It’s been nine months since Jimbo introduced Casper the Baloney Ghost to the mainstream and RuPaul “let the music play!” as Pangina Heals wailed backstage in one of the most controversial episodes in Drag Race herstory, yet it’s already time for another international smackdown. On 18 November, four fierce contestants from Canada’s Drag Race – including a former winner – will compete against queens from other global editions of the franchise for the second ‘Queen of the Mothertucking World’ crown. The intriguing cast is as follows: Anita Wigl’it (Down Under season one), Icesis Couture, Kendall Gender (Canada season two), Ra’Jah O’Hara (US season 11 and All Stars 6), Rita Baga (Canada season one), Silky Nutmeg Ganache (US season 11 and All Stars 6), Stephanie Prince (Canada season two), Vanity Milan and Victoria Scone (UK season three).
Victoria, who memorably broke new ground last year as the franchise’s first-ever cis female contestant, tells GAY TIMES that she “jumped” at the chance to battle RuGirls in an international arena. Describing the season as full of ‘goopery and gaggery’ – “Yes, mama, boots the house down okcurrr!” she adds, very seriously – the trailblazer teases a “plethora” of shocking moments while her season three sister Vanity promises “drama, mama”. With hateful online behaviour of so-called ‘fans’ in mind, the drag assassin behind the iconic Scandalous lip-sync showdown adds: “We’re drag queens and we’re here to entertain you. It’s a television show. Don’t take it too seriously, hun.”
Ahead of the Canada vs the World premiere, we caught up with Vanity and Victoria to discuss their highly-anticipated Drag Race comeback, how they’ve evolved as entertainers since their season and whether Icesis Couture’s second pursuit of a crown left them threatened.
GAY TIMES: Why was Canada vs the World the right season for you both to launch a comeback?
Victoria: I think for me, obviously, I have quite a bit to show because I didn’t get to show off a lot the first time around. No one’s fault, other than mine, my own knees. Given the option, of course, in my opinion I was gonna choose the option where I could compete against incredible international queens in an international country. I knew that I was going to jump at the chance to come back any which way, because I did want to show more of what I can do. Hopefully, I’ve done that, but you’ll have to tune in to find out!
Vanity: Tune in to find out!
Victoria: On iPlayer!
Vanity: Coming back was very important because I didn’t get to show much of what I did on season three. Although I made it to the top four, there was a lot more for me to show and express. I wanted to give the people more of my personality this time around because I felt like I was in my shell quite often on season three. It was a way to prove to the world, because it is Canada vs the World, that I am worthy to be back on your TV screens. You’ll have to tune in to find out what I bring, on BBC iPlayer!
GAY TIMES: The BBC have you both whipped, don’t they?
Victoria: They have!
Vanity: They really do.
Victoria: I cannot confirm nor deny.
Vanity: Media trained!
GAY TIMES: You were both iconic on season three. Victoria, you made herstory as the franchise’s first-ever cis female contestant and Vanity, your motherfucking lip-syncs…
Vanity: Thank you so much.
Victoria: Say it again!
Vanity: Top tier.
GAY TIMES: Did you both feel pressure to live up to how well you performed and came across the first time around?
Victoria: Yeah. I was only really there, competitively, for one proper episode and I was in the top two. So, even then, that was a lot to live up to. I felt pressure with everything because I didn’t know if I could do this or not. You’ll have to tune in and find out!
Vanity: You better give it to them! Yes, 100%. The pressure was on, not knowing who was going to be on the season and to find out that you have people like Ra’Jah O’Hara and Silky Nutmeg Ganache, who are huge lip-sync assassins within their own right… It’s quite threatening. Living up to that expectation, can I pull out another Scandalous lip-sync? It’s a ton of pressure. But also, it’s not just pressure on me being a lip-sync assassin, it’s pressure on what I can bring to the competition with elevated costumes and wigs. That was the pressure there and preparing for this was a lot of pressure as well. But you have to tune in to find out on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer!
GAY TIMES: Let me get this straight: I have to tune in to find out on BBC iPlayer?
Victoria: BBC Three. iPlayer. BBC Three. This Saturday at 6am.
Vanity: And Sunday at 9pm!
GAY TIMES: I just wanna put it out there: if Canada vs the World provides us with a Vanity Milan vs Ra’Jah O’Hara lip-sync, I will honestly transcend.
Victoria: You have to tune in to find out.
Vanity: You have to tune in to find out. But that is a dream in itself, to be able to actually stand next to someone like Ra’Jah O’Hara or Silky Nutmeg Ganache and create Black girl magic on stage. It would be so amazing.
GAY TIMES: I have to tune in… to find out. There’s been so many international iterations of Drag Race, so were there any queens on the series that you were maybe unfamiliar with?
Vanity: I knew all of them. I watched bits of their seasons and I follow all of them on social media, so it was such a big shock for me walking in and seeing the cast going, ‘Icons! Icons! Icons!’ It was iconic just standing on that stage. Also, being with my sister Victoria.
Victoria: Yes, I did know of and watched them all on their season. I was very excited to meet everyone and mostly excited to see Anita Wig’lit’s mouth in person.
Vanity: Jesus! The smile is gorgeous.
Victoria: She’s a beautiful person.
GAY TIMES: The cast also includes Icesis Couture, who makes herstory as the second former winner to return for an All Stars (bar All Stars 7) slash Verses the World season after Bebe Zahara Benet. How did you feel when she sashayed into the werkroom? Did you feel threatened?
