Kornbread might be 'missing,' but she's not going anywhere (original) (raw)

A twisted ankle and a "cursed" wig (more on that later, Miss June!) can't keep the spirit of RuPaul's Drag Race season 14 down, as Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté tells EW she's not going to let her untimely exit (following an unexpected injury during last week's acting challenge) hold her back.

"It was a process, it was a journey, but I've had time to gather my thoughts on everything and figure out my next steps," she says, adding that, though she's still unsure of whether she'll return for season 15 ("We'll have to wait and find out. I'd love to know," she notes), we haven't seen the last of her. "I want to do more TV and movie appearances ... I ain't stopping here; I'm going to still act a fool on Twitter. I got nothing but time, now!"

Read on for our full conversation with Kornbread, in which we get an update on the status of her ankle, tea on what Kornbread left behind for her sisters in the Werk Room, insight on her interactions with former judge Merle Ginsberg since that infamous "Missing" milk carton prop from episode 1, and a reveal on whether she finally paid Daya Betty her $1,000 prize for following up on a dare to munch-munch, crunch-crunch on a dead dragonfly in the Werk Room. Check out the full Q&A below, and tune in to the next new episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 14 Friday at 8 p.m. on VH1.

Kornbread The Snack on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 14. VH1

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling, reliving the painful experience of leaving prematurely?

KORNBREAD "THE SNACK" JETÉ: It was a process, it was a journey, but I've had time to gather my thoughts on everything and figure out my next steps. I'm in a better place mentally ... There's no discouragement. I don't dwell on situations like this. Me being sad about it won't change the fact that it happened. What's the next step? How can we move on? You put so much work into the show, and it's a dream for everybody in that room. It's obviously heartbreaking when it's snatched away, but, at the same time, I got this opportunity and I'll run with it.

How exactly did the injury happen?

There were multiple things during the super tease. There was small portion of me pretending to run on the green screen, and I twisted my ankle. I was like, I'll be fine, I'll run it off in general. I kept it to myself and kept doing stuff throughout the day, but when you take off your pads and tights and the adrenaline rushes away, that's when pain kicks in. I woke up the next day and my ankle was completely swollen. I tried to walk to the restroom, and it was like, no, girl, this isn't happening. That's when I knew I was screwed.

Are you feeling okay now? Did it take eight weeks to heal?

It took the whole time. Even now, it's weaker than the other ankle. I'm performing and I feel great, I'm able to walk and perform, but I do have to take more precaution on it. I massage it often, I wear a compression sock on that ankle because of the random aches that come with it, because I twisted it pretty badly.

Pretty much every queen who's left because of an injury gets an invitation to return. Will we see you on season 15?

We'll have to wait and find out. I'd love to know.

Let's hope we see Kornbread again. When you left, you had your eye on June's wig that she left for you. Did you, in turn, leave it behind for anyone else?

I took that damn wig home! Now that I'm thinking about it, there might be a curse on that god damn wig.

June cursed the wig?

June put a curse on that wig. [_Laughs_] She kicked her damn shoes off and look, now my ankle's hurt. We put two and two together, now I have to call her ass.

Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté addresses her season 14 sisters in a video message recorded from her hotel room following an ankle injury. World of Wonder/VH1

Did you leave anything for the other queens?

It wasn't necessarily clothing; I'm a personable human. I brought every last one of the girls little stones or energy kind of moments. I left Bosco a bracelet and earrings that she liked, it's more personal stuff. It was small things to remember each other by, not necessarily stuff to help them. I'm not helping them hoes.

Your video message to the queens was also sweet. I like that you stressed that you and Jasmine are okay, because people went wild online with interpretations of that "fight" from last week.

This community is very strange. They act like two people not getting along with each other is the rarest thing on the planet. In the queer community, it's normal and common. I think a lot of people identify with what Jasmine looks like, and those who identify with what Jasmine looks like disagree with anything that comes out of my mouth. Jasmine and I had a disagreement. What human has not had a disagreement with another human? It's not even a beef situation, people are making it more than what it was ... Next, move on. It's not that deep. We dropped that whole situation as soon as it was done.

You also had a great relationship with Willow. Your video message suggested that she should "throw those damn flip-flops away." Do you know if she listened to your advice?

Hell no, she didn't listen! The girl talking about doing merch with those damn shoes. Another shoe situation. I'm talking about this girl's flip-flops and now look at me. It's the curse of me talking about people's feet that set me up. She still has them.

Did you donate your episode 3 Werk Room look and the Mary J. Blige wig to Willow for last week's challenge?

Yes. Willow came to me and was like, "I need your dress and your wig." I said, "Willow, what the hell are you going to wear that for?" but she threw it on and wore it. I was looking at Willow, laughing, because she was funny as hell, but also because she was wearing my outfit the whole time. She's such an idiot, like, who thinks of this!? Everybody else was just like, okay, cool, because they know Willow is crazy as hell. [_Laughs_]

One of my favorite things you did this season was the Merle Ginsberg milk carton. Was she in your DMs at all?

Hell yeah. Merle tagged me in that picture, and Merle is so damn shady, she said that some of her friends saw her on the thing, but she posted the picture on Instagram. I said, "Merle, you're my favorite." She's a sweetheart. I think Merle wants to be left the hell alone, but she was a doll about that milk carton situation. She thought it was funny.

I can't get through an interview without knowing if you paid Miss Daya her $1,000 for eating the crunchy dragonfly.

Yes, she posted it on the internet. I have receipts. I was at Roscoe's in Chicago, and they asked me the same question and I pulled out my PayPal receipt. The host grabbed my phone and saw the negative $1,000 removed from my account. Diabetica got her money.

Kornbread speaks on her ankle injury and whether she'll return for 'Drag Race' season 15. VH1/World of Wonder

Though your time on this episode was cut short, what would you have worn for the runway this episode?

This was one of my favorite runways I was going to do. The bottom of my dress was green silk and had flowers made of latex. The top half was a silver puffy shoulder moment, one of my arms was a watering can spout, the other arm was a spicket, and I had blue ostrich feathers in my hand to resemble the water. My headpiece was a patch of grass that was folded into an updo.

Who would you have done for Snatch Game?

My Snatch Game was Leslie Jordan. I had his little grey wig and prosthetics to raise my cheeks and for creases in my forehead. I was going to be a big, Black ass Leslie Jordan, the complete opposite of what that man looks like.

What's next for you?

I've been running around doing shows ... I want to complete my journey into transitioning, and I want to go into full-time acting. That's what I came to L.A. for, and drag just happened to happen, which is the greatest thing to happen to me besides discovering my self-identity. I want to do more TV and movie appearances ... I ain't stopping here; I'm going to still act a fool on Twitter. I got nothing but time, now!

Subscribe to EW's BINGE podcast for full recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including weekly season 14 recaps with the cast, adapted from our new Quick Drag series airing Fridays at 10:05 p.m. ET / 7:05 p.m. PT on the @EW Twitter account.

Related content: