“I knew that everybody would go insane when they saw this killer cast,” admits Michelle Visage, talking of course about the slew of incredible Drag Queens that have been announced for RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9. If you've been living under a rock, Drag Race is the show that brings together and celebrates a roster of incredible up-and-coming and established Queens. Airing in the US since 2009, Visage joined the judging panel in season three, finally joining her bestie and host of the show, RuPaul, and never looking back since.
Michelle Visage
With each episode comes a guest judge or two, and this time round the producers have finally gotten their hands on a Lady Gaga cameo, with the pop superstar appearing on the premiere episode of the new season.
“She was the dream that I hoped she would be,” says Visage, adding: “You’ll have to see how it all plays out on the first episode of season 9!” Though she can’t say much about the competition – which has already finished filming – Visage does tease that “every single one of these girls came prepared to fight for the crown.”
Alongside Drag Race and working on her upcoming one-woman show, Visage is now working with PowWowNow, looking at what people have conquered to get to where they are now in both their personal and professional lives.
The glamourous self-proclaimed diva says that she herself has dealt with “gender inequality in the work place [and] dealing with anxiety”, but she knows from her experience “that working hard for what you want and not being silent in what you believe in will get you where you want to be in the long run.”
And Visage has a message for those youths that may be disparaged about the current political climate in the United States.
“Personally, I think what’s happening in my beautiful country is embarrassing, but I also know that Trump doesn’t speak for the majority of us. For the kids out there that are worried about what the future holds, especially the LGBTQI+ kids, our brothers and sisters that came before us didn’t fight for nothing. TRUST ME, we will only move forward, but you need to put your fear aside and find the strength to believe that.”
Visage fans in the UK may also know the star from her time in Celebrity Big Brother, which returned this past January for an All Stars and New Stars series. Though she didn’t take part this time round, she isn’t ruling out an appearance in the future if the rumours suggesting another All Stars series taking place in the summer turn out to be true.
“Right now I’m focused on finishing my one-woman show and touring with that,” she says. “But if the timing’s right, you never know…”
That show she says has “been taking all day and all night”, but she’s excited for her legions of fans to come and see her on tour. “I’m also getting really excited about season 9 [of Drag Race] starting and seeing the excitement in your faces when I tour the world!” We can’t wait to catch up with Michelle on the road.
You can find out more about PowWowNow at www.powwownow.co.uk. Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race comes to Logo in the US in March.