WEBVTT - KWEEN KONG TALKS THIS WEEK'S FINALE OF RUPAUL'S: DOWN UNDER 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:01.720 It's in the news today, but it was actually on 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:05.240 TV Reload the podcast last week Their Life. Welcome back 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.280 to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris, and on this 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.480 podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.800 in television. Each episode you will get a front row 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:20.160 seat with content makers like executive producers, writers, editors, and 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.680 casting agents, plus the talent that we see on our screens. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.520 TV Reload reloads the shows that you are currently watching 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.840 and gives you a better insight into our television industry 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.320 and our streaming services. This week on the podcast, I 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.440 have the top three queens from RuPaul's Drag Race down 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.480 Under Season two, and on today's episode, I will hopefully 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.479 give the fans a better idea of Queen Kong's resume 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.440 and help you ask that question. Is Queen Kong our 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.040 winner of the second Down Under series? This Saturday is 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.040 already the finale, and while the series has been on 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.480 a wild ride, I think the finale is going to 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:01.000 be an excellent celebration of three very very popular queens 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.240 who truly deserve to be there. Queen Kong is of 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.320 Tongan and Samoan heritage. She originally hails from New Zealand, 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:11.600 but is currently residing in South Australia and was probably 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.040 the most established queen at the start of the series. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.320 Kong is known for her powerhouse performances and is also 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.520 a professional dancer, which is why the fandom started off 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.400 with huge high hopes for this awesome drag Queen. We 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.000 will talk in a sabotur the clash with Beverly Kills, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.600 who she thinks could easily sit beside Rue Paul, and 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.679 we will tackle the shady or Lady quiz with the 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:40.080 very first official request to be a lady. However, let's 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.160 get started with today's guest. I'd like to welcome Queen 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.560 Kong from RuPaul's Drag Race down Under season two to 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:47.440 TV reload. 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.160 I feel like it's just giving people more power to 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.480 feel seen, acknowledged and heard. First start. 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:57.080 Queen Kong and sister can't. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.600 Personally, I've had a lot of violent depths my ego. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.880 Everyone knows who Queen Kong is. She is a legend 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:06.160 in the drag scene. 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:08.320 Well, I don't like it when someone raises their voice 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.560 at me, are you cheam? Queen Kong and I knew 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:13.880 they were going to do it to the tour of us, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:15.880 but they're going to make US rivals. 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:20.480 Which Queen will be crowned down under next Drag. 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:25.280 Superstar beyond more community development queens rather than TV personality. 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:27.560 Hi there, Queen Kong, How the hell are you? 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:29.000 I'm good? How are you doing? 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:31.480 All the better for being able to talk to you 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:31.960 this morning? 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.760 Amazing, So condragulations on making it to the top three. 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.200 I think that you had some of the strongest storylines 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.120 of the season, making me think that you could win. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:44.600 Oh wow, I'll let you be the judge of that, 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:46.399 because I'm not going to get my hopes up because 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:48.119 if I lose, I'm coming for you. Ben. 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.400 We'll look do that because then we could just have 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.560 a commiseration drink and I'll be up for. 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:55.480 That totally, many many, many drinks. 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:59.320 Do you think, though, that having a journey in your 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.680 efforts on a show show like this may give you 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:03.400 a better shot of winning. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:05.680 I think watching it back, I definitely got a lot 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:07.839 of screen time and also a lot of screen time 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:09.640 for the audience to warm to me and feel like 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:11.840 some love me. Majority of them loved me. Some of 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:13.840 them are just like, oh, go to the therapist, and 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.359 I'm like I am chill the fuck out with you. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.079 But yeah, I think watching the Bag, I definitely feel 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.480 like people know me through and through. And the thing 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.079 about it is walking in you saw it in episode one, 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:25.960 or the queens are like, oh my god, Queen congs here, 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:28.600 Queen Cong's. Yeah, the majority of these girls only have 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.760 ever really met me through the lens of a screen 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.639 or seeing me on stage. They see that monster performance 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.800 fierce and fear as because they don't see the pile 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.000 of shit in the dressing room that's transcrape it together 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.200 to get on stage and you know, look like a 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.040 warrior queen. And so I feel like this was a 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.480 really good indication of who I am and what I'm 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:49.400 about and my values and yeah, I'm silently confident. But also, hey, 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:51.920 they can go either way. Both those girls are just 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:53.320 icons in their own life. 