Although Le Fil smashed the Canada’s Drag Race vs the World premiere, earning swathes of support online for his Le Fil-osophical “gender-fucking” lyrics on ‘This Beat’, he failed to maintain momentum. In episode two, Le Fil played ‘The Girl Looking for Love’ in the Traitors-inspired reality series The Hole, a character he resonated with due to his own difficulties dating as an androgynous person.
Following mixed critiques for his improv and ‘Mother Nature’ runway, the Brighouse performer faced the lip-sync smackdown with Tynomi Banks to the beat of Ida Corr and Fedde le Grande’s electro-house classic ‘Let Me Think About It’, a song that the latter queen has allegedly performed “for the last 10 years”. “I was like, ‘Okay… I’m going to be stepping into her usual routine here!’” Le Fil tells GAY TIMES. “When we were getting ready she was like, ‘If anyone has to lip-sync against me to that song they’re going home.’”
We caught up with Le Fil to discuss his Canada’s Drag Race vs the World experience, how his performance in The Hole (ahem…) was “by no means the worst” and his upcoming music, which is set to feature Cathy Dennis, the genius pop songwriter and producer behind hits such as ‘Toxic’, ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ and ‘I Kissed a Girl’.
Le Fil, my androgynous, gender-bending-fucking icon, how are you babe?
Hello! I’m good, thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to see you, Sam.
I’m getting deja vu? You look gorgeous, by the way. Is this outfit the iconic…
This is the one! This is the jacket that is made from the fabric of my DragCon booth that all fans signed. I’m wearing it because there’s so many comments on here like, ‘I want to see you on the TV again!’, ‘I want to see you on All Stars‘, ‘I want to see you on vs [the World]’ At the time I was like, ‘I’m never gonna do it.’ Then the call came and I’d heard great things [about competing on Canada’s Drag Race], all this fabulousness. So I thought, ‘For these people who have written all this stuff on here, I’m gonna do it for them.’
I think I signed that?
I think you did!
I’m sad to be speaking with you because I really did not expect you to go this early. Did you ever think that an improv challenge would be responsible for sending you home?
Again! Bearing in mind, I have actually made it a third of the way through the series. There’s only six episodes! It’s a capsule collection. The fact that I’ve done that is really good. Yeah, the improv. From [competing on] the UK one, I already sensed that improv challenges are kind of hard because humour is subjective. This one I was gonna go in guns blazing and take on Ru’s advice from last time. I, by no means, was the worst! It’s just the way the cookie crumbles, someone has to leave. We filmed so many hours of stuff and there’s multiple cameras, so much footage. There’s eight of us, so maybe the choice of what came out… I don’t know what we see. But, I was really happy I got to meet Lisa Rinna, and I cried on her shoulder! It was hilarious and camp, and just a really funny improv challenge. It’s so OTT and ridiculous.
I agree, I don’t think you were the worst. So, what did you make of the judges’ critiques?
I’m always intrigued as to what the judges see, versus what happens. In season four, I was rimming a cat and it never got aired. Alan was pissing himself and in the judges’ critiques was like, ‘I didn’t laugh.’ I was like, ‘Well, you did? You were on set and you were pissing yourself?’ When it came to improv on Canada I was like, ‘I wonder what they’re watching and what they’ve seen as the short edit. They might’ve seen my worse jokes and not my good ones.’ By the time the comments came, I was prepared. There were things like, ‘You could’ve pushed the character in this direction,’ but when it comes to the issue of improv, I did offer lots of different things, jokes, visuals, words and fashion bits.
I was trying different gags out to see what would work and what would land. It’s hard in that environment because no one is rapporting with you unless it’s a fellow character. There were times I was offering stuff to Lemon saying, ‘I really fancy you, as the only man in the room…’ and she would be like, ‘You’re barking up the wrong tree.’ In improv, that’s a block. You’re not taking the suggestion and running with it. But that wasn’t picked up for her critiques? She was praised for it. For mine, it was picked up on.
Did you ever consider making your character a bi/pan/fluid queen, then you could’ve come on to everybody?
This also came up in critique. In my confessionals for “The Hole”, I was this rough Yorkshire man – my average self! And I wanted to femme up and be the blonde heterosexual woman. That was the crux of that character, so I went on set and there was only one man in the room, originally, and it was Brad. Then I was like, ‘Ooh! I saw Lemon’. So, I was really fixated on those two men. I was like, ‘I’m a girl who wants to fall in love, [but] I’m not up for lesbian sex. I’m in there to meet my husband.’ I wanted to stay true to that focus and see how far that could go. But, I don’t think the other girls were worth fancying, to be honest. Did you see Kennedy?
Yeah, she knows how to make herself look rough for an improv challenge – and then win it, so good on Kennedy!
I know! I think I said in the show, but me and Tynomi were chatting and I was like, ‘I didn’t even think she was that funny?’ But then she won it! So, humour is subjective because I actually thought Cheryl would have won. I loved her character and how quick she was. She was definitely in my top.
