Well, hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest
new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor
of Woman and Woman at Home magazine. And this week we have a really very special guest because
Kyren Thrax, the winner of Drag Race UK Season 6, joins Ian and I. Kyren, as you know, is
a member of the drag group Dracula's Child and is currently on tour.
all an in-depth look at the queens of season 17, specifically their audition tapes. Now
talking of audition tapes, over to you Ian. So Kyren on Hello Hello, you take a look at
the queens audition tapes and I just wondered what you remember about your audition tape
or what you think of it looking back now. I mean it obviously must have done the trick.
Yeah, I mean, I love my audition tape, my season six tape. I've gone back and I've not watched
it, rewatched it properly since, but I remember, you know, you spend a lot of time with it when
you're, when you're auditioning for Drag Race, that you're constantly looking at every single
section, making sure it's all perfect before you send it off and you have to edit it down
to such a small like. You know, you film so much footage and you have to cram it all into
like the timeframe. Um, see, I feel like I could, I know it inside and out. And I remember just
feeling so proud of my season six tape. I applied for season four, five and six, but six was
the one where I, before I even filmed anything for it, I named the project on the editing
software. I named the project, the one that gets me on. I just knew it. I felt it in my
bones and I just had so much fun with it. And I just saw it as kind of like a little film
that I was making, you know, I've got to like be the director, like create anything I wanted
to create and just showcase what I do and who I am. But looking back on it, obviously, you
know, it feels like a slightly baby version of Kyren because, you know, you go through
drag race and you come out the other end and you feel like you've grown to be 10 times,
10 times more than you, than you were. Um, so yeah, it's nice to look back at it and think,
you know, of all the things she had to come. Yeah. And how has winning changed your life?
I mean, clearly quite a lot. Oh my gosh. It's been bananas. It's been absolutely bananas.
It's everything I've jumped over more. And I'm just so excited for the rest of this year and
the rest of my life. And just to get to do the things that I've always wanted to do and to
have the people there watching and wanting to see what I'm going to do and, you know, to
have that, that money behind me now. It just feels incredible. And I'm touring right now
and I'm going to all of these random towns and cities. And, you know, I predominantly would
spend all of my time in London before Drag Race, but now getting to go to all of these regional
places and to meet all of the fans and all of these people, it just is amazing. It really
is amazing. Like, I just can't explain how grateful I am and how grateful I always will be. You've
got a huge fan base, haven't you? Do they follow you? Are they following you everywhere? There
is a group of people. There's a very dedicated fan base that will come to everything that
I'm doing, which is just absolutely amazing. And then there's the fans that I get to meet
in all of the other places. I just went to Europe with Alyssa on tour, which was so incredible,
to get to go meet fans in Amsterdam and Berlin. And I'm just so excited to do more of that
stuff and just to... go give myself and my art to fans in places that would never have got
it before. Do you know what I mean? And now I get to go and do that. And how did you find
sort of the transition from performer to presenter? Oh, it was in for Hello, Hello. Yeah, it was.
Well, it was all very fast paced because, you know, like I'd literally only just won. It
was my first drag con. Like everything was just... going a million miles a second. So put that
show together was, you know, we all came together, put our heads together and was like, let's
do this. Like, it sounds like really fun. And, you know, I've done a lot of that kind of hosty
stuff over my career anyway, but it kind of just felt a little like relaxed to me. Do you
know what I mean? Like, I kind of saw it selfishly as an opportunity for me to get to know all
of my new sisters that were coming into the franchise. Do you know what I mean? Like, I...
I think they're all so lovely, so charming, so talented. And I just saw it as, you know,
I'm just gonna sit down and have a chin wag with these girls. Yeah, it comes across as
like a nice, lovely, relaxed chat, you know, it's great. Yeah, no, it really was. And that's,
you know, that's down to them as well. Like they are just all so lovely and so professional.
And I just had a blast. I had a blast with all of them. I have so much love and respect for
all of them. And, you know, I'm glad that that's coming across. What do you remember about first
seeing? Drag Race on TV. Oh my gosh. So the first time I watched Drag Race, I was in college.