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:55.080 I kind of thought, you know, when it comes to 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.920 therapy with Rue Paul, he played a therapist on the 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.440 Brady Bunch movie. So that moment where he was given well, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.320 she was giving you some really good advice. It slipped 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.280 me back to that Brady Bunch moment. I don't know, 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.680 how do you ever seen RuPaul in the Brady Bunch 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:09.240 movie with. 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.360 The Black Wig. I remember that Black Wig, and I 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.680 was like, how can we forget let's not remember that week. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:20.159 I think she's forgotten it. Yeah, those moments were while like, 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.080 you know, I think there were a couple of moments 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.479 with Ru where she really gave me mama love, like 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.360 and she you know, I've spent years going to therapist 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.480 and you know, had so many people give so many 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:32.800 different bits of advice, but she hit it on the 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.840 head with a couple of those moments. There was a 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.800 chat she had around shame, which is inherently built into 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.719 most of us, but especially in the FIVEPOC communities, you know, 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:42.680 when it comes to being queer, you know, and also 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:44.440 with Dragon. So when she brought that up and we 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.680 spoke about my father and all that kind of stuff, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.559 these are things that I for myself, you know, talking 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.720 to another person of color who's also been through it 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.520 and is now in a platform where she's God, you know, 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.000 I'm going, you know, who has to listen to them 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.760 this example of excellence. And so there was that moment. 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:01.520 Also the moment in the workroom where she spoke to 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.840 me about giving my inn a child permission to have 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:05.960 fun you know, and I think I've never heard in 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.280 those words before, but when she said, I felt something 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.080 in my heart just like unlock and open, and I went, Wow, 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.000 she's really good and this is why we call her 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.240 Mama rou So I've got lots of love, love and 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.800 respect for that black Wig from the Brady Bund. 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.440 It's money can't buy therapy, you know, so it years 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.640 to come when you say I learned this from my 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.279 therapist RuPaul, you know, it's. 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.800 Crazy, literally totally and hopefully she doesn't charge me your 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:29.640 royalty fy for that. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:33.960 Well, throughout the series, I've been asking everyone if they 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.960 are I've learned this from the Instagram lives that you 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.599 will refer to it as your edit? But are you 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:41.800 just happy with the way that you came across for 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:43.080 how viewers got to see you? 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:45.400 Yes, you know, like I'm one of the fortunate queens 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.760 where you know, we obviously and you would obviously know this, 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.160 like you give everything, you know, like the producers get 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.800 everything from you, and you know, whatever gets chopped up 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.359 and left on the dis floors really at their own liberty. 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.880 But I feel like with my edit, they really did 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.640 kind of capture my essence, you know, and the things 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.719 that I that I face, the things that I struggle with, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.719 my values, all of it, and I feel very fortunate. 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:09.479 You know, I think people got a good idea of 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.320 who I am and what I'm about and what I 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:12.160 will do if I win. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:13.920 What does it mean to you to have made it 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.040 to the RuPaul's Drag Race down Under finale? 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:17.159 Like? 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:18.520 What does it mean to you personally? 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.600 Ah? Personally? Like I just think, you know, thinking about 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.839 that little child that really was talking about, Like I 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.000 think about think back to then when I would watching 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.039 TV and going, the only person that we look to 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.719 that looked like me was the rock doing the rock, Johmpson. 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:32.920 So I'm going, I definitely wouldn't want to be a 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:34.839 wrestler like I want to be with the wrestler. So 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:37.400 thinking about that child and also thinking about my niece, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.800 my nephews who you know who I'm raising as well, going, 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.719 you know, this is the possibilities for us to exist 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.400 in these platforms and spaces. I can only imagine what 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.240 this impact will do for that generation. So even though 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.360 it doesn't seem like it's about me personally, I know 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:54.360 that's just a torch that I get to pass on 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:56.280 to you know, my nephew and my niece when they 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.760 succeed my lifespan, and so that means a lot. It 0:06:58.839 --> 0:06:59.719 means a lot to me. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.960 Powerful when I was growing up, it wasn't even the rock. 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:04.839 The rock came around when I was in my twenties, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.080 so there was less. There was less than a rock. 