RuPaul’s Drag Race: Michelle Visage Doesn’t Regret Breast Implants

Long-time RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage recently discussed her emotions about her breast implant surgeries. Visage has been busy lately as a sought-after judge within the drag scene. She has been judging RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 and the new international drag competition, Queen of the Universe, with Drag Race star Trixie Mattel, Leona Lewis and Vanessa Williams. Besides the hectic world of drag queens and singing competitions, Visage also played a significant role in the new documentary Explant,which explores the medical risks of breast implant surgery.

Throughout her time as a judge on Drag Race, Visage has been on the tail end of many jokes surrounding her breast size, but the Queen of the Universe panelist has always taken them in stride. Visage got her first set of breast implants at 21 and started to experience negative physical symptoms only a year later. Within the next 30 years, the Drag Race judge would receive three separate sets of implants. Visage announced her decision to remove her implants in 2019.

In an interview with Page Six, Visage revealed that despite the challenges she experienced due to her breast implants, she wouldn’t change the past. “If the doctors had told me at 21 that this might happen, I still would have gotten the breast implants,” the Drag Race judge explained. Visage opened up about her experience trying to find adequate health care to address the issues she feels her implants created, visiting doctor after doctor with no success. “No fewer than 20 doctors all saying the same thing,” Visage explained.“They were all saying, ‘The breast implants are fine. They’re FDA approved. What you need to do is take a Xanax or a glass of wine. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

While starring in Explant, Visage seeks to create an environment where women “know what they’re putting in their bodies” to increase plastic surgery communication with patients before approving surgery. Jeremy Simmons’ new documentary explores the risks of undergoing breast implant surgery, heavily highlighted by Visage’s experience and explant surgery. The film follows Visage as she talks with multiple women with debilitating side effects from breast implants, causing havoc on their immune systems. In an Instagram post promoting the film, Visage shared, “If you are considering breast implants, please watch it. It’s NOT anti-plastic surgery, it’s pro-transparency. Watch and be informed!”

While the issues Visage and the women in Explant experience are not universal, they still provide a call to action to plastic surgeons to provide clarity for patients who may be experiencing painful side effects due to implants. Visage is far from the last celebrity to have medical difficulties after receiving breast implants; The Bachelorette’s Clare Crawley and RHOC’s Tamra Judge both underwent breast implant removals in recent years. The RuPaul’s Drag Race judge is notorious for voicing her true opinions and never holding back her thoughts, so the new documentary is bound to provide welcome clarity surrounding the entire breast implant process. Explant is available to stream on Paramount+.

Sources: Page Six, Michelle Visage/Instagram

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