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UCLA women's basketball star Lauren Betts is used to being in the spotlight, but this time, she's left her comfort zone in the paint to get her face painted instead. Betts and five other NCAAW players appeared on season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, going all out and fully committing to becoming drag queens for a day.
Joining Betts were Talia von Oelhoffen from USC, Nevaeh Dean and Hunter Hernandez from UC Irvine, the latter's sister Maya Hernandez from Loyola Marymount, and Abby Prohaska from San Diego State.
The May 16 episode was centered around a makeover challenge that featured the six women's college basketball athletes, involving them in creating a drag character, writing song lyrics, and hitting the runway with a choreographed dance performance.
While the NCAAW players were there to learn about the art form of drag and have a fun time, there were moments when they opened up and shared some of the difficulties that come with being female athletes — especially high-level ones that are under national scrutiny.
“I think everyone expects us to be, like, super masculine,” Betts expressed when asked about which aspect she finds difficult to deal with. “No, I like to dress up, I like to do my makeup, I like to get all glammed up.”
Betts went on to elaborate on how the process of being on Drag Race was able to push her to grow and ultimately had a positive impact on her.
“You know, I've never felt this sense of, like, confidence as I do now,” the young phenom said. “I think playing college basketball is so hard, and it's really hard to be confident all the time. And you ladies have just made me feel so special, I'm just so thankful for all of you.”
Hunter Hernandez contributed her thoughts about the difference between how men's and women's basketball players are treated by the media and fans.
“I feel like just earning the same respect as men [is the most difficult part],” the Irvine guard said. “We do the same amount, but we get so much less respect.”
After all six pairs received glowing critiques from the judges, von Oelhoffen compared the hurdles the drag artists go through to what women's basketball players endure, strengthening the connections within the group even more.
“I feel like, as DI athletes, what we do on a day-to-day basis is very hard. We're in the 1% of athletes at that level, but this is like a different type of hard,” the USC women's basketball guard added. “I know we all have so much respect for what you guys do.”
The players' emotional revelations ended up being on theme for the day, as their participation resulted in a surprise $2,500 donation from Drag Race to “Play Like a Girl,” which helps combat the issues that plague young girls in sports.
However, Betts and von Oelhoffen did have time to trade friendly jabs as members of the crosstown-rival Bruins and Trojans. When asked which side would win the next showdown, both players exchanged competitive looks, and von Oelhoffen dropped the mic on the topic with the perfect, simple two-word response.
“We'll see.”
Betts and Hernandez's partners were chosen as the top two of the week, and Hunter — who chose the name Estelle for her drag persona — ultimately took the overall win with partner Irene the Alien.
After the episode aired, Betts took to her Instagram story to react to the official reveal of her transformation. “Pretty privilege duo,” she started, referring to the nickname she and Drag Race partner Bosco jokingly came up with for themselves.
“Thank you for making this the most amazing experience,” Betts said with a heart hand emoji. On a photo of her drag alter ego, “The Goddess,” the 21-year-old simply wrote, “Unreal.”
Lauren Betts, Talia von Oelhoffen, and the remaining highlighted women's college basketball players can be seen on RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars season 10, episode 3 on Paramount+.
