RuPaul's Drag Race star Briar Blush hospitalised and may now have permanent organ damage after collapsing live on show
A RuPaul’s Drag Race star who collapsed live on stage has revealed a battle with sepsis which could have left her with a permanently damaged her organ.
Briar Blush, known offstage as Micael Donegan, collapsed on stage during a recent episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, meaning the 18th season was off to an eventful start.
While receiving her comments from the judges Briar passed out. Shortly afterwards her fellow queens attempted to revive her, and the judges called for medics. Briar ultimately sashayed away later in the episode, and now she’s revealed the reason she fainted.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the star explained that she now knows she had undiagnosed pneumonia whilst filming was happening, which led to her collapse. This then turned to sepsis and she was hospitalised.
Recalling the incident, she told the publication: “I remember getting warm in the head. I blinked, and thought Juicy Love Dion [a fellow contestant] was just looking at me sideways. I didn’t realise I was on the ground. I was mad for a second. I looked around and saw queens on stools and Ru screaming for medics. I didn’t realise I’d fainted.”
She added that when she did realise she had passed out she was “stressed” and “scared”.
The star went on to explain what happened next: “Following the show, I went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was told I had walking pneumonia for weeks, which later turned into sepsis.
“The pneumonia happened during the show, sepsis happened after the show. I got very sick after filming. Athena, [referring to fellow RuPaul’s contestant Athena Dion]. told me I looked worse, so I went back to the doctor and ended up having sepsis.”
Briar claimed that she was also treated for the “wrong kind of pneumonia”, which led to her health suddenly becoming “more dire” and then saw her hospitalised with sepsis.
She was in hospital for two to three days, and Briar Blush revealed that her Drag Race collapse actually resulted in her left lung being badly damaged.
She went on: ” When you’re sick that long, it can cause lasting damage to the lungs. My lung may or may not ever be the same as it was, but I’m in a much better place with my health.”
- RuPaul's Drag Race season 18 airs on MTV, with new episodes airing every Friday.