Following the release of the undeniably catchy “No New Friends” and current empowering dance single “Shut It Down”, Canada’s Drag Race season 1 winner, drag icon and pop diva Queen Priyanka, has just announced that her debut album Devastatia will be released on August 23rd and that she will embark on a 23-date North American tour this fall (more details below). Before that, you can catch her as one of the new hosts on the fourth season of HBO’s Emmy, Peabody, and GLAAD award-winning unscripted series We’re Here alongside fellow Drag Race alum Sasha Velour, Jaida Essence Hall, and Latrice Royale, which sees the queens head to Tennessee and Oklahoma. Last year, Priyanka appeared in Netflix’s Glamourous and will be seen the upcoming holiday movie Meet Me Next Christmas.
With all six episodes of We’re Here season four now steaming on Max, Queen Priyanka speaks exclusively with The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann about her experience of being a drag mother on the series and what drag has meant to her in her own life.
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review: congratulations on this season of We’re Here. I’ve actually already watched every episodes twice because I loved it so much.
Queen Priyanka: “It’s so good, right?! I love that mixture of sadness and joy. You’re crying, then you’re laughing. I love the new format too, with the hooks at the end of each episode. You’re like, I have to watch the next one, I can’t not! I’m living for it. I’m happy that I get to be a part of it and all that stuff, but just as a big TV nerd this is such a good show.”
The new format, with three episodes devoted to each state, really allows us to get to know you and your fellow hosts as well as your drag kids and the towns that you go. Were you you already watching We’re Here before you got the call asking you to be involved in season four?
“Oh, yeah! In the drag community, We’re Here is the coveted show where they have the costumes and the small towns and Bob the Drag Queen! But we were all like, that’s never going to happen for any of us because it’s already done. So when I got the call and they were like, ‘We’re freshening up the cast, Bob’s going on tour with Madonna…’, I was like, ‘Me?!’ But then I was like, ‘I guess this does make sense because my mantra is to entertain people and create escape and be there for my community. So, let’s go!'”
What does drag mean to you in your own life?
“Before I started doing it myself, it was cool to see drag be so accessible. I love pop concerts and my girls—my pop stars—that’s why I ended up becoming one! But I found it so nice to have an affordable Beyoncé down the street at my local drag bar, because those concert ticket prices are crazy! So that was the reason that I first fell in love with drag. Then I started going so often that I felt like I was part of something. I felt excited to see these drag queens and I felt like they saw me and they got me.”
“My drag mom, Xtacy Love, came to perform at my birthday party. I’d always watched her shows so I booked her. That’s when she was like, ‘You should start doing drag’. I was like, ‘I can’t do this!’ But when I did start, I realized that I care so much about what I’m putting on stage. I care that my name is Priyanka, because I want brown people to know that a brown girl is coming on stage. Drag is incredible. I felt so much fulfillment for myself being able to heal some childhood wounds of being scared to be brown growing up, while also creating an escape for the audience that I was once in. It’s nice to pay it forward.”
You pay it forward on We’re Here by being a wonderful drag parent. At one point you talk about playing with wrestling figures when you were a kid and we see you get in the ring with your wresting drag kid Princey. What was like being Princey’s drag mom?
“It was a dream! I love Princey so much and I love that he’s a wrestler. I was shocked when he came out as “Pha’Nesse”—his wrestling persona—in the ring and was so gay and so fun and fabulous. We were in Chattanooga, Tennessee and everyone was cheering him on. I was like, ‘Okay, clearly, I’m more closed-minded than I thought I was because there is support for him here.’ But what’s crazy is that they were more supportive of him in Chattanooga than they were in Nashville. I was like, ‘What is happening?! Isn’t Nashville a mainstream city?'”
“Uncovering all the stories and intricacies of what it’s actually like to live in Tennessee as a queer person was so crazy. But also, speaking of healing childhood wounds, being able to be a wrestler for a little bit was fun and being able to put together a wrestling-themed number for Princey’s first drag show was all very healing for me. I actually got Trish Stratus to make a video for Princey to wish him well because she’s his favoutite WWE diva. It was really cool to bring all the things that I love about drag and give them to somebody else.”
You brought in Princey’s wrestling coach Brian as a drag kid too, what did it mean to you to see such a visible ally?
“It was really cool for everyone to see a mentor in sports like Brian because it comes from such a genuine place. It’s not performative. It’s just like, ‘I care about this person, I want them to be the best wrestler ever, and I want to be here to support them regardless of their sexuality’. Then it becomes like, ‘Oh, they happen to be gay. I’m going to support that.’ Don’t make people’s queerness about you. It’s not about you. It’s about them and being supportive. Brian really captures that. For him to get up in drag and do it with Princey is being the ultimate ally. Brian was suffering that day in that corset and in those heels. He was like, ‘Oh, baby, this is hard! And I was like, ‘Yup, it is!’ But it was amazing to see.”
