Melissa McCarthy is reaffirming her allegiance to drag queens — and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
The Oscar-nominated actor surprised the competitive series in an upcoming episode teased Saturday to say: “I just adore you all.”
While she is best known for “Gilmore Girls” and “Bridesmaids,” McCarthy shares a kindred past with the show’s contestants: She used to perform as a drag queen named “Miss Y.”
“I adore what you do,” the actor told the group in a clip. “Drag is a big part of why I have a career. I was going to drag shows when I shouldn’t have been and it literally gave me the courage to get on the stage.”
“So when I look at you fighting to carve out your space, it makes me so proud,” she added. “And I just want to thank you for it and root for you. You’re all gorgeous and I just love you. Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s not only wildly entertaining and it brings joy.”
McCarthy didn’t arrive empty-handed and brought the adoring contestants an assortment of iced beverages (and cheese). She then lauded their LGBTQ representation onscreen as “important” and said the community’s fight to be respected by mainstream culture is “worth it.”
“You expect me to now be learning choreography and Melissa McCarthy is sitting 10 feet away from me?” Sapphira Cristál, one of the drag contestants on this 16th season of the show, quipped in a confessional moment. “Baby, you got to be out of your mind.”
“Bitch, that’s Ursula!” Morphine Love Dion exclaimed about the “Little Mermaid” actor.
McCarthy previously admitted that drag was an inspiration for her Ursula performance — and told Entertainment Weekly last year that “there’s a drag queen that lives in me.”
“I’m always on the verge of going full-time with her,” she said.
The series airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST.
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