouTube). Lebanon. Event occurs at 00:40 ... 1:22. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Born in Scotland in '81, moved to American in '87, back to Scotland in '94, and back here in '99. ... My mom's American, my dad's a Scot.
  2. ^ "About Morgan". Morgan McMichaels official website. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Ragan, Scott (May 5, 2016). "For Morgan McMichaels, Life Is a Drag". Advocate. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "Morgan McMichaels Has Palm Springs Roots to Her Ascent to RuPaul's". Palm Springs Life. 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  5. ^ a b "'Queen of Scotland' declares support for independence and slams Boris Johnson". The National. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  6. ^ "Thomas White". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  7. ^ "9 "Drag Race" Drag Mothers And Daughters". Logo. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  8. ^ "Morgan McMichaels — RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 Contestant". Logo. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  9. ^ Stransky, Tanner (9 March 2010). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: It's either Team Tyra or Team Tatianna". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  10. ^ Oliver, Isaac (2018-03-02). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars': A Shocking Elimination". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  11. ^ Koch, Drew. "Here's How The Returning 'Drag Race' Queen Can Change EVERYTHING". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  12. ^ Fitzgerald, Christine (August 29, 2010). "RuPaul's Drag U Faculty Spotlight – Morgan McMichaels". Socialitelife.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  13. ^ "20 Music Videos With Drag Queen Cameos". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  14. ^ "Lady Gaga's 'Applause' Lyric Video: Here Are The Important, Drag-Related Findings". MTV News. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  15. ^ WOWPresents (2014-09-04), Morgan McMichaels is Living for the Lipsync - Miley Cyrus & Madonna, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2018-03-04
  16. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race': Morgan McMichaels Spills 'All Stars 3' Secrets! (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  17. ^ Kensbock, Verena (11 May 2018). "Germany's Next Topmodel 2018: Die Topmodels müssen ihren Mann stehen". rp-online.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  18. ^ "Lizzo - JUICE Music Video feat. RuPaul's Drag Race Queens". 2019-04-17. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  19. ^ "WATCH: 'Younger' Star Nico Tortorella Stunned as Ariana Grande on 'Lip Sync Battle' • Instinct Magazine". Instinct Magazine. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  20. ^ Why You Mad Tho? (Drew G Rdr Remix), 2018-01-30, retrieved 2018-02-28
  21. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars s03e01 review". The Independent. 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  22. ^ Yazz Bitch by Morgan McMichaels, 2018-05-11, retrieved 2018-05-13
  23. ^ "Drag Race queen punched Nazi after he said 'I want to cut your f*g throat'". Gay Star News. 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  24. ^ "Drag queen breaks hand punching Nazi in the face". PinkNews. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  25. ^ Joey Nolfi (October 29, 2021). "RuPaul's new Christmas movie unites the largest Drag Race cast in history". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  26. ^ Erasure (August 11, 2020). "Erasure - Nerves of Steel (Official Video)" (YouTube video). Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  27. ^ James St. James and Morgan McMichaels: Transformations - Halloween Edition. WOWPresents. October 22, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  28. ^ Morgan McMichaels' Living for the Lipsync - Sia and Whitney Houston. WOWPresents. October 23, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  29. ^ Chad Michaels and Morgan McMichaels – Bestie$ For Ca$h. WOWPresents. October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  30. ^ Morgan McMichaels on Hey Qween with Jonny McGovern | Hey Qween. Hey Qween. July 20, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  31. ^ Part 2 | Drag Queens Reading Mean Comments w/ Alaska, Raja, Raven, Milk, Morgan, and More!. WOWPresents. June 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  32. ^ The Pit Stop Season 4 Episode 1: Morgan McMichaels Spills the Tea | RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4. WOWPresents. December 15, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  33. ^ Whatcha Packin: Morgan McMichaels | Season 3 Episode 1 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3. VH1. January 29, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  34. ^ RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with Raven & Morgan McMichaels - Halloween BOOview. WOW Presents. October 29, 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  35. ^ The Try Guys Lip Sync Battle Drag Queens. The Try Guys. August 19, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  36. ^ FOLLOW ME: Mariah Balenciaga. YouTube. May 6, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  37. ^ Fitzgerald, Christina (March 1, 2020). "The Week In Drag – RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 Is Here! Plus Queerty Winners, Trixie Mattel And Scarlet Envy In The Hot Seat And Sasha Velour Shows Off Their Artistic Side". Socialitelife.com. Retrieved March 2, 2020.

External links[]

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