I was 16 or 17 and I started watching season six of US Drag Race, which is so like full
circle. Cause then I went on to win season six of UK Drag Race. Yeah. And I just remember
looking at Adore Delano and thinking like, wow, like that is somebody. with so much star power
and just so much relatability and charisma and I'd always get compared to, that's the reason
why I started watching that season actually is because people at college that were watching
the show were comparing me to Adore and saying that I reminded them of her. So then I watched
that and I saw it and I was like, she's just so amazing and relatable and she's having so
much fun. And then it ended up being about. four years later that I started dabbling into
drag myself. Ha ha ha. Brilliant. Some of those shows though, honestly, I mean, Ian will tell
you, I'm a massive fan and some of the arguments and some of the fights that happened on there,
I always wonder, are they actually real? I mean, is what you see exactly what happened? Yes,
yes, yes. So what you see is what is happening. But it is a room, it is a room with a lot of
personalities, a lot of drag queens, and we are all in a very small bubble that's a very
high pressure environment where we all want to do incredibly well. So, yeah, when you mix
that with a singular cocktail and untucked, you know, anything can happen.
Did they have to cut much? Not really, no, not really. You know, we gave them, we gave them
it all. And it is, you know, it is, it's one of those things like you never really know
until, until you get there. But it is, you know, it's, it's real. Have you had any very, very
famous people coming to watch you that we wouldn't know of? Oh my gosh. Yeah, I mean, it definitely
happened. Yeah, one of my, like the wildest things was Tracy Beaker, Danny Harmer reaching
out to me. I just look at my phone. Amazing. Voice notes from Danny Harmer and I'm like,
this person is my childhood. It's just, yeah. I mean, I'm sure there's a million others as
well, but it is, it's one of the most surreal things in the world. Just having people that
you've looked up to and other queens as well that you've looked up to since way before I'd
even started doing drag, you know, now being in my circle and being, you know, my peers
is. still kind of a shock to the system. Like it feels correct, but it is still very like,
oh, okay, this is my life now. I mean, you're living your absolute best life, aren't you?
I mean, it's absolutely brilliant and everything is fantastic. Is there, do you have a dream
of something that you absolutely always wanted to do that you still want to do? Oh, gosh,
it's endless. It really is endless. I wanna put on my own show that I have full creative
control over. I direct, I fund, I do all of the groundwork and put it on in West End and
or Broadway. That's just always the dream, just to make my own little baby. And I have done
that before, but that was when I was first starting drag. And now that I have the money and the
following that will want to see it, and I'm just very excited to share my art. And also
I want to do as much as I can. I want to do more film, more TV, more hosting. Um, like
I want to do it all. I feel like I've got the skills that I have, but I also want to do as
much as I can. Cause I feel like you never really stop growing as an artist and as a person.
I want to push myself out of my comfort zone as much as I can and expand, expand my brain.
And what do you think has been the impact of Drag Race? Cause obviously it's been sort of
franchised around the world. What's what's the impact being on the drag scene and kind of
it's kind of been quite incorporated into what people might call the mainstream. Would that
be a fair thing to say? Yeah, no, of course. Drag is very, very much mainstream now. You
know, we're on prime time television. And it is just, it's amazing. It is amazing. Like,
my life has completely changed, like, and I can only speak from my perspective, but I came
from nothing I spoke about on the show. I came from very little. I came from a lot of hardship
and I never really... it was very easy for me to not see a way out of that. And a show like
RuPaul's Drag Race has given me the platform to show what I can do, to show who I am and
has completely changed my life. And it has for countless other people and countless other
young people sitting at home will watch that and have the same feeling. You know, I think
drag race has changed so much for, you know, the queer community as a whole. And I'm so
grateful. I'm just still so giddy that I got to even be a part of it. But you know what,
that's so lovely because we interview lots of people where it's just a thing for them. And
I wonder, do you think it will ever just become... the fibre of your being that you are just,
you know, that you've got, like you say, you're so grateful at the moment and you're so excited
and giddy, which is just so lovely. Do you think that'll ever become normal? I hope not. I really
hope that I keep this feeling with me for the rest of my life. And I've always, I've always
been a big believer in that. Even when I was, you know, back at drama school, people would
say to me, like my directors and stuff would always be like, you have so much energy and
so much love and so much passion and so much adrenaline for everything that you do, never
ever lose that. And I've always had that in the back of my mind just to constantly pinch
myself and go, you are living your dream, like at every stage and just to never take that
for granted. Why am I getting emotional? What's going on? I don't know, like it is, you know,
I hope I have that feeling forever and I hope it never feels super normalized to me. And
can you tell us a bit about the inspiration for your looks? And can you give us a rough
idea of like, how many outfits have you got? How many weeks and what, what's the pressure
of producing new looks and new outfits like? How'd you do that? Oh God. Yeah. I mean, I
literally could not physically tell you how many looks, how many wigs, how many outfits
I have. I have my like drag race room back at home where all of my stuff from the show is
stored. And that takes up a lot of space by itself, let alone all of the stuff that I have
outside of the show. And yeah, my process is like, I love getting given a prompt or something
like that. Like, Drag Race was kind of like perfect for me because you know, you get the
prompts for all of the runways and then I feel like I can just, you know, somebody gives me
a buzzword and I can just be creative with that and I'll just start sketching and I'm not the
most incredible like, sketcher in terms of fashion design, but I know what I want. in my brain.
