Ts Madison
Ts Madison is a Renaissance Woman in absolutely every sense of the word. From being a semi-permanent judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race to her two shows on WOW Presents Plus (Ts Madison Ate That and Bring Back My Girls, returning for a third season), Madison has a packed schedule. As an added bonus, Madison found herself sampled on the Beyoncé summer anthem “Cozy,” bringing Madison an entirely new legion of fans.
I caught up with Ts Madison to chat about both of her WOW Presents Plus shows, her unending advocacy, and how RuPaul’s Drag Race has changed the lives of so many performers, including her own.
Michael Cook: Ts Madison Ate That is the name of your WOW Presents Plus show, but also could be a summary of your career.
Ts Madison: Ts Madison Ate That is most definitely that! I’m Ts Madison so there are so many things that I do on the internet that become a trend or a saying. I am the type of girl that gives her unadulterated opinion, no matter how it may come out sometimes. I have been given this show by World of Wonder on WOW Presents Plus, and it’s fun. It’s me, eating. I’m a big girl, and I love to eat, and my opinion is a little different than other people’s. If it’s really nasty, I’m going to break down how nasty it is. If it’s good, I am going to break down the elements of how good it is.
MC: Is there anything that you ate that you didn’t think you’d like that you really ended up enjoying?
TsM: I’m really a pickles girl—I like tart pickles, sweet pickles—I love pickles. There was one of those pickles that I truly enjoyed.
I really couldn’t decide on the Jonas Brothers’ popcorn. I was eating it and it was supposed to have this flavor in your mouth that is supposed to be this “thing.” And I didn’t taste the thing…and I didn’t taste the thing…but then I really tasted the thing! I was like, “wait, is this the thing I’m supposed to be tasting”? It was supposed to be a “Hate,” but by the end of the episode it ended up being an “Ate”!
MC: What has it been like for you to sit on the RuPaul’s Drag Race panel as a semi-permanent judge?
TsM: I want to tell you this and I want to tell you this from my heart. I love RuPaul like the rest of the girls do, but I love RuPaul in a different space because I see me; me and RuPaul are the same. What makes me feel so good sitting there is being a 46-year-old transgender woman who has lived in this world, I get the opportunity to see so many different talents, so many different girls, and I get to see different personalities, different queer, nonbinary, transgender, and all identifying people become superstars. It is such an amazing thing. Thirty years ago, when I was 15 years old, sitting there watching how the world turns and I didn’t see many queer superstars, and now I’m getting the opportunity to see that happen right in front of my face. I get to judge them, and tell them how magnificent they are.
MC: This past summer you stood up to transphobia in an extraordinary way. Was there ever a hesitation for you to speak up?
TsM: There is never a hesitation for me to speak up—never. The world is evolving in a way that you can’t get away with being homophobic or transphobic. People want to revert back or stay in those times and they want to hide behind their homophobia and transphobia by saying that they are being so policed on what they can and cannot say and it’s just not right anymore. It’s not that it’s not right anymore, it’s that you have accountability for the things that you’ve said and the actions that you’ve done to us as gay and trans people.
You’re going to respect us; we’re going to be in the spaces we deserve to be in. I am always going to vocally stand up to it and stand up for us always.
MC: What was it like being part of the anthem “Cozy,” when Beyoncé sampled you on that track?
TsM: It was amazing because it was a very big surprise to me. Beyoncé is arguably one of the biggest entertainers in the world; everyone pauses for Beyoncé to come in. For Beyoncé to be a fan of TS Madison is crazy. I’m not going to tell you when or how I met her, but I’ll tell you I met her at work, it was this situation with “Cozy.” I am one of her happy vices. I am one of the naughty things she gets to do and that she takes inspiration from. To be on a song that is about all of us being queer and having different areas on the flag…when she sang about each color on the flag on that song and about wearing scars…. So much of our community has walked through with scars and had to come out on the other side, beat up and bruised, yet we are comfortable with every scar we received to make it to the place that we are now.
MC: What do you tell the people who still don’t think the fight is in them and don’t know how to fight back in their own lives?
TsM: I am going to always tell them that if you sit silent things don’t happen. But when you speak loud you can move a mountain. You gotta speak up for what’s right, speak up for yourself, and never ever let anyone try to silence you, ever. ▼
She Ate That and Bring Back My Girls (premiered December 6) are both streaming on WOW Presents Plus.
Follow Ts Madison on Instagram: instagram.com/tsmadison/?hl=en
Michael Cook has been a part-time resident of Rehoboth Beach for over a decade. He is currently a contributor to Instinct Magazine, World of Wonder’s WOW Report, and South Florida Gay News.
Photos: Ts Madison’s Instagram