Typically assembly your heroes seems precisely the way you imagined. That was the case for Shea Couleé when she lastly acquired to stroll for Naomi Campbell within the season seven premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.” The “All Stars” season 5 winner could not assist however tear up when she advised the runway coach how a lot she’s meant to her personally — and the scene grew to become much more emotional when the supermodel began doling out compliments in return.
First, Couleé defined why Campbell means a lot to her in a confessional. “It’s the most sickening, iconic factor to be strolling on the runway in entrance of Naomi Campbell,” she stated. “Someone whose stroll I’ve studied to try to emulate her goddess-like power, and that is my second to point out my instructor all that I’ve realized.”
And that is precisely what Couleé did. After she strutted down the runway, Campbell was fast to precise how impressed she was with the “All Stars” champ’s efficiency. ” what you are doing, you may have it managed, you know the way to sluggish it down, to convey it up,” Campbell stated. “It was perfection for me.”
Couleé could not assist however cry glad tears over her mentor’s compliments. In any case, she’s been candid about simply how a lot Campbell has influenced her profession. In April, she tried to organize viewers for the emotional weight of the candy second in an interview with Leisure Weekly.
“There are few individuals I get starstruck round, as a result of individuals are individuals, however Naomi Campbell is a goddess. I’ve appeared as much as Naomi since I used to be 4 years outdated,” she defined. “Seeing her in Michael Jackson’s [‘In the Closet’] video and being like, ‘Who is that this highly effective, lovely, statuesque Black lady with cascading locks? No matter she is, I need to be her.’ To have her sit there and see me stroll and say that she’d give no notes . . . To listen to these phrases from somebody like Naomi Campbell, that is some of the affirming moments I’ve ever had in my life.”
After the premiere, Couleé shared on Instagram that she cried once more whereas watching the episode again — and this time she let the tears move as a result of she did not have to fret about ruining her make-up. “There aren’t sufficient phrases to explain the sensation of strolling the runway in entrance of @naomi,” she captioned a video of the second. “She epitomizes black magnificence and class, and to have her validate me in such a significant means was a dream come true. I ugly cried watching this again as a result of I did not need to destroy my make-up on the day.”
