Brothers Osborne Don't Fear Backlash as They Guest-Star on 'RuPaul's Drag Race': 'You've Got to Stop Giving a S---'

Country duo the Brothers Osborne were the guest judges this week on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 9, and they looked like they were having a blast as they watched the queens make over "hot firemen" into Y2K-era girl-group singers for a musical number titled "Pussy on Fire."

Later, when TJ and John Osborne entered in the Werk Room for an Untucked kiki, John (who revealed that he once dressed in drag, as his "lovely wife," for Halloween) chucklingly told the dragged-up firefighters: "So, our uncle's a fireman, and our cousin's also a fireman, and you couldn't pay them a million f---ing dollars to go on that stage. So, the fact that y'all did that is amazing to me. I loved it!"

The conversation soon turned serious, however, when Season 1 contestant Shannel — a trailblazer herself, having gone down in herstory as the very first queen to sashay through the show's Werk Room doors — asked the Osbornes if they were worried about getting "any type of clapback for being in a 'gay-themed' type of show," since the country music world tends to be a "heteronormative type of society." That is when TJ, who said he finds RuPaul's Drag Race to be an "incredibly, incredibly inspiring" show, spoke up.

"We get asked all the time when we felt like we have made it, and I always say the first time I felt like I made it is when we got haters! I feel like if you're doing that, you're doing something. You're changing the game," TJ quipped, adding, "I'm a gay man, and that was a big thing. But I think what's weird is that people know that, but they don't want me to talk about it. They're like, 'No one cares!' And I hear this a lot.

"People don't want me to talk about that very much. And when I first came out, I didn't think I wanted to talk about it at all," TJ, who publicly came out three years ago and made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ country artist signed to a major record label, confessed. "And then I realized the importance of talking about it and having the visibility of that. And for all the people that say they don't care or, 'No one cares, stop talking about it,' I'm like, 'Well, you clearly care, because you're aggravated [by me] talking about it!' It just shows that it is super-important to see that. So, for us to be in country music, which is very, very masculine, and to have people see that guys can come [to Drag Race] and be comfortable, hopefully those two things at least open someone's mind or challenges their thinking, and has them be more open and accepting."

John, who is straight, was also unconcerned about how any "haters" might react to his Drag Race cameo. "At some point in your life when you're young, you really care about what everyone thinks. And the second you stop, everything just opens up after that," he said. "It also takes a lot of courage for all you queens to at some point in your life make a definitive decision: 'This is who I am and this is what I'm going to be, and f--- anyone who has something to say about it.'"

John also commended one of the makeover challenge's firemen, still dressed as his drag alter ago "Natasha," for saying something "really cool" when RuPaul asked what his fellow firefighters would think about this episode. Natasha had matter-of-factly answered, "The opinions of the ones that I would care about would love it, and then the ones who would have a negative opinion, I don't hear."

"That's kind of how we are in our genre as well," mused John. "I mean, it's all fear-based. [People being] afraid of things they are unfamiliar with is what it boils down to. But you've got to stop giving a s---. And you guys don't give a s---."

On a lighter note, it seemed some of the All Stars queens had no idea that TJ was even gay until they had their Werk Room chat, and upon hearing this news, at least two of them developed instant crushes on the handsome Osbourne brother.

"First of all, he's fine, so him coming to Untucked, I was excited. And then I found out he plays for our team and he's sharing our story! So, I'm like, 'We can get married now,'" said Vanjie. Meanwhile, Gottmik — another trailblazing entertainer, as the first trans man to ever compete on Drag Race — blurted to TJ, "You're so hot! Please call me after this! I'm dying right now! Oh my God!"

"My partner's a huge fan of yours, by the way," TJ replied, gently rejecting the latter admirer as he referred to Abi Ventura, the man he's been dating since at least 2021. (Sorry, Gottmik!)

Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, X, Instagram, Amazon

Tags

The Brothers Osborne, RuPaul's Drag Race, Pride Month