So I will try and do like a rough, crazy sketch and conceptualize it and then send it over
to a designer who actually knows how to sketch properly and actually make the outfit and kind
of come together that way. But I love it. Yeah. It just comes from, you can, I can take inspiration
from anything really, but I always want to do something that's true to me, that's authentic
to me. And that comes from somewhere deep within my brain. I never want to do like, Ooh. let's
do this pretty, pretty gown, which some people do. And that's our dragon. It's absolutely
gorgeous. But I always want to do something that makes like at least a small percentage
of people go, what's that? I love that. And what was it like working with Rue and the various
judges? What was that? It must've been fun experience. Yeah. Oh my God. It was incredible. Like every
guest judge was absolutely. amazing. Rue, Michelle, Alan, Graham, like they just make you feel
like you're at home and they are just very caring and they want what's best for you and for your
art and I really got that feeling. I can speak from my experience and I think that they're
just incredible, incredible people and they're incredible at what they do and you know it
just feels like home to me like whenever I was with them, whenever I was on that stage it
felt like I was at home yeah and so I'm feel that way, you know what I mean? And they were
a huge part of that. One of the great things about drug race is that as well as all the
glam and the laughs and the entertainment, you do get to hear people's stories which can be
very moving. Were you worried about telling your story or was that kind of a cathartic
thing to be able to do? It was cathartic and it felt like I needed to say it in that moment.
It felt like it was just. ready to burst out of me. Like, I don't know, like it was just
such a, you know, it is, you reach kind of like a boiling point, I guess. And it felt like
the right time and the right moment. And I've always been such an advocate to, for speaking
out on things like that. And for, you know, if you're in a place where you feel like you
can, raising much as much awareness as possible, because it is something that feels so taboo
and that people don't talk about it very much in the media. And I don't even, I'm not even
sure if it has been spoken about. on Drag Race to that degree before. And I was, you know,
I wasn't thinking about it in the moment because you're just kind of living in that moment.
But then when I got back after filming, of course, it was something that I was like, Oh, I know
that's going to come out on that episode and I need to kind of brace myself for that. And
I think it is just about protecting yourself. Um, and it's been completely worth it. Like
I still am receiving countless and count. countless, countless messages about that episode every
day, even now, every single day, every single meet and greet, every single opportunity for
where I'm meeting fans, it will, you know, it'll be one person that says something that just
makes it all worth it. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, it's definitely. And I was just gonna say,
yeah, it's also, you know, just about protecting yourself and... You know, so I started, you
know, before I start, before Drag Race came out, I went to therapy. I was like, I'm going
to make sure I'm in a great head space and that I'm ready to handle all of this stuff, which
I feel like I probably would have been anyway, but I was like, I want to really make sure
that I can deal with everything that's about to come my way off the back of that episode
and off the back of the experience as a whole, just to make sure that I'm as ready as possible.
And that's something that I would condone for everyone. I feel like everyone should have
therapy. And so they give, do they offer sort of any pastoral care as part of the show? Yes,
yes, of course. Everyone is incredible. There's an amazing queen team that are there for you.
And there is an amazing therapist who works with the show. He is on call whenever, wherever.
