Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981)
is the
stage name
A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White,
best known as a contestant on the
second season of the reality television competition ''
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
,'' as well as the
third season of the show's
''All-Stars'' spinoff. She has also been involved in various ''Drag Race'' spin-offs, including ''
RuPaul's Drag U'' and ''
RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race''.
Early life
White was born in 1981 in
to a Scottish father and an American mother, and spent parts of his childhood in both Scotland and the United States.
White attended primary school in the US before returning to West Dunbartonshire as a teenager, attending
Our Lady and St Patrick's High School then studying biochemistry and immunology at the
University of the West of Scotland
The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...
, before leaving at the age of 18 for California, where he decided to pursue a stage career instead of returning to Scotland.
Having been introduced to drag through the character
Lily Savage, McMichaels stated his own alter ego wouldn't have emerged if he had stayed at university.
White's stage name pays homage to
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (; Welsh language, Welsh and Cornish language, Cornish: Morgen; with ''le Fay'' being garbled French language, French ''la Fée'', thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morgant Mor ...
, a figure of Arthurian legend that links to his own Scottish heritage, with the surname
McMichaels originating from his drag mother,
Chad Michaels, who appeared on the 4th season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and 1st season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'', winning the latter, and his drag father, Adam Magee.
Career
''RuPaul's Drag Race''
McMichaels joined the cast of the
second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2010. She was eliminated after losing a lip sync performance battle to contestant
Sahara Davenport
Antoine Ashley (December 17, 1984 – October 1, 2012), better known by the name Sahara Davenport, was an American drag queen, singer, reality television personality, and classically trained dancer. Davenport was best known as a contestant on the ...
, placing eighth out of twelve.
McMichaels later went on to participate in the
third season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars,'' where she was eliminated first by
BenDeLaCreme
BenDeLaCreme (born September 24, 1981) is the stage persona of Benjamin Brock Hamlet Putnam, an American drag queen, burlesque performer, and actor based in Seattle, Washington. He is known for being a contestant on the sixth season of ''RuPaul' ...
for saying she would send home the best competitors if she stayed. This placed her 10th in the season. She returned in the
6th episode among five eliminated queens (
Thorgy Thor,
Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
,
Chi Chi Devayne and
Aja) and was selected to be brought back by BenDeLaCreme, ultimately placing 5th.
After ''Drag Race''

McMichaels, along with fellow contestants
Raven
A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
,
Jujubee,
Pandora Boxx,
Nina Flowers,
Shannel and
Tammie Brown appeared in ''
RuPaul's Drag U'', a spinoff
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
series in 2010, where she appeared as a "professor" for three episodes. She remained in the cast on the second season of ''Drag U,'' which made its season premiere on 20 June 2011, and was a professor for two more episodes. She returned again for one episode in the third season of ''Drag U'' in 2012.
Other than ''Drag Race'' related shows, McMichaels was featured in the music video for "
S&M" by
Barbadian singer
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
in 2011. On 11 April 2013, McMichaels made a guest appearance on ''
Tabatha Takes Over'' at the VIP Nightclub in Riverside, California where McMichaels performed a lip sync as Tabatha. Morgan was also featured in
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
's lyric video of "
Applause" along with other drag queens. She hosted an internet show for
WOWPresents called ''Living For The Lip Sync'' where she talks about lip sync fan-recorded performances by ''Drag Race'' alumni. It premiered to YouTube on September 4, 2014, and ended on January 22, 2015. She made an appearance on ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
'' to talk about ''All Stars 3'' in 2018. She was featured with
Laganja Estranja,
Farrah Moan and Jaidynn Diore-Fierce on
season 13 of ''
Germany's Next Topmodel'' as a guest for the episode 14 challenge. He appeared in a music video for
Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...
's song "
Juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...
" on April 17, 2019. She was a backup dancer for
Nico Tortorella in an episode of ''
Lip Sync Battle
''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John ...
'' in 2019.
In Episode 4 of
All Stars 5, she made a guest appearance as a "Lip Sync Assassin", where she lip-synced against
Miz Cracker.
She is a playable character in the official ''Drag Race'' mobile game, ''
RuPaul's Drag Race Superstar''.
Music
McMichaels released her first single, "''Why You Mad Tho?''" on February 3, 2018, with the remix by producer Drew G Rdr. McMichaels performed the single live on the ''Drag Race: All Stars 3'' premiere episode talent show. She released a second single, "''Yazz Bitch''" on May 11, 2018.
Personal life
In October 2018, White broke his hand in self-defense after a physical altercation with a man who proclaimed to be a
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
.
Filmography
Television
Film
Music videos
Web series
Discography
Singles
Featured singles
References
External links
*
Morgan McMichaels interviewon
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMichaels, Morgan
1981 births
Living people
American drag queens
Scottish drag queens
People from Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire
Morgan McMichaels
Scottish emigrants to the United States
Drag performers from Los Angeles
Drag performers from California