When Sasha Colby first walked into the Werk Room on season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, one of her competitors could be heard jokingly asking the other queens, “Should we go home?” One coveted crown and $200,000 later, it turns out their fears were justified. Sasha Colby is our new current reigning!
It’s not like the title was handed to her for her legendary name alone, of course; after all, fellow Miss Continental winner Naysha Lopez was eliminated twice in season 8. Heck, much-beloved British drag performer Joe Black was eliminated first, brought back, yelled at by RuPaul, and immediately eliminated again on Drag Race UK. When it comes to that judging panel, lauded names and titles stop at the door (if not just raising their expectations even higher).
With four main challenge wins, no bottom placements, and an impeccable runway package, this consummate professional surpassed every expectation possible with a smile. Sometimes—as in the case of her coronation look—with only a smile on. After all, in a moment where trans bodies are under constant attack, why not let her designer figure do the talking for a minute?
We caught up with Sasha in the midst of her post-crowning whirlwind to hear all about her journey to the spotlight, her message to the trans community, and this favored drag queen’s favorite drag queens.
QUEERTY: The Colby dynasty is one of Drag Race’s most beloved at this point. If there was another Ru Girl who you could induct into the Colby family, who would it be?
SASHA: There’s a lot of girls that are like, “I wanna be a Colby! I wanna be a Colby!” on this show. [Laughs] They’re just all such great sisters. Like, I’ve known Brooke and Naysha from [Miss] Continental, and I feel like they’ve been on this ride with me for so long that they’re invested. I’ll stick with those two, my Continental gals.
Adding a couple more titles to the family.
Very ball: “I won a trophy, now everybody wants me.”
Your tagline this season was “Your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen.” Who is officially your favorite drag queen?
It’s always gonna be Monica Munro. She’s incredible. She’s, like, everything. I first saw her on a video called The Best of Monica Munro–I’m talking VHS times. My best friend Preston and I wore those out. We knew every move she made.
And she’s such a big part of Continental. She‘s a lot of girls’ favorite drag queen. A lot of Hawaii girls look up to her. So she’s not only mine, but of all the people that I love. That’s why all the other ones that I love are also molded by her aesthetic. It all just goes back to her. I guess she’s like the Kevin Bacon of drag: the six degrees of Monica Munro.
Now that you’ve won the crown–and the check has cleared–I can ask this: did you mop anything good from the workroom?
Um, no… Well, I’m not gonna lie. Yeah. [Laughs] They would fill up your little station with what looks like a mechanical toolbox that was filled with everything you needed for drag, from nails to glue to spirit gum. So whatever was left over, I definitely threw that inside the bag too.
There was also a shelf of surplus, and if I needed a few more of the wipes or anything, it may have gone in there. But those are such mom things to shoplift. The other girls were cutting out the set like hoarders and I’m just preparing for a rainy day.
Didn’t Mistress [Isabelle Brooks] take one of the crew’s personal copy of GuRu or something?
Oh, it was the copy of GuRu that we were as a prop [in Wigloose: The Rusical]. She wanted to take that from Ru but they were following that thing. I think they had like a shoplifting device on it. Probably the same one that was on Luxx’s coat!
Can you share any fun facts about any of your season 15 sisters that you think might surprise the fans?
You mean that they haven’t already said online? Fun fact: they don’t shy away from them keyboards. That’s one thing. I don’t know how they all managed without their phones because they are keyboard-happy, honey.
I’m trying to think of anything they haven’t already dished about themselves. How about that Loosey isn’t that crazy and, hot take, Mistress isn’t that bad.
Very temperate takes!
You would think.
You had such a polished, well-put together package on the show. I’m wondering what the worst gig in your career has been?
The worst gig is any gig that I had to chase my money. There were a few where there were prelims or things were just unorganized, but there was nothing that’s really been, like, the worst. Because I would never say, “Oh, this is beneath me.” I’ve been from huge stages to literally on top of a bar doing a number and all of them are amazing.
I think maybe the bad ones were the ones that didn’t honor the drag or were just kind of sloppy? I mean, there were a bunch of those, but all of those places I don’t think are open anymore. That’s probably for a reason.
That’s fair. I feel like it’s impossible to be a performer and not have some performance horror stories.
