Morgan McMichaels | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Morgan McMichaels atRuPaul's DragCon LA, 2023 | |
| Born | Thomas White (1981-05-28)May 28, 1981 (age 44) Alexandria,Scotland, UK |
| Education | University of the West of Scotland |
| Occupation | Drag performer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Known for | |
| Website | Official website |
Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981)[1] is thestage name of Scottish-American drag performerThomas White,[2][3] best known as a contestant on thesecond season of the reality television competitionRuPaul's Drag Race, as well as thethird season of the show'sAll-Stars spinoff. She has also been involved in variousDrag Race spin-offs, includingRuPaul's Drag U andRuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race.
White was born in 1981 inAlexandria, 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, attendingOur Lady and St Patrick's High School then studying biochemistry and immunology at theUniversity of the West of Scotland, before leaving at the age of 18 for California, where he decided to pursue a stage career instead of returning to Scotland.[5] Having been introduced to drag through the characterLily Savage, McMichaels stated his own alter ego wouldn't have emerged if he had stayed at university.[5] White's stage name pays homage toMorgan le Fay, a figure of Arthurian legend that links to his own Scottish heritage, with the surnameMcMichaels originating from his drag mother,Chad Michaels, who appeared on the 4th season ofRuPaul's Drag Race and 1st season ofRuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, winning the latter, and his drag father, Adam Magee.[6][7]
McMichaels joined the cast of thesecond season ofRuPaul's Drag Race in 2010.[8] She was eliminated after losing a lip sync performance battle to contestantSahara Davenport, placing eighth out of twelve.[9]
McMichaels later went on to participate in thethird season ofRuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, where she was eliminated first byBenDeLaCreme for saying she would send home the best competitors if she stayed. This placed her 10th in the season. She returned in the6th episode among five eliminated queens (Thorgy Thor,Milk,Chi Chi Devayne andAja) and was selected to be brought back by BenDeLaCreme, ultimately placing 5th.[10][11]
McMichaels, along with fellow contestantsRaven,Jujubee,Pandora Boxx,Nina Flowers,Shannel andTammie Brown appeared inRuPaul's Drag U, a spinoffLogo series in 2010, where she appeared as a "professor" for three episodes.[12] She remained in the cast on the second season ofDrag 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 ofDrag U in 2012.
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Other thanDrag Race related shows, McMichaels was featured in the music video for "S&M" byBarbadian singerRihanna in 2011.[13] On 11 April 2013, McMichaels made a guest appearance onTabatha Takes Over at the VIP Nightclub in Riverside, California where McMichaels performed a lip sync as Tabatha. Morgan was also featured inLady Gaga's lyric video of "Applause" along with other drag queens.[14] She hosted an internet show forWOWPresents calledLiving For The Lip Sync where she talks about lip sync fan-recorded performances byDrag Race alumni. It premiered to YouTube on September 4, 2014, and ended on January 22, 2015.[15] She made an appearance onEntertainment Tonight to talk aboutAll Stars 3 in 2018.[16] She was featured withLaganja Estranja,Farrah Moan and Jaidynn Diore-Fierce onseason 13 ofGermany's Next Topmodel as a guest for the episode 14 challenge.[17] He appeared in a music video forLizzo's song "Juice" on April 17, 2019.[18] She was a backup dancer forNico Tortorella in an episode ofLip Sync Battle in 2019.[19]
In Episode 4 ofAll Stars 5, she made a guest appearance as a "Lip Sync Assassin", where she lip-synced againstMiz Cracker.
She is a playable character in the officialDrag Race mobile game,RuPaul's Drag Race Superstar.[20]
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McMichaels released her first single, "Why You Mad Tho?" on February 3, 2018, with the remix by producer Drew G Rdr.[21] McMichaels performed the single live on theDrag Race: All Stars 3 premiere episode talent show.[22] She released a second single, "Yazz Bitch" on May 11, 2018.[23]
In October 2018, White broke his hand in self-defense after a physical altercation with a man who proclaimed to be aNazi.[24][25]
| 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 | Lipsync Assassin | Season 5, 1 episode |
| 2022 | RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race | Herself | Guest[26] |
| 2023 | Drag Me to Dinner | Herself | Hulu original[27] |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts | Herself |
| 2021 | The Bitch Who Stole Christmas[28] | Lanette |
| 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"[29] | Erasure |
| Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Transformations | Herself | Guest | [30] |
| 2014–15 | Living For The Lip Sync | Host | [31] | |
| 2014 | Bestie$ For Ca$h | Guest | [32] | |
| 2015 | Hey Qween! | [33] | ||
| 2015 | Drag Queens React | [34] | ||
| 2018 | The Pit Stop | [35] | ||
| Whatcha Packin | [36] | |||
| 2017-2019 | Fashion Photo RuView | Guest Co-host | [37] | |
| 2019 | Try Guys | Episode: "The Try Guys Lip Sync Battle Drag Queens" | [38] | |
| 2019 | Follow Me | Episode: "Mariah Balenciaga" | [39] | |
| 2022 | Binge Queens | Recurring | [40] |
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Why You Mad Tho? |
| Yazz Bitch | |
| 2019 | Queen (Divine & Moloy) |
| 2020 | Ass Like Mine[41] |
| 2023 | URDUM URDUM |
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Sitting on a Secret" (RuPaul featuringAja,Chi Chi DeVayne,Milk, Morgan McMichaels, &Thorgy Thor) | 2018 | Non-album single |
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.
