How“ RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10” winner Ginger Minj battled a 'witch hunt' and won't change for anyone: 'That's who I am'

Key Points

Ginger Minj gives her first interview after being crowned the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 winner.

The season 7, All Stars 2, and All Stars 6 alum reacts to the Rate-a-Queen voting.

"People didn’t want to root for me, and it felt like I had to be my biggest critic and my biggest cheerleader," Ginger says of fan feedback.

The glamour toad of RuPaul's Drag Race is finally hopping all the way to the bank.

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After competing across four separate seasons, season 7 alum and Bitter Old Lady Brigade founding mother Ginger Minj has won RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 after a stunning lip-sync smackdown against season 14 star and AS10 runner-up Jorgeous.

Moments after her crowning, Ginger exclusively sat down with Entertainment Weekly for her first coronation interview, in which she reacts to the intense feedback she's gotten from queens and fans this season, the status of the All Stars 10 group dynamic, and coming back from the brink of death in a hospital bed to take the crown — and a $200,000 check.

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RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10' winner Ginger Minj with her new scepter

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 is now streaming on Paramount+. Read on for Ginger's full winner interview with EW.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Getting here wasn’t easy. Before winning, you overcame a lot. You said in a past interview with me that before you got the call to come back, you were in the hospital feeling like you were going to die. What does this victory mean to you, given what you’ve overcome?

GINGER MINJ: If I hadn’t gone through what I did, I don’t think I would’ve had the fire to win this. It kicked me in my ass every single day. Every time I was feeling down, especially on set, it was like, no, if you give up now, you’re giving up on everything. It’s not just the crown and title, it’s your life and everything you’ve worked for. You have to keep fighting.

You alluded to Wicked saving your life in the hospital, is that applicable to the competition, too?

I felt like Elphaba throughout the entire competition because it felt like I had all these powers I didn’t have a grasp on at the beginning of the season. Particularly, by a lot of the fanbase, it was kind of like a witch hunt. People didn’t want to root for me, and it felt like I had to be my biggest critic and my biggest cheerleader.

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Ginger Minj and Jorgeous face off in final lip-sync on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10'

What does it feel like winning now after coming so close on three prior occasions?

I feel like I can breathe for the first time in 10 years. There’s always that unfinished business and you feel proud of what you’ve done, and you immediately start turning it over in your head, there are so many options you didn’t take, and you don’t know which one would’ve been the one to make you win or get you further. I trusted myself for the first time in my life. It played out, it paid off, and if feels like a much more well-fought and well-deserved victory than it would’ve in the past.

There was chatter among fans and RuGirls that the competition seemed to favor you. How did you feel about that and how did it impact you, watching that unfold?

I wish I could say I don’t let it bother me, but I do. Of course I care about what people think, particularly when it’s a project I’ve put all of me into. What made me laugh a little bit and gave me some solace was the fact that I’ve done this competition three previous times, and RuPaul hasn’t had an issue putting me in the bottom, making me lip-sync for my life, and not giving me a crown. There’s never been an instance where I was favored throughout the past. Once I was announced for [All Stars 10], before the first scene of me ever rolled, the chatter started. They built the narrative for themselves. It gave me a bit of peace. All I can do is my best and live in the success of the moment.

The drama kicked in again on the finale, with Rate-a-Queen returning, I loved that.

Do you want the real tea? I didn’t know what the f--- Rate-a-Queen was! When I’m watching the seasons, I’m usually painting in a dressing room, getting ready for a show, and it’s on in the corner. I’ve heard of it, but what is it? Lydia is trying to break it down for me in the hallway. I was going to walk in there and look a fool!

It's interesting that some of your sisters had things to say, and yet you ranked No. 1 in the Rate-a-Queen voting. Were you strategic with your voting or fair?

It's interesting to me, too, because I didn’t expect it. We didn’t have time to talk to each other before, other than Lydia giving me a crash course. But, I played everything fairly. I wasn’t going to start playing games at the end, especially if I didn’t understand the game that was being played.

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Since there were so many queens this season who pointed out that you have a particular lip-sync style. Going into the final episode, did this season change your approach to drag or performing?It changed my approach, simply because I’ve been on this massive weight loss and health journey. I’m feeling sexier and more confident. I think my aesthetic is changing, but I don’t feel like my performance ever will, because that’s who I am, even before I stumbled into drag doing theater. My style is distinct and it’s worked for me my entire life, and it comes from my heart and soul. I don’t want to change that for anybody.

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Ginger Minj and Jorgeous hug on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10' finale

The season is a mix of people who’ve long honed their style and young queens from the new sector. Is there still that family dynamic? What’s the group chat like?

I would think that we’re close, I don’t know that it’s necessarily the closest cast I’ve ben a part of because it’s so big. The girls from the first brackets that didn’t go to the merge, I never got the opportunity to work with. I don’t know that we’re all necessarily super tight, but definitely those of us from my bracket who made the merge, yeah, it’s trauma bonding.

Jorgeous also did so well this season. What would you like to say about her an this journey?

I’m privileged to see Jorgeous before her journey on Drag Race. To see how quickly she’s honed in on who she is and what she does, and owns it unapologetically, that’s why she’s been back three times so quickly, and why she’s standing met to me right now, and could easily come back and win the whole thing.

If it had taken me 10 years, I would’ve come back. I’d never turn down the opportunity because I want to win. This is such a gift. Particularly in the political climate we’re in right now, people are taking it for granted. You don’t have to like me or root for me, but if we don’t start supporting what this platform is, it can be taken away from us.

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Will you return for All Winners if asked?Absolutely. I’ll show up for anything. I want to come back as a Snatch Game mentor. Some of the girls in our Vegas show were like, if I ever get the All Stars call, will you help me for Snatch Game?

Have others contacted you for help?A lot of people have. I always tell them, you take a sewing class before you go, and take an improv class. Just one.

What do you want to do with the title, career wise and with the $200,000?Broadway is of course my ultimate goal. I can’t do details, but as soon as the talent show aired, hours after, I had a Broadway producer contact me and we’re trying to work out me going into my own Broadway show. It’ll probably be beginning of next year. The $200,000 I’m planning on taking care of some of my family’s debt. I’ll use some of it to get a place in L.A. so I can be more present out here. Symbolically, for the crown, I want to be one of the queens that unites people, I want to show you the work that I’ve put into myself is possible for you to do as well. I want to be hopeful for people. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.

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