Kandy Muse reveals gameplay that resulted in ‘House of Villains’ betrayal

Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of Villains season 2, episode 10, “Why Are All These Villains Crying?”

Kandy Muse tried everything to save herself on House of Villains, but not even an Oscar-worthy sob-story performance full of her trademark star quality could sway the remaining schemers from voting her out right before the finale.

“I really thought I was going to win, and, in fact, I should have been the winner,” the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 and All Stars 8 finalist tells Entertainment Weekly. “But I think sometimes it’s best to leave as the robbed queen. And you know what? I’ll take it. And I’m going to look delicious at the finale, so it’s going to be great.”

Below, Kandy Muse reveals how unseen gameplay ultimately led to her exit, why she’s now proud to call herself a villain, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You built really strong relationships all season long with most of the eliminated players (who vote for the winner in the end). If you had made it to the finale, do you think you would have beaten everyone still left in the game?

KANDY MUSE: Oh my God, absolutely. One of the reasons why I was eliminated was because Wes got in Jessie’s ear. Every time someone would get eliminated, I would always text them and check up on them. I knew that, if the jury was anything like season 1, they were going to have to come back and vote, so I knew if I was checking up on the eliminated villains, we would build some kind of rapport and they would come back and vote for me as the winner. Of course, Wes caught wind of that, and that’s why I was eliminated. There’s no doubt in my mind that had I gone to the finale, I would’ve absolutely won.

How did he find out what you were doing?

The thing is, the walls in the House of Villains house are very thin. I can be in my room having a conversation, and Wes can be around the corner listening to me, eavesdropping, and I would have no idea.

That’s a big part of The Challenge — people are always listening to private conversations just around the corner.

[Laughs] Oh yeah. There were times where I would talk to Jessie and I’d be like, “I’m keeping up with so-and-so after they left” and all of that, because me and Jessie were genuine friends. I was never worried that he would go back and tell Wes. But as we saw in the episode, Wes was climbing up on the house and eavesdropping on conversations. I mean, I get it. Wes is from The Challenge. I don’t expect anything less from Wes. He wants to win really bad and he will stop at nothing.

How do you feel about your exit now that you’ve seen it in the episode?

Part of me wishes that I would’ve just packed my bags and walked out of the front door. I really regret not just leaving by myself, because I shouldn’t have given anyone the satisfaction of pressing a button and sending me home. Because I knew that the votes were going to be unanimous. I knew that I wasn’t going to stay. I wish that I just would’ve just walked out, self-eliminated, and have a blessed day. That would’ve been a moment. I regret it every single day.

Jessie promised he would never put you on the Hit List, so what happened?

I blame Wes. Yes, while Jessie is a grown-ass man and he can make his own decisions, Wes really got his ear and told him, “If you take Kandy to the finale, you’re going to lose.” That really got in Jessie’s head. I get it, it’s gameplay, but I was genuinely hurt because we were honestly really good friends. That’s why I was so emotional before I got eliminated. I just got betrayed by someone who I genuinely thought was my friend when literally just last night, you were telling me you weren’t going to put me up.

Jessie originally planned to put himself on the Hit List with Wes, thinking the house would unanimously save him and vote out Wes. What did you think of that plan and how it immediately fell apart?

I didn’t even know about that plan until I watched it on TV. I didn’t know that that was a thing, but he should have gone with his plan and let me out of it. Leave me off of the Hit List, thank you. But I don’t know if the plan would’ve worked out for him, because I don’t think New York would have voted for Wes and neither would have Larsa, so he would’ve been eliminated.

But are we shocked that New York went and told Wes the plan? No, of course not. I thought it was hilarious. Of course New York would because, duh, she’s New York. And she had the secret alliance with Wes. She was like, “Oh yeah, I’ve been wanting Wes gone,” and then it cuts to her confessional and she’s like, “Oh, hell no.” I thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Did you know that Wes had all these secret alliances going on?

