Talking to the first winner of Canada’s Drag Race, Priyanka, is exactly like you would expect. Her energy and enthusiasm leaps through the phone. Delayed almost an hour for our interview because of rehearsals for the Canada’s Drag Race At The Drive In tour that kicks off this weekend at TELUS SPARK, she immediately showed her Canadian-ness with apologies.
"Are you so mad at me? I'm so mad because I'm always early and I'm so upset that I'm late for this. Usually I’m five, 10 minutes early!"
It’s understandable that Priyanka along with the rest of the Queens have had a crazy ride since the season finale Sept 3rd.
"It's been honestly really, really wild. As you know, we're coming down to Calgary this weekend. I'm very excited to see Calgary again for the second time. I was there last month, and the fans are so cool. We're kind of like hitting the ground running. It's just been like, "Oh wow, you win whoo! Now interviews! Now rehearsal! We went from quarantine to doing everything"
She is thrilled to be returning to Calgary. She had a multi-day series of shows last month that included spending time with local queens as well as a visit to the salon and shop of Calgary’s own drag ICON DevaDave.
"I'm very proud to be who I am, but meeting DevaDave made me more proud to be who I am. Seeing a West Indian man run his own little shop. Everyone's so excited about DevaDave, and everybody knows him and everyone so happy to be around him. I was like, you're who I want to be! You are a hero. You are inspiring, you fight for queer people. It was amazing." She recalled. "Some of the other highlights were meeting all the other Queens. I met so many different drag performers who really took me in and I got along with everyone. I was hanging out with all of them. We all went out for dinner and hanging out backstage. When I first walked in, they were like, Oh, Miss Priyanka is here. Is she going to be a diva? But we're all the same because we're all just putting a bunch of fun costumes on and performing really great pop songs that I love."
Hosted by Brooklyn Heights, this weekend’s shows feature top 3 Priyanka, Rita Baga and Scarlett BoBo headlining. Anastarzia Anaquway, BOA and Ilona Verley round out the Calgary stop of the all ages event.
"I honestly feel pretty, pretty blessed because if it wasn't for (Canadians) being able to keep our numbers down, I would feel quite lost. It would be such a bummer that we would, be trying to celebrate being on this amazing show that everyone's talking about and we're not allowed to really go out and celebrate with our favourite people that would have really sucked."
Celebrating with her favourite people was how Priyanka found out she was crowned. Like the USA version, they filmed each of the top 3 as winners, and she found out at the same time the rest of the world did, during a Drag Race finale event at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.
"I found out for the first time that I was the winner that same night. We all had our hearts sink into our throat when Brooklyn said, what's her name? It amazing to be able to be in public and at a party and really give like a full finale experience. But personally it was really, really cool because I just wanted to make my mom proud. She came from Guyana when she was 11 and she really, really fought her way to get family a home and spoil her kids because she didn't get a lot growing up. I was just so thankful that she was able to see that all her support and her education she did for herself really paid off. I was very, very thankful that I was able to do that."
From the start Priyanka was a front runner, and her interviews were one of the many highlights of the season. Coming from a TV background, hosting YTV’s The Zone and The Next Star gave her comfort in front of the camera.
"It helped me in the best way possible, because I was able to be already comfortable in front of the camera. It wasn't that sensory overload of being in front of the camera for the first time. I was able to just take the edge off already and just really use some of my skills to my advantage. However, it didn't work to my advantage on some of the challenges"
She is referring of course to the bomb that was Miss Cleo in The Snatch Game. Priyanka gave us a look at what her plans were and why things fell apart.
"I did nothing! What’s crazy is that I actually planned so many things to say. I planned a reveal where I was going to reveal another turban. The crystal ball on my desk was going to turn into a queen from the past and I was gonna hit her head off. I had so many gags and I honestly sat down, and I was like, Oh no, I'm in my head. I just know there's no coming back from this. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Oh my God. It just looked like it was a very bad mental thing that I went through, but I didn't have a breakdown. I did prepare, I don't know what happened! Sometimes your brain just decides to stop."
Drag Race is not the first show from the USA that has spawned a Canadian version. Shows like Canadian Idol or So You Think You Can Dance Canada were aimed solely at the Canadian audience, with little room to advance one’s career outside of our borders. Drag Race on the other hand aired worldwide, opening doors for the Queens when travel is less restricted.
