Bianca Del Rio, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 6, has enjoyed one of the most high-profile and successful careers of any of the show’s winners.
She has embarked on several successful tours, including dates at London’s huge Wembley Arena, and appeared in the stage musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. In 2019, New York magazine ranked her in the number one position in a list of the 100 ‘most powerful’ Drag Race contestants.
Related: Bianca Del Rio tells us whether or not she’ll ever return to ‘Drag Race’
She’s now speaking out on why she believes she’s so successful and why other queens haven’t done so well.
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In an interview with Pink News, she said the fact she already had a background as a hardworking drag queen prepared her for her success on Drag Race.
She also suggested her skills as a stand-up comedian gave her an advantage. Asked about what changes she had seen on the drag scene in recent years, she said some new people were entering the scene with certain delusions.
“I think one of the biggest changes is the level of delusion. There’s just such a large amount of delusion and there’s no substance, you know? I think the lack of talent is something that’s quite relevant and kind of annoying,” she said.
“You know, you might look great in an Instagram photo, but give me something else! Not to say that looking good and Instagram photo is not work, it obviously is, but having a platform is about doing something entertaining.
“Back in the day, we’d work in gay bars and cabaret spaces, and you had to have an act, you had to do something.
“So now I think everybody wants to go on Drag Race and assumes that they’re going to have fame and they’re going to travel the world, that might happen, but there’s a huge amount of oversaturation.
Related: Bianca Del Rio slams ‘blonde b*tch’ who filmed her West End performance
Del Rio points out that she was 38 when she won Drag Race and was aware of her strengths. She chose not to record music or make pop videos, but to instead concentrate on her stand-up.
“I knew I wanted to tour and I wanted to do comedy. So that’s been my game and that’s where I’ve stayed. I’ve stayed true to what I do and I had my own plan. I’m not here to be liked by everyone and the people that do like me will get it. So I didn’t have that delusion of wanting to be loved by everyone because it just doesn’t happen.
“I’m just happy to be working because I didn’t really put much thought into the idea of where I was going to end up. I just keep going.”
Del Rio is hitting the road with her Unsanitized tour, including more dates in London. She talked about why she loved visiting the UK capital—including a pop out at an old friend.
“Being in London is amazing because it reminds me a lot of New York. I’m always fascinated by Queen Elizabeth, because she’s an old queen who wears the same dress and every color, which basically describes me. So in my own mind, I think I’m Queen Elizabeth.
“I do enjoy the history too, because we don’t really have anything that old in America – besides Lady Bunny!”
Do you think new entrants on the drag scene lack talent when it comes to performing on stage? And does it matter? Let us know below.
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Polaro
Love Bianca. She truly is fierce. Drag has become tedious. Anyone can put on makeup and a wig. I know, I have. Certainly wasn’t watching. Sadly.
Cam
It would be interesting to see an all winners season. I have a feeling Bianca would still smash it.
jw8890
The two seasons im wanting are all winners and a season with the “porkchop” queens
Cam
@jw8890
Bimini in the UK almost went home first, and Vanji went home first the first time she was on. There are probably a LOT of amazing performers that went him first or second.
ScottA_B
We saw Bianca in a play in NOLA before she moved to NYC and got famous. She could act, sing, and make costumes. We were so surprised to see her debut on RPDR! So many queens that enter competitions like RPDR don’t know how to act, sew, tell a joke, sing, write a lyric, don’t know queer history, etc. Please stay home, learn stuff, & gain some experience before going on a competition show! Being pretty and serving looks is hard work, yes, but it’s not going to set you apart. It’s not shade – be interesting!
stonercharles
AMEN!!!
JClark
Kinda hafta agree with Bianca. Some of these queens seem to think we’re supposed to be blown away by their sheer fabulosity. Sorry no. I want to be entertained. Give me Lady Camden’s chaps runway any day over an Instagram queen.
stonercharles
Again Amen
gskorich
i think the proof was in the one who didn’t want to remove the veil during the lip synch. pretty basic stuff. anyone can look good. but like she says , if you don’t have anything to back that up then it’s boring. i stopped watching a few years ago when the gowns became so glam and the wigs. give me a good chi chi who came with nothing. anyone can have someone make you the best gown. the best stylist but we need hungry queens. reality tv does it to itself. they find something that works and that’s it. rewatch the first season of drag race when they had no clue. it’s amazing.
fishpaw13
I agree with Bianca. The one thing I do not like about Drag race is that to me each season tends to get worse attitude wise. There are exceptions but they seem to mostly think they are God’s gift to Dragworld. Yeah you can sew and yes you can paint it up, BUT where is the talent? The best part of the show is listening to these Queens talk about how good they are and get pissed because they should have won. This season Daya Betty is on my last nerve and I almost stopped watching the season of Kandy Muse and her fat mouth!
cubcmh
Isn’t this what Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is all about? The “Ugly Duckling” has to grow into the Swan.