Yeah, it wasn’t a very breathable outfit that Brian was in, with a Barb Wire look going on.
“Yes, there was definite Pam Anderson energy.”
I love how we see your relationship gradually build with John in Oklahoma. What was it like getting to know John and going to that Two-Spirit meeting with them?
“I learned so much. As queer people, I think we feel very underrepresented in all of our own different intricate ways, right? Like, ‘I’m a brown gay person, so I don’t feel seen because it’s majority white people’ or ‘I’m too feminine’. We all have these intricacies. The one intricacy that I hadn’t experienced—I had only learned a little bit about when I competed with ILona Verley on Canada’s Drag Race—was the Indigenous queer community. It was really cool to be there in these Two-Spirit meetings with John. John educated me on a lot of stuff, but I also called Ilona almost every single night being like, ‘What does this mean? Should we do a homage to Indigenous culture in John’s performance or do you think that’s too performative?'”
“I wanted everything to come across as genuine and real. I was like, ‘My intention is to put Indigenous culture on a mainstream stage like HBO’s We’re Here‘. Ilona was like, ‘With that intention, take that and tell that to John and everything else is up to John’s terms. Like, does John want to wear it regalia? if so, what kind does she want to wear? Or does she want to be a gorgeous girl in a gown? If so what colour’s her gown?’ That’s how you do it and it’s really cool to see that story unfold because John is such a powerful person but she was exhausted by having to be so powerful her whole life. The fact that Two-Spirit communities used to be so welcomed within Indigenous culture and now they’re not because of the church’s influence is such a mind-blowing story. When you like look back in history, it was accepted, but now in 2024 it’s not.”
You were a busy drag mom. Kris was another one of your drag kids and there was a lovely moment on stage when you get a dad hug from him. What was it like being Kris’ drag parent?
“Kris’ passion is all for a son. He’s a good story too because, yes, he’s the dad hugs guy from TikTok but when you look at what he did before he became this famous Tiktoker it’s so beautiful. He sensed that something was different about his son and that his son might be gay. Instead of making it about his son and putting pressure on his son, Kris was like, ‘I’m just going to show natural, organic, genuine support for the community and give my son the space to come out if he wants to and for him to know that I’m okay with it. I don’t want him to have that fear.’ That’s a beautiful thing. That’s the way a parent should approach it. It’s not about, ‘If you’re gay, just tell me I don’t care’. That’s too much, because maybe they’re not ready to say it. Maybe they don’t want to say it yet, or maybe they’re not even gay. Maybe you’re just wrong.”
“Kris’ drag number to my Canadian pop rock princess Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You” was important because Kris is so proud to be this supportive ally, but I wanted to put a spotlight on his work as a Tiktoker and capture that on stage. So we did a Dad Hug performance. He’s amazing and his TikTok is flying off the handles.”
What was it like sharing this experience with Jaida, Sasha, and Latrcie, particularly in some of those moments where you were made to feel unwelcome?
“It was always great to have each other and we all had different perspectives. Sasha and I really threw ourselves into things, whereas Jaida was very, like, ‘I can’t deal with that or else I might blow up’, which I think is also a good perspective. It’s good to know yourself. It’s good to be like, ‘I don’t have the patience for this, so I’m going to let y’all take this’. That’s what our community is about. It’s like trying to get someone to fill in for a drag show. ‘I can’t make it make it, can you? Not everyone can fight every single fight, but it’s up to us to know what fights we can fight for each other. It was really cool just hanging out too. I hung out with Sasha more than any of them because I’m obsessed with her. I learned so much about her and she helped me with my performances and I helped her with hers. It was a really nice sisterhood.”
By James Kleinmann
All six episodes of We’re Here season four are now steaming on Max.
Priyanka’s “Devastatia” North American Tour Dates:
Oct 9: Kingston, ON @ The Broom Factory
Oct 11: Montreal, QC @ Studio TD
Oct 19: New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Oct 20: Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
Oct 23: Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
Oct 25: Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
Oct 26: Regina, SK @ The Exchange
Oct 27: Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub
Oct 28: Edmonton, AB @ Double Dragon
Oct 31: Vancouver, BC @ Celebrities Nightclub
Nov 1: Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom
Nov 2: Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
Nov 3: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Nov 8: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Nov 9: Los Angeles, CA @ Peppermint Lounge
Nov 13: London, ON @ Rum Runners
Nov 15: Windsor, ON @ Rockstar Music Hall
Nov 22: Charlottetown, PEI @ PEI Brewing
Nov 23: Fredericton, NB @ Charlotte Street Arts Centre
Nov 24: Quebec City, QC @ Le Drague
Nov 27: Toronto, ON @ Axis Club
Tickets are on sale at thequeenpriyanka.com now.