"Canadian drag is so amazing and it's so cool that we're able to have this outlet to be able to show the world what Canadian drag can do. Our lip syncs, our looks that we pulled, we really shook up the world when it comes to drag race. I think it's for a Canadian Queen its really, really crazy to be getting the international stardom that's coming.. Not out of nowhere, but we were not sure how big the show was going to be. It is really exciting for future Queens to come because they can look forward to that light at the end of the tunnel and they can get excited to be on Canada's Drag Race. Look at Scarlet Bobo, look at Rita Baga, look at Priyanka. You could really be a star with drag. That's so cool that people are buying concert tickets to see if a drag drive in!"
One of the topics of conversation that have been hot topics as of late are diversity on Drag Race. Some point out that all three winners (Season 12, All Stars 5, and Canada) are people of colour, and Drag Race has always included people of colour in the competition. Others feel that the show should include participants like bio-queens (biological women who do drag), Drag Kings, and trans contestants should also be included."
"Like with any TV show, not just drag race, I think it's really, really, really, really important to have representation of all kinds, because like we want to be able to see that different types of people can win different things, not just the same person, My winning has had people saying, wow, it's so nice that there's finally representation. If we could ALL perform at the same shows (as different forms of drag) that we could compete against each other, I think that time will come. It is good that people are fighting for what they want to do and, and what they want. I'm hoping that there's going to be a time for sure."
The other hot topic combines both the comments of judges with the at times toxic nature of social media. Judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman leaving social media after online attacks, and other Queens from both the Canadian and American shows facing rude comments.
"People say that the drag race fandom is super toxic, but I think that if they’re toxic they're not part of the drag race fandom. Whenever someone a fan (of a specific queen), they think that they have to be negative to show people love, which I think is complete bull shit. Online is such a big part of what makes a drag race contestant a star and what makes someone like Cardi B a big star. With all the support on it's so important to stick up for your brothers and sisters because if you're letting things slide you're a part of the problem."
As a contestant, Priyanka had no issues with the judges comments.
"I think that people just treated the judges like contestants, they thought that we were competing against Jeffrey and they were trying to take him down to make us feel better. Anybody can say things nicer, but that's just not the way it works when you are judging somebody. You're going to say some shady things, I've judged some pageants in Toronto and I've said some mean things but thank God the cameras weren't rolling. Jeffrey gets it, he knows what it's like,, coming up in the media scene, the international scene and the acting scene. As long as the contestant walks away with it being a constructive thing, they could from that. Jeffrey's classic line if you have time, you should use it better. That's constructive, we're given a limited amount of time. If they're not using the time, then what's your excuse to look like shit on the runway? It's all part of the challenge, part of the game that we have to play as contestants. It's not going to be easy breezy and you have to be challenged."
The springboard that Drag Race is has been incredible. We have seen incredible shows like We’re Here (Which Priyanka says she bawled during each episode.) Queens have appeared on shows like Glee, The X-Files and Two Broke Girls just to name a few.
"It’s so exciting because I get to pitch all these things to all these different networks and see what sticks. I want to do things that a lot of Drag Queens haven't done before. I want to be cast in like a horror movie and I want to be a walk on role on a show like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I want to take it the extra mile and I want my own show and I want to release more music. I want to do it all. I really, really do."
In an only Canadian type move, the Queens are performing outdoors in early fall. Priyanka admits her costumes aren’t really ideal for a brisk evening.
"The outfits that I have are very skimpy. I'm a little nervous, but I'm very, very, very excited to perform at the Drive In. The shows that we have planned are incredible. It is a full glam, bam, thank you Ma'am production. We have dancers and opening and closing numbers. We have some hits from the show. I'm packing the wedding dress. It's going to be, it's going to be like, truly like Canada's drag race live, where you get all your favorites in one place and I'm SO EXCITED!!!"
With a hundred thousand dollars in her pocket and a grander stage, Priyanka promises to bring her show to the next level. Which is pretty impressive for someone that was voted Toronto’s Best Drag Queen.
"It's making your wig look nicer, make your costume look nicer, really showing off and showing why you snatched the crown. I love choreography, I love dancing. I love all that shit. But my main gig is making the audience feel like they're in on it. I want to have fun with them. I want them to party with me. I'm going to do big tricks and reveals. But at the end of the end of the day, I just want the audience to have fun."
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Contributor Jason Clevett |
Person Priyanka |
Topic Canada's Drag Race | Celebrity Interview | Drag Queen | Drag Race |
