You want to be the Queen of all Queens?! Carson Kressley, longtime judge of RuPaul’s Drag Race, chatted on the HollywoodLife podcast about what he looks for in a top-rated Queen! “First of all, it’s experience. To be a good Drag Queen, you have to be out there and work in the clubs and work on at your craft because there’s no substitute for actually being out there and performing that art, learning how to work with an audience and honing in on who you are,” he said. “I think when you get there, the number one thing is to do your version of drag; ie, bring yourself to the competition instead of trying to fit yourself into the competition, fit the competition around you and your brand and your skills.”
Carson explained that for the show, each Queen is hand-picked by Ru, herself, and the judges remind every contestant that they’re there for a reason. “They’re there because there was something about them that was really extraordinary,” he said. “We just want them to continue to bring that to the comedy challenge and the runway challenge and to the roast and the debate and all the different challenges!”
The fashion expert added that every contestant should excel in a little costume design, hair, makeup, comedy, singing, dancing, and acting! “If you’re really good at all those things, you can be America’s next drag superstar!” he gushed.
He also noted that for all those reasons, RuPaul’s Drag Race is so popular! And, it’s no question the show is so popular amongst celebs, with past guest judges including Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Kacey Musgraves and even Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez!
“I’m always excited about who’s gonna sit with us on the panel!” Carson exclaimed. “We’ve had such a wide variety, but I never know who is going to be there because it’s so top secret. When I drive on to the lot, there are those little signs where you park and mine says Carson, and then there’s guests, and I’m just like, ‘oh, who has a red Miata? Who could it be?'”
While Carson couldn’t dish too much on the upcoming celebrity guest judges on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 5, he did tease that they will be worth the wait! “It will still be the same caliber of amazing people who have made their mark in either music, politics, pop culture, film or television, and they always bring great insights on to coaching the Queens on during their performances,” he said.
Be sure to tune in to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars every Friday at 8 PM ET on VH1!