Major
Like jw8890, I too would love a chance to see a pork chop season.
Ed R.
Her point of Oversaturation is so true…I remember When drag race was appointment television..Now with shows in multiple countries, All-stars, the singing competition show…its difficult to keep track of winners…Not to mention you have pay streaming services to watch….It willl cannibalize itself within the next few years..
MISTERJETT
…..and many of them aren’t delusional and do have talent.
toddlicious
She’s 100% right. The queens today that throw in a stretch leotard and flap their arms around and maybe do a death drop think they are doing “the most“ when drag really should entail so much more than Instagram popularity cause you know how to do make up and face tune. There are so many local girls in all cities that have more talent and substance than 90% off drag race girls. Support your local queens!!!!
Huron132
Bianca is absolutely right. You can be that pagent Queen and show good face. But with her it has been hard work with a good business idea. You have to be everything across the board. It’s like season 10 or 11 who won? But you do know that Nina West was on there. She has rocketed in fame, because she had a focus more than a look. She is now going to tour for “Hairspray”. After having a forum like working a charity to start. The total idea of RPDR is a package. If you have one you get somewhere.
Joshooeerr
LOL. What’s new? 98% of drag queens have always been talentless and delusional. I’ve never understood why gay bars around the world insist on staging drag shows when, nine times out of ten, when the show starts most of the crowd either scrambles to somewhere else or grimly endures watching some hideous apparition gesticulate insanely to a recording made by someone with actual talent. It’s the equivalent of watching someone you don’t find attractive masturbate in public: embarrassing, discomforting and only fleetingly amusing, for all the wrong reasons.
mjeknavo
What a review lol.
Abraxas020
No lie
dario717
There have always been more talented and less talented people in all walks of life. While some queens on Drag Race have more attitude than talent (Silky), I don’t think it’s wise to stomp on someone else’s dreams just because they aren’t as polished as you are.
CHEC MATE
Heres Bianca again being negative nancy, cutting others down and being a bully. Why not inspire. no no let me cut people down so i can rise above the ashes. this queen is despicable filth.
also btw, you got lucky cause the season where it was a lynp sync, you would have been sent home.
take that for no talent
MrMichaelJ
I used to know her back when she did her season. Saw her out and about before the winner was announced and had a pretty good laugh w/her jading her that I already knew damn well she won.
Cozmo2
Yes, I get what Bianca is saying and it’s true.
Walker
Not only true for RPDR but for drag in general.
RPDR was simultaneously the best thing and the worst thing that ever happened to drag. Kudos for bringing it into the mainstream, but there were interesting and new things happening in drag before RuPaul decided to codify what was already old hat by the time the show aired.
Now we have a whole generation of queens who learned their drag from the TV rather than from going out and making something special. Photocopies of photocopies and way too many of them. Remember when you could go to a gay bar WITHOUT some low-rent dollar hustler taking over every single GD night?
At least old fashioned drag queens like Bunny or the late Sweetie had brains and could come up with new jokes on the fly, in the moment. Now everyone has a wig and an “act” and it never varies.
Ru’s been going on about charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent for years but lately I’m seeing a lot of charisma and nerve and not a lot of uniqueness or talent.
fingertrouble
Yup, I dreaded Drag Race when it started and had everything confirmed…sanitised, reduced to a trope, not transgressive.
I love proper rude/offensive transgressive drag (kings, queens, in-between), in a gay club with no censoring. None of this walkway flouncing, lipsync badly and nothing else. Sure I appreciate Leigh Bowery and Divine, but they could do other things, or were original?
I don’t want a thousand Leigh clones or Divine copies, something new?
It’s always been humour, singing, acting, other stuff. Just lipsyncing is boring unless there is something else. And TV always makes stuff bland, especially reality TV which to be frank does rot your brain.
jt1990
I agree, a man that thinks he should dress as a female is most likely delusional. And probably untalented, unless he can cut back flips in a dress and high heels. Most accurate title ever, great job Queerty! CNN could take a lesson from you