“That was the darkest time, just sitting in the hospital bed alone and being like, ‘Why did I do this to myself?'” Skye said on the All Stars 10 premiere, reflecting on her decision to have a tummy tuck and liposuction in Mexico in 2023.
RuPaul’s Drag Race star DeJa Skye is looking back at a traumatic health scare.
During Friday’s two-episode Season 10 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, the 34-year-old drag queen detailed undergoing weight loss surgery in 2023, recalling how she “almost died” after suffering severe complications.
Skye previously revealed that she underwent plastic surgery in Mexico in late 2023, and had liposuction and a tummy tuck. According to People, her procedures resulted in a 60-pound weight loss. However, Skye said she experienced scary complications during her post-surgery recovery, including suffering blood clots in her lungs and legs, with the pain becoming so severe she “couldn’t even walk” at one point.
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“It wasn’t a very good experience, if I’m being honest,” Skye admitted on Friday’s premiere.
“My body was like, ‘No.’ It was crazy, like, I legit almost died,” she continued. “And that was the darkest time, just sitting in the hospital bed alone and being like, ‘Why did I do this to myself?'”
Skye — who first appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 in 2022 — opened up about her decision to undergo weight loss surgery, sharing whether or not she regrets the procedures now, looking back.
“If I’m being 1,000% honest, nobody went to me and went, ‘You need to lose weight.’ I just got in my head and I over-thunk,” she recalled. “‘Maybe it would help my career? Maybe it would help my drag?’ And in reality, I had it all before. It was just… I still don’t know why I did it.'”
Skye shared more thoughts in a confessional.
“Do I regret it? I do,” she admitted. “Obviously, I’m thinner, but I almost died on that table. And it made me realize that the voices in my head can be my worst f—ing enemy, and I want to do better moving forward.”
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During a conversation with her fellow contestants Aja, Bosco, Irene the Alien, Olivia Lux, and Phoenix in Episode 2, Skye got candid about her insecurities.
“I just constantly feel like I’m not good enough. I just don’t know where it stems from,” she shared. “I don’t know why I can’t let myself just be happy for myself. For some reason, I just care too much what people think.”
While speaking with RuPaul, Skye advised others who are interested in getting a tummy tuck or liposuction to “absolutely do their research” beforehand.
“Go and see a doctor and make sure your body is capable of those things,” she added.
Skye first opened up about her undergoing plastic surgery — and the subsequent “complications” — in an Instagram video in January 2024, calling it the “darkest time of my life.”
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“My body, I guess, is just not equipped for surgery, or maybe [it’s] something that I just didn’t really realize. I’ve never gone through any surgery,” she said. “It’s just been one thing after the other.”
According to Skye, following the surgery in Mexico, she had to return to the hospital after her skin turned yellow.
“I had to go back to the hospital and get three blood transfusions,” she recalled. “I was literally yellow. My skin was yellow. I had lost a lot of blood.”
Skye said she traveled home to the United States two weeks later, only to have to check herself into the ER after experiencing pain and shortness of breath. She said it was discovered that she had blood clots in her lungs and legs, which were affecting her ability to walk.
While her pain fortunately went away, Skye said she continued to suffer severe side effects, including vomiting for “every two hours” for a “couple of days.”
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“My body is just going through an insane amount of trauma,” she said. “Recovery is a very slow process, and I didn’t think about that … Everyone I talk to is [like,] ‘It’ll be worth it.’ It is hard to look to the future when you’re in pain, and just want this to be gone. If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have never got the surgery, never gotten it.”
Skye also opened up about how it wasn’t her physical health that suffered.
“Going through it alone was a really big struggle,” she admitted. “… Mental health is real. I have never been depressed in my life, but it’s hard to stay positive.”
“It’s nothing to laugh at, it’s nothing to bat an eye to,” she continued, adding that she had “never” experienced anxiety before either. “It’s hard. Right now, it’s extremely difficult.”
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