I still have his number now, even though, you know, we filmed so long ago and I can reach
out whenever I need anything. So yeah, we're looked after. I was going to say you get a
bit more of that with a hello, don't you? With a more of a deep dive into kind of the Queen's
journey. And I suppose you, I don't know, you come away from that feeling like, you know,
so much more. It's an extension, if you like, of everything, which I think satisfies people
like me who need more in their life. And it is, you know, it's something that not a lot
of people get to see, like some queens at some point in their career do. you know, a reaction
to their audition video or something like that. But I think what's so lovely about Hello, Hello
is that firstly, they have no idea that we're about to do that. Like every single one of
them had not a clue that we're about to watch their audition tape, which I think is so lovely
to catch them off guard like that. But also it is, you know, it's a dive into who they
are as an artist and who they were before they got on the show. And also it's a nice little
peek behind the curtain for the fans because I feel like they don't often get to see stuff
like that. So I think it's, it's an interesting thing. I'm very, I'm very happy with it. Um,
what do you remember about your first ever drag performance, drag appearance? Oh my gosh. Wow.
So my first ever drag performance, um, was in, it was just before lockdown and it was in a
basement in East London. And it was to an artist called Banks, to a song called Poltergeist,
which is like one of my favorite artists at the time, and still is. I was wearing like
a full vinyl look, no lashes, a little like shake and go wig that I like chopped up. And
I had the time of my life. I was, you know, my drag was very, very different then obviously.
I feel like my drag kind of exploded very quickly. from that point onwards. But you know, I have
so much love for baby Kyren because I feel like, you know, she really paved the way. She knew
what she wanted. She knew what she was going for. She just didn't, she couldn't do it yet.
You grew, you just grew. It's brilliant. I think that's how, I mean, it's the same for everybody.
Isn't it? When you look back at something, you think, oh no, it's a bit cringe batch. It's
part of who you are and who you are today. Yeah, exactly. Like, and. You know, there's that
saying that if you don't look back to what you were doing half a year ago and cringe, that
you're not doing something, you're doing something wrong, you know what I mean? You've got to
look back and cringe with love. Like even now, you grow so much. Like I'm on tour right now
and I'm painting my face every single day, day in, day out. So like I'm experimenting, I'm
doing some new stuff because I'm like, I don't want to do the same thing every day. So I'm
just going crazy on my makeup some days. and just doing something fun. I'm glad you mentioned
the makeup because I've got a question for you. What's your skincare regime? Because when you
wear that much, how? What do you use? Tell me. So I use, so it's Releaser actually who got
me into good skincare. Um, cause we were in the back of the van on tour and she saw what
I was doing, which was just one base moisturizer. And she was like, girl, you just, you just
won 25,000 pounds. Can you please just get some actual skincare? And I went, you know what?
You're right. Um, so now I use the ordinary, I use like a skincare skin support set, and
then I use a vitamin C in the morning and a retinol in the evening and then Tatcha Dewy
skin cream. and a nice little peptide thing for the eyes and then a lip mask. I just, anything
that makes me look moist and shiny. I love, I love looking, looking sweaty. Dewey, Dewey.
Dewey, that's the one. That's a nice one. And did you, did you just teach yourself makeup
application or, or do you watch things like glow up and stuff like that? So here's some
inside tea. I actually was very. almost on Glow Up before I was on Drag Race. If you watch
season two and three in the intro, title cards of Glow Up, I'm in both of those intros. I
love Glow Up. Because I was shortlisted for season two and for season three before I started
drag. So I'd always kind of like, I've been messing around with makeup and playing around
with makeup since I was about 13. Like I came out as gay and even before then, I'd be like
going to high school with like black coal, like eyeliner on, like, you know, just being...
a little weirdo going into Catholic high school with a full face of makeup. Um, and I'd always
kind of like, I find joy in that. So I didn't really, you know, sit down and learn it properly,
but I always found it a nice, like, it was a nice, nice little outlet, I guess. And I liked,
I liked it. And then it was, it was literally one day when I was at drama school and one
of my housemates walked in and was like, you know, you like play around with makeup all
the time and you love makeup and you're a performer and an actor, like, why don't you just. put
them together and see what happens in Tri-Drag and I was like, that's not a bad idea. And
now here we are. So thank you, Rosie. We have to ask the big question though, don't we? Yeah,
we have to. What are you binge watching at the moment? Well, obviously Drag Race Season 17
is killer. But I just finished binge watching a show called Cassandra on Netflix, which was
absolutely amazing. It's a German show, I believe, about like an AI computer lady who is like
in control of this like house and this new family move into it. It was so good. Oh my god, it
was so good. It's just six episodes. I just finished it literally this morning. It's amazing.
