NEED TO KNOW
RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Briar Blush fainted on stage after receiving harsh criticism from judge Law Roach during the runway segment
Fellow contestants debated whether the collapse was genuine, with some attributing it to stress from a difficult week
Briar returned to the stage after the medical emergency
This article contains spoilers
A queen went down onRuPaul's Drag Racethis week — literally.
During the runway judging portion of season 18's fourth episode, which aired Friday, Jan. 23 on MTV, Briar Blush collapsed, fainting into the arms of fellow contestant Juicy Love Dion.
The 24-year-old's fall happened moments after judge Law Roach gave her a scathing critique.
"You look like a WWE wrestler," the famed celebrity stylist said of her outfit, which Briar was challenged to make from scratch. "I just wanted you to jump off the ropes and just do a drop-kick on somebody."
Roach, 47, wasn't far off. Inspired by Lil Nas X's pink cowboy Atelier Versace suit from the 2020 Grammys and Rihanna's yellow Guo Pei dress at the 2015 Met Gala, Briar's ensemble featured a yellow spandex bodysuit with a pink cape.
"I don't really give a f--- how well she sewed it, it was ugly!" Roach later said. "It was tacky, the color was off. I hated it."
But Roach's feedback wasn't all bad. He made sure to give the Boston-based entertainer a major compliment. "Let me tell you what I did love. That face, daughter? The beat is divine," Roach said. "The outfit is... not so much."
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Still, the negative comments appeared to make an impact on Briar, who was stone-faced. Before RuPaul could name the winner of the red carpet mashup challenge that pitted Briar against her "bestie" Juicy, Briar leaned over and fell to the floor.
Juicy immediately jumped to comfort Briar, as RuPaul and fellow judge Michelle Visage called for a medic on set.
"I'm trying to rub her chest to wake her up," Juicy explained in a confessional. "I don't know what happened. I don't know what's going on, but I'm scared."
Briar soon came to. "Did I fall?" she asked, as Juicy encouraged her to breathe. "Oh my God! Whoa, I didn't even know I fell!"
"I'm so confused," she explained later, onUntucked. "I remember looking at Law, and then the next thing I knew was Juicy above me telling me to breathe. I don't know what happened, and honestly, it's kind of embarrassing. It's so frightening that something like this could happen to you at the biggest opportunity of your life."
A medic quickly came to Briar's aid, checking her pulse and giving her a quick evaluation before taking her to the medical tent to check her vitals and have her consult with a doctor.
"Sorry," Briar said as she stepped off stage.
Viewers online noted how scary the incident looked, though not all of Briar's fellow contestants were convinced it was real.
"It's a show. It's a show," Vita VonTesse Starr, 37, calling Briar's collapse "convenient timing" in a confessional. "As soon as Law Roach says something about her looking like a WWE wrestler, [she faints]."
Rival Athena Dion also had questions. "It's intense up there. You're stressing out, you're about to be judged by all of the judges? Every ingredient for the perfect recipe for a collapse, 100%," Dion, 37, said. "But... who knows what the truth is?"
Myki Meeks was on Briar's side. "There is no way she pretended to faint," Meeks, 29, said. "That is not like her and she would not, she would not do that."
Backstage, they all agreed the incident likely happened because of the stress Briar was under after a particularly difficult week that began with an intense argument that involved Dion and Mia Starr.
"I do have a sense of empathy for Briar," Dion said. "I do believe that she was humbled severely — all day, all week, she had a lot of life lessons that were learned. Possibly, that all came to a head that moment, and she just toppled over. Some girls think that it was planned, but it was quite a jarring moment for everybody on the stage."
Ultimately, the show went on once RuPaul got word that Briar was "feeling better." Juicy was deemed the winner of their fashion face-off, and Briar returned to the stage after being given a clean bill of health — only to wind up in the bottom two.
"Coming back from a fainting, I knew that it was a possibility that this would happen," she said before the lip sync. "But I'm gonna fight. I want to stay. So I'm going to give it all I have left."
Sadly, all she had wasn't enough to best Kenya Pleaser, and Briar was asked to "sashay away."
"Some very gorgeous outfits were missed. Ru." Briar said after returning to the runway to pack her things. "All I want to say is, huge mistake."
"I thought overall my outfit was pretty cute, but this week for me was pretty stressful. There were lots of moments of self-doubt, so it wasn't my proudest moment going out," Briar said. "But I will pick myself back up. And if you're rooting for me, I'm positive you will get more."
RuPaul's Drag RaceandUntuckedairs Friday (beginning at 8 p.m. ET) on MTV.
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