Bianca Del Rio doesn’t do subtle. When she arrives in a room, if you don’t catch her brightly coloured hair and outfit, then you’ll certainly hear her. So she’ll fit right in in a room as big as Wembley.

The RuPaul’s Drag Race season six winner is about to become the first ever drag queen to headline a night at the legendary arena, and it’s something she’s brushing off with her trademark wit and charm…and maybe, dare we say it, is even a little bit humble about it?

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, when asked about why the UK in particular have adopted her as one of our own, she puts it down to one simple thing, explaining with a booming laugh: ‘I think it’s because I’m a c***!



‘Can you put that? C***? It’s very easy!,’ she quizzed. ‘You get my sense of humour so much, not like America doesn’t, but in the UK it’s just a little more honest, a little more raw than it is for us in America, or maybe just the novelty of it. I’m not really sure – I’m grateful that they do!


‘Or maybe their lives are just so boring they find me as a big ball of sunshine, or maybe because everyone in America knows that I’m a real c***!

‘I think that they’re very upfront, and I think that they’re very honest which is…so, where I come from, as I sit here in a wig. So honest with myself!’

The Louisiana native made her name in New York as a drag queen hostess before landing on Drag Race, and now she’s one of the most known queens across the world, even being voted one of the most powerful drag queens in America by New York Magazine.

Bianca is ending her UK tour with a stint in Wembley Arena (Picture: Getty)

Heading onto TV in 2014, Bianca’s career shot off thanks to her straight-talking bitchy clown with a heart persona, and since then the show has become somewhat of a cult phenomenon – and it was something Bianca didn’t entirely sign up for, taking for granted how big the series could become.

But she bursts out laughing when we ask about her friendship with leading megastar RuPaul, because as far as she’s concerned, there never was one.

The queen beamed: ‘That’s the most ridiculous question! Maintain a relationship? I never met her! She’s a hologram! No, I mean, she would have to be in the room with me to have a falling out.

‘I don’t hang out with her, we’re not in rooms together, she’s a very busy woman collecting trophies and doing shows all around the world! I mean, I’ve never considered myself a friend of hers. She’s in charge of this television show, she’s executive producer, she’s the star of the show.

‘I’m one of the minions that came in. I say hello, we say hello, if she knows my name, I’m a lucky b****! If not, she’s got things to do so I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as “go and live your life!”’



‘She’s been great as far as any time I’ve asked for it,’ Bianca added though. ‘She’s done an intro for my show before for me and recorded it, she did a scene in Hurricane Bianca [a movie series starring Bianca as well as her non-drag self, Roy Haylock]. I’ve done her podcast many times, but I mean, we don’t go out shopping with each other, and talk about wigs. No! We don’t have that temperate relationship and I think anyone who’s been on the show that assumes they do is absolutely ridiculous. That’s not how it works!’

Bianca’s It’s Jester Joke tour is currently heading around the UK now

However, while RuPaul might be a little beyond reach, Bianca maintains a friendship with Ru’s right hand lady, Michelle Visage – who for anyone who doesn’t know her, is about to become a leading lady herself as she stars in Strictly Come Dancing this yeah.

‘Michelle Visage and I hang out a lot, because she lives near me in California, so we go shopping and we chat and that’s a different relationship.’

So how does Bianca think she’s going to fare in Strictly?

‘I hope she does good! I hope she moves moves her feet as much as she moves that f***in’ mouth of hers!,’ the star laughed. ‘I mean, that would be good! It’s also fabulous to get to see somebody that spends their living judging everyone else…now she gets to be judged! HAHA!

‘We’re friends and I’m super excited to see her. It’s daunting, I don’t know if I could do it.’


….And yet somehow a 12,500 capacity venue in England’s capital is just fine?

I hope [Michelle] does good [on Strictly]! I hope she moves moves her feet as much as she moves that f***in’ mouth of hers!

When we ask her about it, the star joked: ‘Keep reminding, me, thank you! Keep throwing it out there! This is why I drink!’

Bianca’s no-holds-barred language and jokes are something she’s become known for in the years since Drag Race – and it’s something that’s on more than a few occasions landed her in a little bit of trouble.

