RuPaul has no plans to sashay away anytime soon.
The saucy host of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which marks its 100th episode and Season 8 premiere Monday night (9 p.m. on Logo), says he’s dedicated to wigging out and grooming a new generation of drag queens.
“I’ve always been motivated by what interests me — color, music, dancing, love, beauty,” he tells The Post by phone from LA. “As long as it’s fun and has those elements, I’m into it.”
RuPaul says time has “gone by so fast” since he first uttered the phrase “Lip sync for your life!” in February 2009. But the 55-year-old performer is more surprised that he’s still strutting his statuesque self 23 years after his seminal hit “Supermodel (You Better Work)” landed on the charts in 1993.
“I’ve been in show business a long time, and you can’t go in with too many expectations,” he says, adding with a laugh. “But I approach everything I do like it’s the second coming of Christ.”
He continues to make music — his latest album, “Butch Queen,” dropped Friday — and his show is seen in countries as far away as Australia. “Drag Race” has spawned a handful of spinoffs, and he says he has been approached about doing a UK version.
That’s not all: On April 11, Logo will debut “Gay For Play Game Show Starring RuPaul,” a pop-culture quiz series he calls “part ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘Family Feud,’ ‘Match Game,’ ‘Deal or No Deal.’”
“To have this kind of success so late in the game is amazing,” he says.
“Drag Race” continues to serve up a panel of celebrity judges like Kat Dennings, Gigi Hadid, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Michelle Williams and a parade of pumps and pageantry as a dozen performers — including three New Yorkers this season [see below] — battle to become “America’s Next Drag Superstar.”
It’s Logo’s top-rated show, snaring 348,000 viewers for the Season 7 premiere in March last year.
But in this era of vapid Instagrammers and YouTube stars, contestants can be more fame-crazed than polished. In one episode last season, underachievers led RuPaul to uncharacteristically snap, “F—ing make it happen! I don’t want to hear any goddamn excuses anymore!”
His message, as sharp as a fresh-cut diamond: This may be fun, but it isn’t a popularity contest or an Internet meme machine. It’s a serious business.
“The show has now launched the careers of 100 girls. People come and go. The only change is the turnover rate of celebrity is faster now,” he says. “So if you put in the hard yards, you know how to come up with something to keep people interested.”
When asked about his series-run favorites, RuPaul lets out a huge laugh, a trademark rolling cackle that greets viewers every time the show returns from commercial breaks.
“Well, with all my kids, as an honorary parent, I really cannot pick favorites,” he says. “There are lots of queens in the world, but I understand what it took for them to get there. Even to decide ‘I’m gonna audition’ is a huge, huge thing.”
THEY BETTER WORK
Here are some miscellaneous tidbits from the New York performers who will hit the runway this season.
ACID BETTY
Jamin Ruhren, 37, Brooklyn
First time he did drag: “I was very young, being passed around as my sister’s cousin from out of town with her cheerleader pompoms as boobs and hair. That’s when I knew I was going to be a very passable looking girl when I got older, even if I looked like a fat Raggedy Ann.”
As a kid, he wanted to be: “I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon when I grew up but that didn’t stop me from studying theater and dance in college. I hope that Acid Betty will finally be able to pay off all my college loans.”
Why he performs: “My mother had me performing and in local theater since I was 7-years-old, averaging two to three shows a year. Later in life I developed an anxiety of performing and crowds and figured dressing up as a clown and haunting NY clubs and performing in bars was a great way to kick the problem.”
Favorite NYC spot to perform: “My favorite place I performed is the center ring of the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center. Me amongst rock stars, elephants, clowns and contortionists seemed very fitting.”
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN
Caldwell Tidicue, 29, Upper West Side
First time he did drag: “Gay Pride 2008 and I went to a lesbian party.”
As a kid, he wanted to be: “An accountant because my mother was an accountant, but then I found out I really just wanted to be my mom.”
Why he performs: “‘Cause I wasn’t hugged enough as a child and love attention.”
Favorite NYC spot to perform: “Barracuda.”
THORGY THOR
Shane Thor Galligan, 31, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
First time he did drag: “Oh man, I wore an oversized vintage mohair sweater with checkered spandex ’80s stretch pants and patent leather seven-inch platforms. Popped on top was a giant orange clown ‘fro. Needless to say, I looked like a crazy person, but I had a freakin’ blast as usual!”
As a kid, he wanted to be: ” I always wanted to be a garbage man growing up, because they got to ride on the back of the truck. For years, every project I did growing up, I wrote about riding in the back of the garbage truck. I eventually went to school for music and worked as a professional violinist in New York ….. riding on the back of a truck.”
Why he performs: “I can’t help it, I’m addicted! It’s like catching a theater bug … Once you catch that spark of performing, you can’t deny how it fuels you to get up in the morning. By morning, I mean 2 p.m., of course.”
Favorite NYC spot to perform: “I like a good stage! Industry bar has a great stage with wonderful lighting, but I’m a Brooklyn chick! I love stomping around my local Williamsburg spots like Metropolitan, Macri Park and TNT. Sugarland was my favorite, may it R.I.P.”