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:09.960 That's what I'm going to say to you. Right now. 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:11.680 We've come a long way. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:14.000 We're moving forward and that's great. 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:19.480 Does this final three feel right? Or had you expected 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.640 there may be someone else in the final three? 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.840 No, to be honest, this feels right. You know. I 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.560 think walking in, I had ideas of who I thought 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:28.680 was going to go forward, and to be honest, and 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.280 I've said this to Spanky, like I think we all 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.320 kind of like cut her out in the beginning in 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.960 the first one two episodes, but really quickly she stood 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.280 up and let us all know what time it was. Like, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.680 Spanky Jackson is a force to be reckoned with. And 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.280 so I think when I walked in, I was like, Okay, Hannah, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.360 hopefully if I don't get cut out, and if I did, 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.600 be humble about it, don't cry and maybe Mini or 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.240 Yuri you know that there was definitely others that I 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.400 thought were going to get just based on face value. 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.960 So it makes sense now, like those two girls killed 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.000 the competition, and I'm lucky that I got there at 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.160 the end because there was touch and go for a minute. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.600 I don't know, because like I knew who you were before, 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.560 I didn't think I think this is right. I don't 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:10.120 think I knew anyone else and think it was just 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.400 you that I knew as an established queen going into 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.880 the show. So being such an established queen, do you 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.480 think that RuPaul's is going to change much. 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:18.920 Of your life? 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:20.840 I think, like, I don't think it's going to change 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:22.720 the landscape in terms of what I'm doing, but I 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.600 feel like it's going to broaden the outreach, which is 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.480 the main reason why that was what I wanted to 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:28.400 get out of it. You know, I wanted to again, 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.360 you know, for the younger brown boy, black boy who's 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:33.400 watching the TV to go, I'm going to be I'm 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.160 going to be a glamorous drag warrior that has anxiety 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:38.160 and depression. That's what I'm going to be when I 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.520 grow up. So I wanted to be that. But I 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:42.680 think moving forward, I think it is just going to 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:44.440 amplify it. And I was just an Inner Borough for 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:47.559 the Fringe Festival, and you know, you kind of underestimate 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:49.760 how many people watch Drag Race across the world. It's 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.240 the most watched TV show. You know, walking down the street, 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.280 people recognizing me out a drag, Like there was a 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.520 thing that I loved about the anonymity of drag, being 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:57.959 able to do the show in the club and then 0:08:57.960 --> 0:08:59.679 walk out and people just think I'm the security guard 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.000 that's completely gone, Like it's completely up the table now, 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.080 and so it's wild people recognizing you down the street. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.720 And I think knowing that the way that I was 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.839 portrayed on the show and how I help myself was 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.240 seen and the people that also feel the same way 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.719 are resonating with that, who don't feel like they can 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.480 really do drag because they're not extrovert extroverts. Like I'm 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.480 definitely an introverted extrovert. So I feel like it's just 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.839 giving people more power to feel seen, acknowledged and heard 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.400 and you know, feel like they have the possibility across 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.680 the board to stand up and do the drag that 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.640 they want to do, you know, might not necessarily be 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.319 as polished or might not necessarily be as talented or 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.160 funny or charismatic, but you know, it's a valid you know, 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.560 if you have a purpose and a mission for your 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.280 lifespan for your art, Like, who's going to tell you 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:46.520 that you're wrong unless you're telling yourself you're wrong. So yeah, 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.559 I'm excited for that aspect of what drag Race is 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:51.120 going to do for me and what the plans that 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.760 I have to use this platform to forward this kind 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.760 of activism work, this movement that I've been doing before 0:09:57.800 --> 0:09:58.520 the show started. 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.080 It's my favorite thing about you. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.040 You is that introverted, extrovert quality, and it kind of 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.760 I'm people see me extremely extroverted, but I actually have 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.120 a large part of my personality that it's introverted, and 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.199 it's not something people understand very easily. I loved when 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.360 you could see that one of the queens in the 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.800 make of a Transformation thing was being really loud, and 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:22.720 you were like, I'm so glad I didn't get that person. 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.840 That would be too much for me. That's the same 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:25.200 for me. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.440 People think because I'm really loud that they try and 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.920 match me with loud people, or they thought I was 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.600 sassy on Big Brothers. So they would sassy. People would 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:34.360 come up and go, I'm the bitch of the group too, 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:35.720 and I'd be like, what. 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.679 Thank you, I loved you by the way, You're amazing. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.320 That's nice to say, but it's kind of funny because 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.360 you know, people expect you to be a certain way 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.240 and I'm not always as loud, which is, as I said, 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.640 my favorite thing about you is just being able to 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:50.080 be both. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:51.160 I think is important. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.960 Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I guess too. I think 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.080 the way that I thought because before Drag, I was 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.400 going to a professional dancer and I'm a leo, so 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.920 I've definitely got that like the show boating, like show 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.960 pony aspect of my personality. But because I've always performed 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.320 like professionally, like I've always used the stage to exercise 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.600 all of those, like those egotistical, you know parts of me. 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.160 And I think if you met me a year ago, 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.600 you probably would have hated me, like, to be completely honest, 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:16.000 because I like, not that I was a count, but 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.520 I was a bit of an asshole because I thought 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:20.640 I was it. I thought not like my shit did 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:22.760 it's sting. Like the way that I did Drag was 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:24.959 still the same way, but I feel like my approach 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:26.760 was a lot more aggressive, and I feel like I've 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.480 really like made my approach more sophisticated, and I've kind 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.560 of bored my stuff down. I think personally, I've had 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.240 a lot of like violent deaths to my ego, which 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.320 has been so beneficial in the best way possible, and 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:39.600 it's just really made me look at myself and go, well, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.520 you know, like what am I other than I can 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.440 do these amazing things with my body now, But when 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:46.480 I turn forty fifty, Like, I'm not going to be 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.520 the backflipping drag queen at forty I'm not going to 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.200 be the drag queen that's going that that people are 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.520 coming to the club going ooh, Anti Kong needs to retire, 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.160 Like I don't want that, Like I want to make 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.600 sure that the impact that we're making sort of surpasses 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.800 my physical capacity to be so I want to make 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:02.720 sure that that sets up a space for others to 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.160 push the envelope further. And so, you know, I've done 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.319 a lot of self growth and the journey mentally and 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.520 emotionally has been really rewarding, and drag has been the 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:12.959 best way to do that. So yeah, it's exciting. 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:14.280 It is so exciting. 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:16.240 But I think that's kind of the hero's journey that 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.440 we don't realize is that you prove to yourself that 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.960 you can do something and you have a false confidence 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.640 about yourself, and then the real journey is being able 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.760 to work out what it means and how to do 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.040 it well, you know what I mean. And that's where 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.160 you pull back and you know it is a little 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.120 bit harder, got to take take yourself down a few notches, 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.199 and you've got to sort of musculate it. As I 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:37.439 said to you, I think this is one of the 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:39.240 reasons why I think you could win, is because we 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.640 got to really go on this journey with you and 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.960 see that this all means something to you. 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:44.640 Do you know what I mean? 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.800 Yeah, I feel you and I also think, like you know, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.200 in terms of what I represent like because it's across 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.360 the board. I think, you know, you're never going to 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.960 be physically, mentally, emotionally completely ready to go for your dreams, 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:56.720 you know. I think that's the reality. I think so 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.280 many of us, you know, will put us ourselves off 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.520 of going for something at a time, going ah, you know, 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.000 like I'll give myself maybe another year to go and 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:06.000 lose some weight or to do this before I even 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:07.880 go for it. I don't think for me walking to 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.600 the competition, I went, is this the right time? Maybe? 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.200 But if I wait and I'm going to miss it 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:14.760 and I'm going to have to go with it, and 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.520 rather than like thinking about what I used to be, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.600 I'm going to deal with what I am now, you know, 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:22.160 gather it into the boat, push up the canoe into water, 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:24.360 and just hopefully think that we like swim across that 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.720 water and not sink. And so it's a humble approach. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:28.560 And I think the way that my journey went is 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.560 definitely for myself what I needed and watching it back 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.360 and going wow, like I'm really proud of of myself, 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:35.880 and I feel like I wanted to let it all 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:37.599 hang out, and there was actually something that like the 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.720 reason why Roue always took time with me is because 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.680 I would never project confidence. You always go, how are 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.800 you feeling today, and I'd be like, horrible, I feel stressed, 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.080 I feel anxious, I want to go home and up 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:49.360 I want KFC. 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:54.160 Like She's just like, you know, there was a degree 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.320 of her trying to like not only give me confidence, 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.320 just sort of like make me stand up in moments 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.760 where I was just like just being honest and going, 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:03.120 I'm not saying that I don't. 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.000 Feel valued or valid or worthy. I'm just saying to 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:07.640 you right now, you've asked me the question, and I'm 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:09.559 just what I do is if I'm feeling it, I'm 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:10.880 just going to talk about it. And it might not 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:12.439 be the best thing that you want with this TV show, 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.000 but that is the reality and if you want projection 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:16.200 to badly. 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.000 But it's also the expectation that I think a lot 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.560 of people had on you as well, because, as I said, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.160 you know, you're an established queen. People knew who you were, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.360 and then you're then putting this huge expectation on yourself. 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:32.560 And I could see that at the start. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:34.640 It seemed like you got into your head a little bit, 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.640 and I felt like that might have been the biggest 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.200 turtle of that might have been the inner saboteur, as 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.600 RuPaul likes to say it, and then thinking well, I 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.920 have to be this level above everyone else because I've 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.560 been doing it longer. What was going on in your head? 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:50.440 Like what was it for the first two weeks that 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.440 sort of had you in the bottom. 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:54.800 Even Yeah, it was, It's definitely exactly what you said, honey, 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.200 Like I think, you know again, people had their preconceived 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:58.840 ideas of what I am and who I am, and 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.680 I think there were acting a degree of arrogance and 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.760 also just someone that was really upper zone arts and 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.200 I think and the best way obviously possible, but I 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.160 think realistically, like the people that actually know me in 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.080 my circle, because I keep my circle so tired, and 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:14.880 people that know me know what I'm like, and they 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.400 were just like they were mostly concerned about me because 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.840 of that aspect, knowing that they knew that people would 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.120 be expecting the world from me, and I don't really 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.600 deal well with expectations. And so the first couple of 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:27.480 weeks it was really difficult, especially in the acting challenge, 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:30.400 like because I am an actor, you know, trying to 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.600 deal hearing you know, Resko, you're a destroyer of worlds. 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.480 You're like outside of this, like you need to prove 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.200 this to her, And I'm sitting and going, I don't 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.560 want to prove shit to any of you. I'm literally 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.000 trying to live, like and also like like there were 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:44.520 just so many things in my mind of just like 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.000 trying to breathe through what was happening for myself, but 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.480 also hearing the critiques and not taking them personally and 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.960 just going, obviously, I'm not reading and so if there's 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:54.640 something that they're not they're just not happy with what 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.560 I'm delivering because that's not what they think I should 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:59.360 be delivering. And I'm going, is that really on me? 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:00.880 Or is that on you? Because you're expecting me to 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.800 be something that you think I am, Because then if 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.200 that's what you want, then like let's do a lip 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.160 think and I'll show you. But like outside of that 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:08.680 and be acting challenge, I'm probably not going to be 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.160 able to access that this time around. But moving forward, 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:13.600 I feel like if I was competing again, which I 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.760 would love to, there's definitely things that I feel like 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:17.520 I can I'll be able to access more now and 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.440 have a bit more fun. But it was just a 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.800 reality of being thrown into that pressure cooker and just going, 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:23.800 oh my god, stop thinking on me like that, stop 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:25.880 talking about me like that, stop saying there's like none 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:26.680 of me, but just know me. 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:28.840 Don't get me wrong. 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.160 I thought if I ran into Queen Kong in the 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.200 middle of the night, I'd be a little bit scared 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.280 of the person who I might have been a little 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:36.920 bit scared, but I feel like getting to know you 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.960