Victoria: Yeah I was like, ‘She done already done had herses!’
Vanity: She got the coin!
Victoria: ‘She’s already got $100,000, what she doing here?’
Vanity: My opinion is exactly the same like, ‘C’mon girl, you won some money.’ But it’s Drag Race, if you get that call and you wanna come back, that’s your choice to come back.
Victoria: She said it perfectly herself, ‘Who best to represent Canada than a winner?’ So, she’s not wrong.
GAY TIMES: It ups the stakes to have a winner in the werkroom, right?
Vanity: It really does. It ups the competition even more because you’re competing against someone who’s already won or someone who’s made it to the top three or quite far in their career. I will say, the fans really do start this battle between queens and it’s unnecessary because you’re watching Drag Race as a fan, so just watch Drag Race as a fan and stop pitting us against each other. Stop making comments about people watching the show. We get calls, we say yes for opportunities. Who wouldn’t say yes?
Victoria: Absolutely, we’re giving you entertainment, so say thank you!
Vanity: We’re drag queens and we’re here to entertain you. It’s a television show. Don’t take it too seriously, hun. It’s just a TV show that we filmed a year ago.
Victoria: I’m excited to watch it because I can’t remember a bloody thing that happened. Tune in to find out!
GAY TIMES: This is such an interesting batch of contestants, how would you describe the dynamic of the cast?
Vanity: It’s like one crazy family.
Victoria: We all became Canadians.
GAY TIMES: How did the quintessentially deadpan and sarcastic British sense-of-humour go down with the rest of the queens and the panel?
Victoria: Can’t remember. Vanity?
Vanity: I will say this… This kind of answers the question: Canadian people are very nice and everything is said with such kindness and it’s never to tear you down, it’s always to uplift. That’s what we took on in this group, as well, like, we took on the Canadian way. We became really close sisters. We can shade each other but at the same time, we can love on each other and I think that’s what we’ve taken from Canada vs the World.
GAY TIMES: With the series on Canadian turf, do you feel like the Canadian queens had an advantage in the competition?
Victoria: You’d like to think that it was all fair game. Well, people have obviously pointed out that, interestingly, Ra’Jah and Silky have been on the same season as Brooke Lynn Hytes before, so potentially that’s even… There couldn’t be any tomfoolery, it would get clocked straight away in my opinion. I don’t think there was any of that at all. I’d like to think it was fair game.
Vanity: 100% agree with that. Definitely fair game. In the words of Gemma Collins, ‘I ain’t threatened hun.’ It’s a competition at the end of the day and they didn’t hold precedence against like, ‘Because you’re Canadian, we hold you to a certain standard.’
GAY TIMES: Tell me what it was like being judged by Brooke Lynn Hytes as opposed to RuPaul?
Vanity: I plead the fifth. No, I’m joking! Ru is an icon, right? She is the mother of drag. When you’re being judged by the mother of drag and someone who has been a contestant, you can feel the difference because Ru’s looking for a specific thing whereas Brooke Lynn has been through this situation before and understands how hard it is to get ready and be on the show and be a contestant, as well as being a really fair judge as well.
Victoria: I have just never seen anything as beautiful as Brooke Lynn Hytes. It’s dazzling.
Vanity: Jesus! Out of drag, in drag, it is… Mother is mothering.
Victoria: Mummy, daddy, everyone in-between. My god.
GAY TIMES: I know it’s only been a year since you competed on UK season three, but how have you both evolved as entertainers?
Vanity: I think I’m a lot more confident when it comes to speaking. If you remember the comedy challenge from season three, that was nerve-wrecking for me. Confidence is something I lacked and coming from season three and going into everyday working life, I became more confident in my abilities.
Victoria: I’m the same old bastard, I’m not going to lie.
Vanity: But with more money, honey!
Victoria: Yeah, nothing’s changed. Better costumes, better outfits, better backing tracks.
Vanity: Period! Better mixes.
Victoria: I’m on the West End now darling, I’m literally calling in from my West End changing room, so that’s not too bad.
Vanity: Let them know! Death Drop: Back in the Habit, in a city near you.
GAY TIMES: UK vs the World was one of the most shocking seasons of Drag Race ever, from Jimbo’s unhinged ham-assisted talent show number to the eliminations. Can we expect Canada vs the World to follow in its footsteps when it comes to the goopery and the gaggery?
Victoria: I would say yes. Yes!
Vanity: There is a lot of drama, mama. I will say that, yes.
Victoria: Goopery, gappery, runway-ery, challenge-y. Yes, mama, boots the house down, okcurrr! There’s a plethora of gooping to be enjoyed by the audience, without giving anything away. I just can’t wait, to be honest. I’m itching to find out what happened, because I can’t remember.
Vanity: A plethora of goopery and gaggery.
GAY TIMES: What do you think Canada vs the World says about modern day drag and the evolution of Drag Race?
Victoria: I think that there’s a very important message to be had, once the season has been watched. We’ve kind of summed it up a bit, that drag isn’t inherently nasty and doesn’t have to be horrid and bitchy, backstabby. We only have each other to look out for each other, and we are our chosen family as queer people, whether you like it or not. That’s what I think is the takeaway.
Vanity: I couldn’t have said it any better. Use that quote, please. We’re a family. What family doesn’t have their dramas? What family doesn’t love each other hard? We’re sisters. Like Victoria said, we’re chosen family.
Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs the World premieres 18 November in Canada on Crave and 19 November in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
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