But Bianca is also made of impenetrable steel, and while she acknowledges that there have been occasions where she may have crossed a line, she’s determined to push through regardless, because you’re never going to win them all.

‘There’s always something that you go “I should’ve done this better, I would’ve done that”,’ the queen told us. ‘The thing with the comedian is you can make all the jokes you want and not every joke it going to be a winner, and not every joke is going to land, there’ll be some that somebody doesn’t laugh at, but that’s just part of the deal.

‘Take Mariah Carey, you can love Mariah Carey, and Mariah Carey might but out a s***y album…let’s face it, she’s put out many, and people look at her and go “Oh I still love Mariah, but I didn’t like that song, or didn’t like that video.” It comes with the territory.’

Bianca has become one of the most powerful stars in the US after winning Drag Race (Picture: Rex)

‘Am I going to lose sleep over it? Hell no. Do I give a f*** what some 13 year old child on Twitter has to say about it? Double f*** no. Because that’s not my audience, you don’t have to like me, and that’s OK. You can go live your life and follow who you like, I owe you nothing.’


While that may well be the case, Bianca insists that she will go out of her way for selfies with a fan, and will never say no when asked. It’s something that has become a contested subject in the Drag Race fandom after season 11 winner Yvie Oddly declared she would refuse pictures with fans after show, telling fans in a string of tweets to ‘not be selfish’.

(It was something Yvie had to later apologise for.)

You don’t have to like me, and that’s OK. You can go live your life and follow who you like, I owe you nothing.

Bianca wasn’t buying it though, and said: ‘After a show she did this whole analogy about being a chef and running out of ingredients or some hypothetical bulls**t. But in the midst of it she said that she was not taking pictures with fans because they did not pay for it. That she’d already done meet and greets so she’s not doing pictures unless they’ve paying.

‘That’s when I thought, “well, you can think that. You can have an opinion of that, but you’ve also got to be careful with what you’re saying. If you say that, then you know you’re going to get attacked.” I think that’s when people get bent out of shape.

‘You can tell someone no, you can tell someone yes, it just depends on the day and the time and the situation, but I think when you go to Twitter unfortunately that’s just kind of what happens.’

‘I don’t care. I don’t care!,’ she added. ‘You shouldn’t have an excuse. When it comes to the business of it, it’s just part of the deal, and if you choose to go out and say something like that, that’s what ends up happening, people are going to get upset. No one cares about your illness, all they want is a selfie. That’s just how the world works! You can just handle it in a better way and you can’t have that as an excuse.’

‘I don’t think I’ve told anyone that I’m not taking a picture,’ she added. ‘There’s awkward moments where people have asked, like at an airport and I’m trying to get my luggage and they’re like “can I get a photo?!” and I’m like “can you f***in’ wait ‘til I get my luggage?!”’

‘That kind of stuff has happened, but I’ve never been like “No, I’m not taking a photo!” That’s silly. If I didn’t want a photo then I’d just stay home.

‘Someone’s bound to see you, and you should consider yourself lucky if somebody gives a shit who you are. Some second rate f** on a reality show, you’re lucky if somebody goes “hey I know you!”’

‘But that’s just my take,’ she hastened to add. ‘I’m not going to say that applies to everyone else, and even if you didn’t agree with me, it’s just how I feel. But I personally feel, I feel it’s a very tricky with the social media aspect of it, because if you’re coming from a place of it’s a business talk, if it’s an idea or a thought and you feel it, everything you think and feel does not have to go on Twitter. And that’s what you have to tell the children. It’s silly.’

Realise what you are – you’re a man in a wig, and keep people around who remind you you’re a man in a wig.

Bianca’s stint in the UK comes on the eve of the first ever season with Drag Race UK – with queens including Baga Chipz, Scaredy Cat and The Vivienne already making their presence known at fan conventions like DragCon, and prides around the world before the show debuts.

So what’s her advice for the queens and the world of fame they’re about to be thrust into?