No. Wes was very secretive in the house, but I knew that he had something going on because he was very quiet and he was very comfortable. I didn’t know he had them alliances happening, but yeah.

Take me back to the nominations ceremony where you and New York absolutely destroyed Jessie. What was it like filming that moment where you read him to filth?

He deserved it in that moment, putting me and New York up. I don’t see how he would think that he was going to get out of that one without being cursed out. I love when I told him, “You work out to make up for the balls you don’t have.” And then New York called him a chicken fetus. That was hilarious. We were just taking turns, going back and forth. I am sure he was very overwhelmed. He didn’t know what to do with himself. Although it sucked being up on the Hit List, it made for another iconic moment, so why not? It went on for a while.

After the Hit List nomination, before we all got emotional on the couch, I was cursing everyone out. Wes got cursed out, Safaree got cursed out, Larsa got cursed out, Jessie got cursed out multiple times, because I already knew they weren’t going to vote for me, so I just let everyone have it. I packed my s— and then I went downstairs and cursed everyone out…. There’s a lot of good deleted scenes.

What did you say to them?

I remember it was Safaree, Larsa, and Wes sitting at the bar, and I remember walking by them and I was just like, “You boring-ass bitches. Good luck making a TV show without me.” And they were all so shocked. Larsa was like, “What did I do?” And I was like, “You know you’re not going to vote for me girl. Enough.”

Were any of your tears real during the banishment ceremony, or was it all a ploy to manipulate the vote?

I can make myself cry real easy. I was already in my feelings because I was hurt that Jessie had betrayed me, so I knew I could make myself cry. I thought to myself, “If I make myself cry and give a sob story, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll let me stay.” Of course that didn’t happen, but hey, what can you do? It was a done deal. I knew that Larsa was not going to vote for me because I had just put her on my Hit List. I knew that Safaree was not going to vote against New York, and Wes wanted me gone — he told me himself. So at that moment, I already knew, Girl, I’m not staying. It’s okay.

What did you think of how Jessie cried before voting to eliminate you?

Jessie felt like an a–hole after he had put me up on the Hit List. I told him, “What you did was so messed up. You looked at me in the eyes and told me I wasn’t going to go up. How dare you, as a friend, do that and betray me?” So he felt really bad about it. But at that point I was like, if you feel so bad about it, then let’s switch spots.

After you left, who did you want to win?

I think I speak for everyone when I say New York. I think it’s time that New York wins a TV show for once.

How did you feel about Safaree making it further than you after your fight earlier this season where you called him a “prolapsed a–hole?”

[Laughs] Yeah, I wasn’t shocked. Safaree is very charming and very likable, and he was fun to be around, so I wasn’t shocked that he made it that far in the competition. Do I think it’s a dumb idea for Jessie to bring him into the finale? We’re going to have to wait and see and see what happens, but I wasn’t shocked. Me and Safaree have a group chat together, so we’re really good friends. He gave me a fur coat, one of his very expensive fur coats, before I left the house.

So there’s no bad blood between you now?

No. In the house, we can all hate each other. After the show wrapped and finished, it was one of those things of what happened in the house, happened in the house. There’s no bad blood. It was an experience we all got to do together and it was so fun.

You previously told EW, “I don’t even consider myself a villain,” but here you are on House of Villains a year later, so close to earning the title of ultimate supervillain. What changed? Do you consider yourself a villain now? 

When I said that I don’t consider myself a villain, I think by that I meant I wasn’t necessarily an evil, mean person. To me, a villain is someone that is an iconic character from a movie or a TV show. Someone who is memorable, someone who makes memorable moments. And I think that that’s what I’ve done on any of the shows that I’ve been on. Being on House of Villains is no different. I don’t think that any of the people that were in season 2 were mean people. I think we all are just misunderstood, very opinionated people who make really great TV moments and are just there to have a good time. Villain to me just means an iconic person. After now being on House of Villains, I absolutely take the title of being a villain, and I love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

House of Villains airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on E!.

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