Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean Got Candid About His Drag Performance and the Support He Received

After 8 weeks of competition, AJ McLean has been crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race. That was quite a unique experience for the 44-year-old Backstreet Boy. And here’s how the show changed our hero for good, making him a completely different person.

It wasn’t the first time he wore drag.

The Backstreet Boy happens to be no stranger to drag. He recalls “dabbling” in his mom’s clothes in his childhood. And he even wore some drag at his wedding. He literally cut his cake in a long, flowing skirt, corset, and 6-inch Louboutins while his wife was in a tuxedo.

He’s a huge advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.

He’s been supportive for over 35 years and is going to stay that way. He even got ordained to marry his 2 gay best friends. His first acting teacher in musical theater was also gay. In some sense, he’s been around the gay community his entire life.

All the money the winner gets from the show will be sent to a charity.

McLean joined the show not only because of drag. The winner receives $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

Earlier, the singer had a song called “Love Song Love,” and he chose 2 transgender women to be featured in the video. He wanted to raise awareness for the transgender community. So he chose a charity that was doing exactly that.

Choosing his drag name wasn’t that easy.

The hardest part was choosing the perfect name. He tried several. Like Poppy Star, which was a fancy version of a pop star. Then came Poppy Tart.

But eventually, he thought that showing everyone to love themselves and “love, love, love everybody” was the best option. So he finally settled on Poppy Love.

This show changed him completely.

This experience helped him to embrace his full self. The biggest thing that he learned from the show was to love the body he’s in. He openly admits he’s a very insecure person. That even stopped him from smiling for a while.

Now he is a different person and fans can see his broad smile more often than ever. He said, “I got to express myself in a whole new light and as a straight man being in drag, being an ally.” Later he added, “This whole experience changed me for the better.”

He’s planning to perform as Poppy Love on stage.

McLean doesn’t want to hang up his wig anytime soon. Actually, he would love to perform as Poppy Love, or even sing a Backstreet Boys song as Poppy Love. Like “I Want It That Way” or any other song from the band. He promises he’ll be in all-white.

It was also a great experience outside the band.

Compared to taking the stage with the Backstreet Boys, performing as Poppy Love was very different for McLean. Coming out of a group and doing something on his own was a great responsibility. He didn’t have 4 other guys to lean on, so he had to carry the performance alone. And he did it perfectly, winning the finale.

Have you ever attended a drag show? Do you know of any other drag queens who happened to catch your attention? Please share your feelings and impressions with us in the comments below.