I mean, there were definitely moments of like, “Oh, this is what we’re doing. Okay!” I once did a baby shower–a baby luau in a tent–for just tips with my heels sinking into the sand. But that was so fun! Any chance that I get to be on stage, I can kind of see past whatever difficulties I have.
If you had to pick one song to encapsulate your reign going forward, what would it be?
I think right now–I just did it on Saturday here in Brooklyn–it would be Alexis Jordan’s “Happiness”. “Through strength I found love/In time I find myself in happiness with you,” the you being myself. And then being able to win over so many people all over the world is such a gift.
Do you see any original music in your future? Your “Blame It On The Edit” verse was absolutely killer.
That’s definitely what I want my sound to sound like. Just in the pocket, slow, sultry, sexy girl. I definitely have a lot of influences in music, so we’re working, but I’m trying to find a way of creating music that I like to (and physically can) do.
I’m not like a crooner singer, my power’s really on stage. So I’m trying to figure out how to get that explosive Sasha Colby energy into the music that I like to do. Maybe I’ll create a whole new vibe. Live, sexy, a good beat. I can do a fast number to a ballad or I can make a ballad really fast. I’m experimenting with a lot of that.
Is there one thing that you would like fans to know more about you, Sasha Colby the person, outside of Sasha Colby the performer?
I kind of said everything this season. I mean, I left it by showing my whole complete a**! [Laughs] But I’d like people to know that I’m exactly how you see on the show. And I think that makes people be in awe of the fact that I’m not a b*tch.
All my friends who know me, they’re like, “You are exactly how you were on the show. And it’s so nice to see that you didn’t get scared and you just were completely unapologetically yourself.” And I think that’s what people resonate with. You know, people can tell when someone is inauthentic or uncomfortable, and to see someone so relaxed in their skin is empowering.
On that last episode in the Werk Room the other girls kept being like, “Darn, I thought you were gonna be a b*tch, but you were really nice!“
Doesn’t that kill them? Isn’t that infuriating for them? They’re like, “I just want to hate you a little!” And I’ll always help them out and fix their hair or whatever. There’s a picture circulating right now of Mistress helping me do my hair for the crown, and that’s just what you do in drag. We’re all helping each other. I’m one of the first ones to be like, “What do you need?” Because I want you to feel your best while we’re competing with each other. I want the best of the best next to me.
Aside from your visibility and representation, which are really important, what do you hope to impart to younger trans folks? Like, to their spirits?
I just hope I allow them to dream. I hope I allow the people who have watched me dream–almost to the point of delusion, until it happens–to believe it themselves. Don’t block your blessings. Just allow yourself to keep dreaming. I hope that’s what I am able to give people power to do.
And to maybe go back to something that they’ve let go of. I’ve had people say, “Oh, you make me want to dance again. You make me want to perform again. You make me want to make music again.” And I love that. To inspire people through my art, that fills me. To make them feel the need to create. Because really, the most magical, powerful thing that we have is the power to create.
I feel like that really comes through. When Kerri was on last season, she really kind of instilled in me that transitioning could be something that was fun and something that one could look forward to. Meanwhile, seeing you on this season has been showing that transitioning can be powerful.
Yes! I mean, what is more powerful than someone that is understanding the beauty in both of these genders that they want to throw on us? Being in this transition–because we’re technically all in transition in some way–we have to be so brave and so committed and almost stubborn.
We are going to do exactly what we feel like, and we are going to do exactly what makes us happy. Understanding that puts us lightyears ahead of other people that don’t even have that confidence in who they are. We are so confident we are going to do things that some people think are radical. In reality, the most right we’ll ever feel is when we actually listen and take care of ourselves.
It’s very, “You’re all born naked, and the rest is transitioning.“
Being a trans person in this life and this dimension that we’re all in, we have to understand that we are fighting for other people to accept what is essentially an avatar. There’s also that person inside of you, that soul that connects soul.
Your soul has been a man, a woman, and more across many lifetimes with both good and bad karma, and we’re here right now, being trans and showing people what it’s like to live fearlessly. We’re here to learn lessons and to teach lessons in this lifetime. That’s all we’re here for. And once we realize that we’ve done this so many times, it’s not that scary.
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