The Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch Talks About Bernadette’s Beauty Pageant Past

There’s a good chance I’m in some other orbit right now because what tonight’s Big Bang Theory did was so epic, so amazing, so out of this world, that my brain pretty much exploded and sent me shooting straight up Sheldon and Leonard’s elevator shaft into some other planet. Truthfully, I don’t even know if that makes sense, but who cares because we have much more pressing matters to get to—mainly Bernadette’s Miss California Quizno’s 1999 pageant past, Amy’s colonial fan fiction (who else immediately thought, American Girl doll Kirsten?), and Stephen Hawking’s surprise cameo as Sheldon’s bully.

I emailed with Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) immediately after I watched tonight’s episode ahead of time to get her take on this ground-breaking moment.

Glamour: You were so brilliant as the Quiznos beauty pageant contestant! How long were you in hair and makeup?

Melissa Rauch: Thank you so much! Other than the Smurf costume, that was the longest I’ve been in hair and makeup on Big Bang…close to three hours. It took a village just to hold my head straight so I didn’t tip over from the weight of the hair.

Glamour: Haha. I’d like to think that shooting that scene might have been the most fun thing ever.

Melissa: I had a blast shooting it! I love me some big hair. We only did a few takes, excluding me practicing in my bathroom mirror that is…

Glamour: Naturally. Please tell me your actual prom dress back in the day rivaled that dress.

Melissa: I had quite a lot of poof in my prom dress. It was a big ivory frock, and I put so much baby’s breath in my french twist updo that I looked like a walking funeral flower arrangement.

Glamour: At what point did the producers let you know about Bernadette’s beauty pageant past?

Melissa: They gave me a bit of a heads up the week before we shot it. I was so excited with this layer to Bernadette’s past!

Glamour: Any chance we’ll see Bernadette recreate the look for Howie one of these days?

Melissa: I don’t know what the writers have in store in that department, but I would love to rock that ginormous petticoat again at some point.

Glamour: If you had to decide between dressing up on Halloween as your ’90s gymnast character from The Bronze or Bernadette’s Quizno’s pageant look, which one would it be and why?

Melissa: That’s a hard call, I love them both so much! Perhaps I’d go trick or treating or to a parade as Hope Ann Greggory from The Bronze since her warm-up suit is very comfortable for taking to the streets, but then I’d change into Bernadette’s Quiznos pageant costume for a Halloween party at night for a more fancy festive look. That way I get the best of both ’90s hair worlds!

Steven Molaro, Big Bang‘s executive producer and show runner, told me that they went through “many ideas in the writers’ room for humiliating online videos that Bernadette could be in before we landed on teenage beauty pageant.” So what did Molaro think of Rauch’s interpretation? “She killed with it. I could watch that one clip on a loop for an entire episode.” (Trust me, we all could Steven, we all could).

Of course, what we all want to know is whether we’ll see more of beauty pageant queen Bernadette, and/or Amelia and Cooper’s bathtub escapades. “There are no plans at the moment,” explained Molaro, “but you never know. It would definitely be interesting to see what happened when [Amelia] dried off [Cooper] from his bath, or maybe some things are best left to the imagination.” Um, no, Steven, they are not. We want to see it.

And how did they get Stephen Hawking to reprise the role of himself on tonight’s episode? Well, according to Molaro, “We were looking for an Internet bully and Professor Hawking seemed like the most unexpected choice. We contacted him with the idea and he thought it was funny.”

This was not Professor Hawking’s first appearance on the show (that was back in 2012), but it was the most impressive given the timing of the Oscar-nominated The Theory of Everything. Gosh how I’d love to see Eddie Redmayne make a cameo next.

And now, for a new section I’m calling, “Moments I Had to Re-Watch…”

Moments I Had to Re-Watch Part I: Sheldon rewarding Leonard with a ‘Me-Wow’ kitty sticker for his potentially ground-breaking theory. Jim Parsons slapping it on Johnny Galecki, and their banter back and forth was pure genius. These two aren’t as smooth as Joey and Chandler, but they sure are just as enjoyable to watch.

Moments I Had to Re-Watch Part II: I mean, it’s a total given that Bernadette’s pageant home video should come in a separate DVD at this point, but her opening line (“I’m Bernadette Maryann Rostenkowski from Yorba Linda, California!” was straight out of Oprah’s mouth) and Penny’s response (“You look like a talking cupcake!”) was EVERYTHING.

Moments I Had to Re-Watch Part III: Mayim Bialik’s Amy enthusiastically shouting, “Play it again! Play it again!” after we saw Bernadette sing the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” I mean, are the writers trying to kill us with this amazingness?

Moments I Had to Re-Watch Part IV: Penny’s reaction to finding out that Amy writes Little House on the Prairie fan fiction and posts it on the internet. I mean, will you just look at this gem:

Moments I Had to Re-Watch Part V: Stephen Hawking. Period. What this man has accomplished, and how he’s been able to keep his humor in tact (“If you were in a chair for 40 years, you’d be bored too,” reasons Hawking for cyber-bulling Sheldon and Leonard) is nothing short of astonishing.

What was your favorite part about tonight’s episode?