RuPaul picks up Michelle Visage in this episode of RuPaul Drives…
Old friends RuPaul and Michelle Visage take to the road in this episode of RuPaul Drives. The two friends talk about parenting, adoption and the origins of Michelle’s name in this 7-minute video.
In the video Ru asks Michelle, what would she say to an 18-year-old Michelle she answers “Focus”, “I’m a closer not a finisher.”
“I would also say stop worrying so much, what people think about you, I know that I’m chubby and older, but I’m okay… I’m happy with who I am.”
Talking about her real name (which is Michelle Lynn Shupack), she mentions about her introduction to the gay scene saying, “When I first moved to New York I got involved with the gay scene immediately, I went to the American Musical Dramatic Academy. If I wasn’t at school I was at clubs… and growing up in the 80s, teen clubs were very very big in the suburbs.”
In the story, Michelle admits that her mother actually supplied her with a fake ID so that she could go to the clubs in New York. During that time, whilst hanging out with the gays, the name Visage happened because people were calling her “Gara, Gara”, which meant face in Spanish. Michelle studied French at school and came up with the name Visage, which means Face in French.