‘Quit drag! So I can keep working!,’ she giggled, before turning serious and adding: ‘Keep honest people around you. It can be an amazing ride, it’s also a delusional ride if you lose sense of yourself. Realise what you are – you’re a man in a wig, and keep people around who remind you you’re a man in a wig. You’re not changing the world. Just be realistic. It’s there if you want it.

Even Bianca’s a little daunted by the bright lights of Wembley (Picture: Rene Koala)

‘The opportunities are all there if you put in the hustle. It’s not all glamorous, I can tell you as I sit here today in this hotel in the sunlight, in this outfit! It’s not all glamour.’

So would there be any chance of Bianca ever returning to that world for one last round? Say for a Champions season?

‘Hell no!.’ she said bluntly. ‘Would you go back to high school? Thank you! I’ve successfully gone through, gotten my diploma. See ya!

‘Also it’s a different show now. It’s a completely different show than the one I did six years ago, in every way. Everyone’s much younger, everyone’s about spending this much money on costumes, you don’t even have to have talent anymore,’ before adding with a wink. ‘I mean, look at the line up!’

‘It’s a different world and I’m just not interested in going back,’ she added. ‘They chose each person that won for that reason, for that season, and I feel that’s it. What do I have to prove? I’m working.’

‘It’s like going back to a boyfriend, I’m good. We had a good relationship, got the photos, but moved on.’

In fact, she barely watches the show anymore – and instead keeps up with the latest queens online and via shows.

‘I wasn’t a big fan of watching the show before, because I’m really bad with watching television,’ Bianca said. ‘I’m not acting like “oh I’m done I’m not watching it anymore”… I don’t even have a Netflix account.

‘With Drag Race in particular, I’d seen seasons four and five, before mine. So I wasn’t a huge, knew every word, knew every queen type of fan. There are some contestants who have done this show who know everything about it. I didn’t, and then after I’d done the show, it’s hard to watch something once you’ve been behind the curtain, and also by that time I knew a lot of people who were going on the show.’

Bianca beat Adore Delano and Courtney Act to the Drag Race crown in 2014 (Picture: Netflix/WOW)

‘I knew what they were like in real life and I saw what they were doing on television, so it was a weird dynamic for me, because I kinda knew too much, does that make sense?,’ she explained. ‘Like they were really a c*** and they were looking nice, and so all that stuff kind of played with me and mish-mashed in my head, so what I do know is I watch social media and you know exactly what’s going on by everybody talking about it.

‘So you have somebody going “Oh I hate her!” and I’m like “wait until you see what’s coming!” So that type of thing, it’s just so…So I didn’t enjoy watching it as much because I’d been behind the curtain so it made it a little awkward for me.’

It’s not like she has much time to wind down and watch TV these days anyway, seeing as she’s currently on tour across the UK with her It’s Jester Joke stand-up.

When asked what we can expect, she beamed and laughed: ‘[Something] Just as nasty as this interview!

‘Just expect the unexpected, because there’s always something new each night.’

‘When [Wembley] came up in email and discussion, it was like, so this is a big thing… and then when I actually went there for a photoshoot it was like “Oh F***!”. So yeah…I felt the daunting part of it.

‘Luckily the way it’s structured I won’t be in the middle of it like Madonna with 42 dancers, because that’s also what I do. Hell no, that costs money and I’m too cheap for all that!,’ she joked. ‘I was thinking about putting all that s*** on when you don’t have any talent that you’ve got to pull out pyrotechnics.’

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‘It’s a wild thing! I mean, how lucky…first off, with the whole six years of all of this with the television show has been kind of surreal and the opportunities that have come my way have been kind of wild,’ she added.

‘This wasn’t a vanity project, it really was based on numbers. Last year in London I did a venue that was maybe 3,300, and it was sold out for three nights, and so it was management choice to move to a largely venue, so it wasn’t completely vain.

‘It’s a little daunting! If it were up to me I’d still be doing a show in the bathroom for three people.’

At the very least, she’s getting the last laugh.

Tickets for Bianca Del Rio’s ‘It’s Jester Joke’ UK Tour are available on www.eventbrite.co.uk

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