It's amazing. I recommend. Brilliant. And what, who were your sort of TV heroes or the shows
that you couldn't miss when you were growing up? Oh, wow. Well, I'm gay. So I love Tana
Montana. And also when I was like really young, I used to love Goosebumps. I was obsessed with
Goosebumps. I remember I was like so obsessed to the point where they used to air at like
6 PM or something after school and then they stopped airing at 6 PM and I looked through
the like TV guide and I saw that they were airing at like 2 AM. So I'd literally set an alarm
in the middle of the night and wake my mum up. We'd go down and watch Goosebumps on a school
night at 2 AM. And I'd literally be falling asleep watching it. And my mum would be like,
okay, we need to go to bed. I'm like, no, I'm watching Goosebumps. Yeah, that definitely
probably shaped me. I mean. I love your mum did that. That was brilliant. I love you. Who
would play you in the film of your life? Ideal casting? Me. No, you could not. You could direct
as well. No, I don't know who would. That's a really good question. Gwen Stefani. Oh, good
call. Because for some reason, I keep getting told I look like Gwen Stefani. I've never had
it in my entire life. And then I went on Drag Race and every week and even now with Hello,
Hello coming out every week in the comments, Kyrin looks like Gwen Stefani. And I'm like,
I've never seen it in my life. But you know, just to appease the fans, I'd have Gwen play
me. I reckon she'd do it. And two questions in one. So I was watching an episode of Hello,
and a giant W sort of fell off the backdrop. I was wondering, have you had any serious mishaps
while performing live? Oh, I fell down the stairs once and I love a number, which was hard to
recover from. I don't know. Yesterday, my headset, my microphone broke. So they had to like come
throw me a handheld microphone. But there's a bit in the show where I'm kind of like lifted
up by my arms into the air. And I'm still like doing this, like singing the song. So I had
to, obviously, usually I just have the headset but I had to bring this arm in to carry on
singing it. So the dancer was like trying to hold me up like this. And it was like a very
uncomfortable compromising position but we made it work. We made it work. And also I love when
things go wrong. I love when things go wrong. They are, it's the biggest gift to a performer
when something goes wrong and you handle it. The audience loves it. It's so lovely. It's
so endearing. I love it. I'd have a show of just mistakes if I could. So true. I think
they've made a lot of money out of doing that, haven't they? Yeah, literally. Literally. And
are you on stage tonight? No, so today's a day off. So yeah, we usually have about eight or
nine shows and then a day off and then another eight or nine. But yeah, this tour finishes
in two weeks and then I have a few days off and then I'm on tour again the following week.
So it's jam packed. When you're not touring, what do you like to do? What's your favorite
night out? Ooh, so I love to go to the cinema, whether that's by myself, whether that's with
my partner, whether that's with my friends. It's just one of my favourite like pastimes
because I feel like it's so nice to get like transported to somewhere else. Do you know
what I mean? Like it's very different from watching anything at home. So I have a full like cinema
membership. I'll just take myself off on a day off, watch a film, just not look at my phone.
So there's that and there's also spending time with my little nephew is like the light of
my life. So and I feel like looking after a child just... takes all of your focus and energy
and it just feels like such a break from the norm of my life. So yeah, spending time with
my little nephew Franco and going to the cinema and having a nice bath and also going out and
love you. All of you bath. And that as well. Yeah. Well I think that's a good note to end
on and thank you so much,
Best of luck with the tour, break a leg as they say. Yeah, we love watching you, well done.
Done amazingly well, I should be very proud. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you
for having me, this has been an absolute pleasure. You're amazing, thank you. Have a lovely night
off, you deserve it. Take care. Thank you, I love you. Thanks, Kyra, lovely to meet you.
See you guys.