It feels like the UK queens were a bit robbed this episode…
Completely. Although Cheryl’s outfit, I think that’s why she didn’t win! To her own words, as well…
When Kennedy saved Fierce, how did you feel going into the lip-sync, knowing that Tynomi is quite a revered performer?
The worst thing, and it’s not the fact that Tynomi is an amazing performer because she is and I love her, is the lip-sync song is her song to do shows to. She’s done it for the last 10 years. I was like, ‘Okay… I’m going to be stepping into her usual routine here.’ When we were getting ready she was like, ‘If anyone has to lip-sync against me to that song, they’re going home,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah they are! That’s your song!’
That’s another Blu Hydrangea vs Cheryl Hole to Cheryl Cole situation, isn’t it?
Right? You gotta do what you gotta do. So for my lip-sync I wanted to come out as a lip-sync robot along the factory line.
Last week, your girl group performance was met with an overwhelmingly positive response online. A lot of fans were in uproar that you were not in the top three, so what was it like to see that support?
When you’re filming stuff, especially for me when I’m writing music, you never know what the response is gonna be. We were in LA when the premiere came out and my signal was a bitch. And then Fierce comes up to me like, ‘Have you seen all the comments on Canada’s Drag Race Twitter?’ That was really sweet. It feels right! It’s nice to have that reception and it’s nice that people on a worldwide level get to see it now as well. It’s where I feel most comfortable, when I’m doing music, performing. The reception to my unique entrance outfit, my balloons in my hair, the girl band challenge and my cultural Chinese dragon outfit, the whole thing was really good for me. I would have to agree with some fans, I think I should’ve won! I mean, in that top three group, there was at least one who did not know the words to her own lyrics…
This cast is a mixture of legends, new queens and chaotic personalities. Pre-season, however, fans complained over the three or four-timers. What did you make of that controversy?
Let them complain. It’s fine. People love an opinion. Opinions are like bum holes, aren’t they? Everyone’s got one and they stink. They have been on a few times, but each time they’re trying to improve and get better at what they do. The fact they’re still in the competition warrants that. It means they’ve been around the block a few times and trying their hardest to be at the top. If they weren’t in there then I’d be like, ‘Ooh, that’s a few practice goes wasted for them.’ I didn’t mind, in a way, being kicked out so that they could carry on to get their flowers because they’ve been on so long. But at the same time I was like, ‘I’ve still got loads to offer, but maybe this time isn’t right for me yet, or maybe this wasn’t the right platform.’
There’s definitely – not a favouritism, I wouldn’t use that word – a preference for that type of Vegas-style drag, pageantry, OTT characters, which I think quite a few of them represent. Whereas I’m sort of a newer, gender-fuckery [queen] on the outskirts of drag. There’s still a bit of mileage to go with people appreciating that and understanding that. If you’ve seen Alexis and Kennedy on a season before, you automatically know what they’re gonna give you. So, it’s easier to connect with that. With me, I am slightly more unknown in the international Drag Race world so you have to get to know me and where my drag is coming from, which then makes everything a lot harder to appreciate.
I know your time is over but we did get a few incredible confessionals from you, particularly when you discussed the difficulties of dating as an androgynous person. Was that important for you to chat about or did the character provide you with a pathway to discuss that?
Yeah, that is always something that is on my mind but the character itself is about someone who is searching for love. The character is so desperate that they would do anything. They would lick furniture or imagine themselves with paintings on the wall. Completely desperate. That was a way for me to exercise that outlet. Dating as an androgynous person is hard because there’s so many different issues that I discuss about on the show about feeling used or feeling like a one-off fling. There’s more that I would say, but I think in the context of the show that character just really helped me discuss it in a really fun way and dramatise it a little bit.
We get human moments like that, as well as a lot of drama, which is why this season is great so far. What was it like to be in a werkroom with queens who aren’t afraid to speak their mind?
I loved that. I thought it was really fun. Alexis and Eureka are amazing and they have a really gorgeous side I get with on as well. They’re quite humble characters but they know when to switch it on. With Alexis, it’s second nature. With Fierce as well, that is her down to a T. She doesn’t have an off button. She is like that all the time. I think that is perfect reality TV because you need to be switched on all the time and Fierce is shade central. It was really fun that we get to balance all that with different energies. That’s why it made this season so fun to do. We’re a great cast.
What’s next for you? I know that you’ve released a string of singles over the past few years and two EPs, and I think the demand is there more than ever for new material after last week, so what’s coming?
Oh my god, there’s new material. You pre-empted that! I’ve got a new song, which is gonna be coming out soon. You can pre-reserve now – click the links in all my bios! I worked with Cathy Dennis as well, did I tell you? She wrote ‘Toxic’ and ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’. We’ve got an amazing song that I’ve got in my locked up archive ready to let go. There’s more material and that’s where I feel the most comfortable, where I can write, sing, express myself and be jolly. Then, we’re going on tour in September. We’re gonna start with a UK tour and head around Europe. And that’s the beauty of going back on Canada’s Drag Race, I’ve got a visa to go to the US and do DragCon! I love to travel. I love to get around and it’s nice that people want to say hello.
Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs the World season 2 is streaming in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
You can watch our interview with Le Fil here or below.
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