Yahoo Lifestyle Law Roach Has Been Manifesting His Spot on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' for Years (Exclusive)
Law Roach knows it's a big deal to be a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, and to be invited back as a regular judge is even more incredible.
"Are you f--king gagged?" he asks over the phone after sharing the news with Parade. The answer is undeniably, "yes" for me and the reality TV series' legion of fans.
On Friday's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, Roach, an image architect, known for styling the likes of Zendaya, Anya Taylor-Joy and Celine Dion, joined RuPaul and Michelle Visage on the show's judging panel not as the weekly special guest judge, but as a more permanent member of the squad.
While Euphoria actor (and Roach's former styling client) Hunter Schafer was billed as the "extra special guest judge," Roach was seated in what he calls the "third seat" which is typically held by a rotating member of the judges panel. On Episode 6 of Season 17, which saw the queens competing in an oceanic ball challenge, the queens were greeted not by Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley or Ts Madison in the third seat, but by Roach.
"I think that it was also kind of shocking for the queens to come out and see me in that third seat," Roach says. "It felt good to sit next to Mama Ru."
While it remains to be seen how many episodes this season Roach will be judging, his arrival on the panel has been a long time coming.
"The crazy part about it is that I had been manifesting that for so long," he says about getting the call to serve as a guest judge last year for Season 16. "I just could not understand why I hadn't gotten a call, but I guess everything happens exactly when it's supposed to happen. At least I like to believe that."
Apparently all that manifesting pays off. "When I got the call, I was just like, 'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.' he continues. "I've been waiting for this. Sh-t, since I've been in L.A., I'm like, 'I know I'm going to be a judge on RuPaul one day.' And, you know, it was really great."
Related: 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' Renewed for Season 10
Roach, who previously served as a judge on America's Next Top Model and Legendary, has been a fan of RuPaul for ages.
"I have been a fan of RuPaul and her philosophies," he says. "You know, 'If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?' Seeing her on television, there has always been this light. It's always been positive. Even when people were trying to read her, it was always like the snapback, but it was done in such a way that left this trail of love. That is something that has always stuck with me. Even when I'd watch an old clip for her, like on Arsenio Hall, in places where a drag queen probably at that time should not have been. I just always followed her career. I'm more of a fan of RuPaul and her journey and her philosophies than I am of the show."
After earning the admiration from the fans, the contestants, and seemingly RuPaul himself during his episode on Season 16, Roach was invited back in a larger capacity this year.
"It felt really amazing," Roach says about being asked back. "I love it there. I love going there."
"I'm also a huge Michelle Visage fan," he adds regarding RuPaul's stalwart sidekick since Season 3. "I love what she brings to RuPaul. She's so quick, those one-liners and those zingers. I'm also a student of the game. I love personalities, and I tend to study personalities. When I'm there, I'm just like, 'F--k, I want to be as quick as Michelle.'
In addition to RuPaul and Visage, Roach also got to celebrate his arrival to the permanent judging panel with Schafer, his friend and the week's guest judge.
"She texted me that morning," he remembers. "I think I was pulling up to the lot, and she was like, 'Bitch, are you here?' and I was like, 'What? Wait.' Now mind you, this is like my first day going to work, so I don't think they had told me who the special guest judge was, because I hadn't met with the producers. I'm just like, 'Wait. You at RuPaul?' and she was like, 'Yeah, I'm so fucking excited.' So like me and my girl, my former client, who I love severely, we're sitting next to each other, like living out our f--king fantasies on RuPaul's Drag Race together. It was incredible."
So what is it like filming an episode of Drag Race? "It's a pretty long day," Roach says. "Because you get to see the queens do the runway twice. It's once with music, once without, but it's really quite joyous to be there."
With 12 queens walking three runway looks in the ball this week, that means a grand total of 72 runways this week, not to mention the lip sync, which Roach describes as "major."
"That's always been my favorite part of the show," he says. "That's the kind of drag I grew up on. That was the skill set. It was not always about fashion or whatever. It was about them bringing you into the world and that suspension of disbelief where you're like 'This girl is singing,' even though she's not, but it's so real and it's emotion. It's easier to be pretty than it is to be talented, and that's when the true talent comes out."
Of course, most guest judges do not go on to secure a regular spot on the panel. Many, in fact, seem a bit intimidated by the process of bantering with RuPaul and delivering critiques.
"You don't get to see RuPaul walking through the halls," Roach says, when asked if he was nervous to film. "When you're there, you don't see her until she walks on that stage in that look with the lights and everything. It's literally like watching the queen of the world walk out on stage, and you anticipate that. Once she greets you, and says hello to you, for me, at least, the nerves go away, and you're like, 'Oh, okay, I'm here. Bring out the queens.'"
One person who has yet to appear on RuPaul's Drag Race as a judge is Roach's most famous styling client Zendaya, but Roach says he "definitely will" be trying to secure her a spot as an extra special guest judge in the future.
"I know she's been offered a couple of times," he recalls, "But It was a scheduling thing, because when she was like, 'Oh, they want me to be on,' I was like, 'You have to do it.'"
He'd also love to see a "Night of a Thousand Zendayas" on the Drag Race Main Stage. "Like for me to sit there and watch my looks that I've done for Zendaya—because I'm the only stylist she's ever had; all her looks are my looks—to see the girls' interpretation of all her looks, that's a really good one. They should do that!"
Speaking of Zendaya, Roach is as disappointed as anyone that she wasn't nominated for an Oscar for Challengers. "At least we got the Golden Globes," he says. "You know? Such is life."
Regarding the upcoming Met Gala, he is mum on if Zendaya will be appearing, but he's "excited" about the 2025 theme "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" which is honoring the Black dandy.
"I have been invited, which is incredible," he says. "I think to have such a huge celebration of the contributions that people who look like me have made to fashion and style is incredible. I just can't wait to see the exhibition and how people interpret what the theme is."
After dressing dozens of high-profile stars for events like the Oscars, Golden Globes and Met Gala, Roach admits he'd still be intimidated to dress RuPaul.
"I think I'd be nervous," he says. "You know what I mean? It's always so good. I'll just be stepping into somewhere that the bar has already been set so high, But I think I would take on the challenge." Let's as a fandom start manifesting that.
