The Real Friends of WeHo Respond to All the Negative Backlash

Sashay away, haters!

The Real Friends of WeHo is an upcoming reality TV show following six gay friends in West Hollywood.

While MTV is promising plenty of drama and an "unfiltered and honest look" at the guy's lifestyles in California, the show is already receiving a ton of backlash for being "fake," with one of the costars, Dorion Renaud, claiming he isn't friends with any of the cast.

To make matters more complicated, fans of RuPaul's Drag Race are upset with MTV for its Friday night programming. New episodes of Drag Race have been shorted to just one hour after airing for an hour and a half on VH1 since season ten.

Plus, new episodes of Untucked won't air right after Drag Race once The Real Friends of WeHo premieres. Instead, Untucked will now air after WeHo, thus splitting up Drag Race content on Friday nights.

One of the stars of The Real Friends of WeHo is Canada Drag Race's Brad Goreski, who serves as a judge on the show.

"The [Drag Race] fanbase is always super passionate. That's why we love them. They're right to be upset if they want to be upset, but as talent on the show, we're not responsible for where the show ends up. I love the Drag Race community. I love the Drag Race fans and I will continue to love them, no matter what," Goreski tells Out.

As a Drag Race fan himself, WeHocostar Jaymes Vaughan shares a similar sentiment with the fans.

"I would like 120 minutes of Drag Race. If there's anything I can do to get that, that's what I would like," Vaughan adds. "I'm the Drag Race superfan! We did this show, each of us for different reasons, but I can personally speak for myself. I did it for little, scared, gay me that was in those very dark places when I was younger."

Two of the show's castmates are new to the world of reality TV: influencer Joey Zauzig and actor Curtis Hamilton.

"Some people are not going to like us and some people are going to love us. I'm just trying to prepare for that because it's my first time that I'll be dealing with that. Getting to know these boys was everything to me and we're like a little family now," Zauzig tells Out.

"As a Black guy, there's not a ton of representation there," Hamilton adds. "I know some negativity is probably to come as well, but at the end of the day, I think it's going to make me a stronger me. All of us need to support one another and we're all in this together."

Rounding out the cast is Todrick Hall. The star is known professionally for his viral music videos, previously judging RuPaul's Drag Race, and touring the world. However, he's also infamous for a slew of public scandals, which he tackles head-on in WeHo.

"I did think that it was important for me to be transparent," Hall tells Out. "If people are invested and committed to disliking you, there's nothing that you'll be able to say to change their minds. My goal is just to speak my truth and I hope that people see a nuanced person or see color in the story that has been, up until now, black and white."

The Real Friends of WeHo premieres this Friday on MTV. To see the full interviews with the cast, check out the video below.

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