Amanda Tori Meating is also baffled by shocking Drag Race elimination: 'Felt like I was murdering it'

Time to burn down the board room: Amanda Tori Meating has, sadly, been eliminated from the RuPaul's Drag Race corporate calendar.

Despite quickly becoming a fan-favorite contestant on season 16 for her hilarious confessionals, witty sense of humor, and lighting-fast clapbacks amid ongoing drama with Plane Jane, Amanda's time on Drag Race curiously came to an end on Friday's episode — a development all the more shocking for her generally positive feedback from the judges (panelist Michelle Visage called her performance "top-notch") on the perennial girl groups Maxi challenge at hand.

One week after coming out as trans in an exclusive interview with EW's Quick Drag podcast, Amanda reflects on her time on the show in a subsequent episode (above), where she shares her reaction to the judges' critiques, her relationship with Plane — especially after a major meltdown in the Werk Room this week — and her thoughts on the dreaded "Who should go home, and why?" question Mama RuPaul asked on the Main Stage.

Listen to Amanda's interview above, and read on for a full breakdown of the Q&A.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Last week, you so beautifully and eloquently came out in an interview with us, what has the reaction been like since that moment?

AMANDA TORI MEATING: It’s been a cool moment for me. I had a gig that night, and everyone was talking about it. It was sweet and special ... It’s this crazy feeling of, the interactions are more full and complete because they see the real me.

My cohost, Jillian, noticed that your lyrics to this week’s challenge mirror what you said in that interview.

That’s absolutely where I pulled inspo from. They give you a song, they tell you to write lyrics — and I won’t tell you how many minutes they gave us, it wasn’t a lot. I’m just going to pull from what’s fresh on my mind and my experience.

Plane tweeted support for you! I died at her calling you her coworker and colleague.

That was sweet of her. I said that to her over text. We’re coworkers, and I’ll treat you with respect like coworkers. We came to an agreement that that should be a mutual thing.

Has your relationship changed since the interview?

I saw her when I did Roscoe’s, she came out to support me and [Mirage], so we had some chats backstage in the dressing room. It’s cordial and respectful. It’s moving in a positive direction compared to what it was.

It got a promotion, too?

I’d say a transfer to a different department. Perhaps a lateral move.

I love that the corporate jargon fits into every conversation.

What’s funny is my ex-husband is in the corporate world, so a lot of this jargon, I just stole from him. And now I’m making my f---ing money.

Let’s get to this week’s challenge, you were in the same group. I don’t mean to tie your entire Drag Race experience to Plane, but…

I didn’t want to tie my entire Drag Race experience to Plane, either.

It got intense at the makeup mirror when Q addressed Plane after she said Plane invalidated her feelings at the beginning of the episode. Plane seemed to shrink back after your reaction, after she brought you into it.

Because that was the moment that I was fed up, that was the moment the her emerged, my inner spirit of c--- to tell her to leave me the f--- alone!

Heading into the challenge, did you or the other queens discuss with Plane or Sapphira Cristál the prospect of being saved?

No, never. I pretty much knew that if Plane was going to use her immunity potion, it certainly wouldn’t be on me. I was hoping [Sapphira would] use it on me, because I had a feeling by that time that the day wasn’t going well for me. Before that, in my mind, I was winning this episode. I was like, this is my first win ... I felt like I was murdering it completely — until the runway.

Michelle Visage said "your performance was top-notch.” How did you feel about being in the bottom?

I felt like it was because they didn’t like my runway. They had some comments about my padding and my hair getting in my face. So, nit-picky things. The finer details. Essentially, I delivered what I needed to deliver. I was like, I shouldn’t be in the bottom, I could still win.

Was the runway look always the one you intended to wear? Can you explain the vision?

Pussycat wigs have never been part of the Amanda Tori Meating fantasy, ever ... My first idea, I was going to come out in a fully rhinestoned, nude catsuit with a red pussycat wig, I’d be a match, and the wig would be smoking somehow. Scientifically, that didn’t work out. Despite me being a woman in STEM, I was unable to engineer the week to complete the task. That’s where the idea of a bird’s nest came from ... It’s this bird’s nest around the head, there will be three eggs, I’ll be one, I’ll get the Styrofoam wig heads, they’ll all have a pussycat wig ... There are three pussycat wigs here! I’m giving them pussycat!

I thought it was the most elevated drag we saw from you on the show, to that point.

I thought it was cool and campy. That was one of my five runways that I showed up with incomplete. This was my first time ever working with any designers, and I learned a lot from that experience. I had a few designers sort of f---ed me over in the end. I showed up with five incomplete runways ... This pussycat runway was one of them, and I won’t mention the other ones. I finished it in my hotel room, and it was a manic episode in there.

Which part needed to be finished?

I showed up with the nest. All I had was the nest and the shoes, and everything else, I put together in the room. The skirt underneath, the rhinestones, the twigs, that was all Amanda Tori Meating.

It speaks to what Sapphira said on the runway. She saw your growth, but maybe this isn’t the place to grow. Do you look back and think, in some ways, this wasn’t your time?

I don’t agree that I should’ve gone home because I was still growing. Contrary to people’s beliefs, I don’t necessarily think Drag Race has to be this place where you show up as fully perfected… there’s this attitude now that was maybe not present in the earlier seasons, where you have to show up perfect and have it all together. I might be presumptuous to say this, but me showing up and being a f---ing mess and navigating my way through the f---ing mess as a human being, that’s why people have responded so positively to me. Like, oh, I know this girl.

What was the night like at the hotel, after the elimination?

I cried a lot, I was upset, I was spiraling. My story producer, before I left set, he looked at me, like, “Be kind to yourself tonight.” Such a sweet guy. I thought I blew it. Before that night, before I got sent the f--- home, I was like, I’m top-four, easily ... I don’t care that I had a rough go at the beginning, there have been tons of girls who’ve fallen on their face and become a beautiful butterfly by the end of the season. I was like, that’s absolutely going to be my tea. I was a bit devastated to have that not be my fantasy, but, I think I’ve butterflied in my own way.

RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV.

Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions from the cast, special guests, and more.

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