Season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race was the first to make the move to VH1 after eight seasons on Logo, and that move proved to be a smart one. The already popular reality competition series saw an increase in viewership (up 122 percent in the coveted 18-49 demographic over last season), pushed drag even more into the mainstream (Saturday Night Live devoted a sketch to the show) and scored a total of eight Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Reality Competition and Reality Competition Host for RuPaul.
Now the Season Nine queens have taken their new found fame on the road in the show “War on the Catwalk,” coming to the Straz Center in Tampa Sept. 17 and The Plaza Live in Orlando Sept. 18. Catwalk’s host and hometown queen, Trinity Taylor, took a few minutes to speak with Watermark about fame after Drag Race, getting a shout out from Chris Pine and how she got the nickname “The Tuck.”
Watermark: You are currently on tour with several other queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9 in Murray and Peter’s “War on the Catwalk.” How’s the tour going?
Trinity Taylor: It has been phenomenal. This tour has gotten more publicity and attention than any of their other tours before. Every city seems to be selling out. We recently had Todrick Hall come to one of them. It’s just been a lot of fun and the audiences have been amazing.
Is the dynamic on tour with all the queens different than being on the show? I’m guessing it’s less drama.
Definitely less drama, the girls all pretty much get along. Unlike on the show, there is no competition, just us performing and doing our own thing, no drama. [Laughs] Well, there is less drama. The most dramatic part of the night is the question and answer portion when the audience gets to ask us anything.
Opening the show to an audience Q&A sounds dangerous. Do the fans try and rehash some of the feuds from the show?
They definitely ask us questions based off the drama they saw on the show. So, some of the questions stir some stuff back up and we have to answer them. It gets pretty interesting.
You have lived in the Tampa Bay and Central Florida area, but did you grow up here?
No, I was born and raised in Alabama. I lived there for 27 years, then I moved to the Tampa Bay area for a bit before moving to Orlando.
Anyone in the LGBTQ community from the south has their own stories of what it was like growing up in that environment. What was it like for you growing up in Alabama?
I grew up in a small town in the middle of Alabama that didn’t even have a red light; I mean I was the most feminine guy that was at my school and there were no other gay people in my school. Hell, there were no other gay people at all in my city, at least that I knew of at the time. I was raised by my grandparents who are southern conservative Baptists. When I came out it wasn’t pretty. As soon as I turned 18 I got the hell out of there.
Who were your inspirations when you were getting into drag?
I used to try to emulate my drag mother. Her name is Jordan Kennedy. She was a mixture of club kid and glamour, but after a while I realized that really wasn’t the type of drag that I wanted to do. I kind of just formed my own style which is very polished and pageantry, but I guess some people would say I have a kind of comedy twist to me which is unexpected.
Now your nickname is the “The Tuck.” Dare I ask how you came to get that nickname?
Well, you know, I bill myself as the best tuck in the business. A lot of the girls especially on the show are often critiqued on having a “meaty tuck” and I am quite talented at hiding things.
You were Miss Pulse in 2011, and you are among very prestigious alumni of Drag Race queens from Central Florida who performed at Pulse. What was it about Pulse that produced so many amazing queens?
Orlando is not an easy city to work in when it comes to drag. They are very particular and very cliquey, but Pulse was different. It was a place that welcomed all. I did Miss Pulse as a way of getting my foot in the door. As soon as I won they had me working there literally every week. I think Pulse offered an open-minded place for new and different talent that a lot of the other clubs in Orlando didn’t offer.
Where were you when you found out you were selected for RuPaul’s Drag Race?
I was at home and they called me. I had been called by them before, actually the weekend that Pulse happened, for a pre-interview so I already had their number and I had it saved as Drag Race in my phone. I was showing my roommate a costume on my phone and as soon as I turned my phone around to my roommate he started freaking out saying “Drag Race is calling you,” and I immediately answered. That’s when they told me I was selected and of course I freaked out.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has turned into a global phenomenon with literally millions of people watching it every week. How are you handling this newfound fame?
You know it’s crazy. I’m not a different entertainer. I’m the same entertainer I was a year ago. The only thing that’s different is I’ve been on a TV show so it’s quite odd. Literally everywhere I go people recognize me and it’s not just the LGBT community. The majority of the fan base is young women and their mothers.
Drag has gone so mainstream thanks to RuPaul’s Drag Race. Celebs like Lady Gaga, who appeared on the show with you, Bjork and Andrew Garfield are huge fans. The latter has talked about having viewing parties with his friends. What’s been your biggest celeb moment since being on the show?
I think it was meeting Lady Gaga. She worked her butt off to become who she is and she’s still humble and down to earth. She gave great advice and it felt very genuine.
This past season on Saturday Night Live they did a skit surrounding RuPaul’s Drag Race and you got a shout out from Chris Pine. Were you watching the show when that happened?
No. I was getting ready for a show. I was on Instagram live and Alexis Michelle from my season was on my feed and she said, “Girl, go look at SNL. They’re talking about you right now.” I couldn’t watch right then because I didn’t have a TV where I was, but as soon as I got a chance I looked and I was blown away. The skit was literally about me. I was the only queen that they named. It’s so crazy how things can change so quickly.
What did you think of the skit when you watched it?
I thought it was hilarious. They were super and the storyline was great. It was very positive and it showed that there are a lot of straight people —even straight men —that watch Drag Race and that’s ok.
