By Denny Patterson
Denny Patterson: Bianca! How excited are you to embark on your Dead Inside tour?
Bianca Del Rio: I’m super excited! I’ve been home for a minute, and it’s crazy because since Drag Race, which has now been 10 years, so we’re aging ourselves, I haven’t really taken a break. I would do tour after tour after tour, and this is my sixth solo tour to hit the road, which is wild. Since I had a year off, I thought this would be the perfect time to do some television work and some movies, and then there’s a strike! So, I rearranged my house, had foot surgery, combed some wigs, and now I’m like, I need to get out on the road again. Of course, everything is back to normal. It is what it is, but honestly, without being too complimentary to myself, what I do best and what I enjoy the most is touring. Getting out, seeing people, and making them laugh.
Denny Patterson: This new show covers politics, pop culture, political correctness, cancel culture – everything. It sounds like audiences are going to be on quite a ride throughout the evening.
Bianca Del Rio: That’s what I always tell people. People ask, what can we expect? I often say, expect the unexpected because with the way America rolls, who knows what is going to be the topic of the day? There’s so much pre-planning for the tour itself, but as far as material, it shifts. Also, if I’m in the UK or Australia, things shift per audience. But starting in America on February 12 in San Diego, I don’t want to say it’s a little easier for me, but it’s less stressful because they can understand you. You’re not working with obscure topics. In America, there’s so much to cover.
Denny Patterson: What about George Santos being removed from Congress?
Bianca Del Rio: Oh, honey! That queen! And then she brought up her boyfriend recently, I can’t. Talk about a drama queen. There are so many useless gays in the world, and I must say, I think he’s on top of the list.
Denny Patterson: And it’s always the useless gays that seem to be voted to political office!
Bianca Del Rio: That’s always the case! They’re doing nothing for us, and they are a horrible example. He’s a lying, thieving – wait a minute, I just explained every gay I know. Nevermind!
Denny Patterson: What do you always hope audiences take away from your shows?
Bianca Del Rio: Merchandise (laughs). I hope they take away merchandise so I don’t have to lug T-shirts with Bianca’s face on it! No, but seriously, it’s interesting because this January will be 29 years of me doing drag, so what’s absolutely insane to me is having this long period of time of getting to work. I don’t ever think of it like, here’s my message, and I don’t ever feel like this is a responsibility. I know it would sound great to say that, and some BS queens do. By lip syncing “I Will Survive,” they think they’re making a difference. I remember seeing some drag queen while scrolling through social media, and this made my cackle. They were singing “I Am What I Am” from the musical La Cage, and she dedicated it to Ukraine. Now, how is that helping? It’s not awareness, it’s annoying! So, for me, I just think I’m kind of like the Greek chorus. If I’m thinking it, everybody else is thinking it, and I guess I’m there to remind people not to take your life so seriously. You’ve got to find the fun in it because we’re all going to die someday. That’s just what it is. I do know that there are a lot of serious things happening in the world, but you’ve got to find some sense of balance. You watch the news and it’s beyond depressing, but honestly, you’ve got to find the silver lining in all of it. I hope people can come to my show and laugh at the fact that I’m a joke, find the jokes in the world, and just take a minute to escape all the nastiness. It’s never going to be perfect, but at least come and giggle about something stupid on Drag Race or Mitch McConnell’s turtle self. Maybe he can retire and become a greeter at Walmart. We need someone to check our receipts! If you’re stealing something, there’s nothing we need more than a 95-year-old man with a highlighter to come and get you.
Denny Patterson: Like you mentioned earlier, it’s been 10 years since you competed and won RuPaul’s Drag Race. Do you have any plans to celebrate this occasion?
Bianca Del Rio: Darienne Lake, Courtney Act, Adore Delano, and I watched our season when it was airing at these viewing parties at every gay bar, but it’s all kind of blurred because alcohol was involved. That’s the only time we watched the episodes, and we said in 10 years time, we would all get together and rewatch it again, just to witness the chaos. We haven’t organized it yet, but we’re hoping to do so soon. It’s crazy, not just because it was 10 years ago, but also how much the show has changed and how much we’ve all changed. I think it’ll be fun to look back. Every now and then, I’ll get tagged in some crazy clip, and I’ll go, wow, we were ruthless compared to the kumbaya of everyone now! Everyone is very happy, loves themselves and each other – we didn’t. We were ruthless, and I’m hoping to relive it again. In some ways, it feels like 30 years ago, and other ways, it feels like yesterday.
Denny Patterson: Looking back, what has been the most rewarding part of this journey for you?
Bianca Del Rio: Truly, just getting to work. At that time, Drag Race was an amazing outlet and platform. No slight to it now, but we had space in between the seasons. We had a full year to build a career, and we were also the only franchise at that time. So, all eyes were on us globally. Everybody was bootlegging the show in other countries, and we were able to travel and work in all these different places. It was kind of like world domination for drag, which was really, really new to the general audience. We were accepted, we were liked, we got to travel, and I took complete advantage of that. I went everywhere I could possibly go. Of course, there are peaks and valleys, and I don’t know if you heard, but we experienced this little thing called the pandemic, and everybody was second guessing. What’s entertainment going to be like? What’s the world going to be like? Am I ever going to work again? When I went back on the road, all things were healed, so you just never know what’s around the corner, which is kind of exciting sometimes. My goal is to keep truckin’ as long as I’m enjoying it and as long as the audiences are there. Whether it be a 5,000 seat venue or 200 people, because I’ve done both.
Denny Patterson: Even though we saw how successful the all winners season of All Stars was, do you still have no desire to return?
Bianca Del Rio: Nope. First and foremost, the timing wasn’t right. When they called, I wasn’t available to commit, but also, I did the show 10 years ago when I was 37-38 years old, and I was barely any fun then. I don’t think I would have been fun at 48! I have this thing where it’s like, would you go back to high school? Like I said, the show has changed, and it’s also a huge investment now. People spend thousands of dollars on costumes and create all these looks just to be on TV for 13 seconds, and that’s not in my wheelhouse. Also, because the franchise is so big now and there’s so many queens that have won the show, they’ve got enough to choose from. They don’t need me. But I did think it was great for someone like Jinkx or Raja because they were so young when they did the show. So, if you’re up for that challenge, great. I was like, eh, I’m good at the moment, but you never know. If there’s an opportunity to go back and beat Bob the Drag Queen, sign me up.
Denny Patterson: A project you were involved with last year, and I honestly could not get enough of it, was Hulu’s Drag Me to Dinner. What was that experience like for you?
Bianca Del Rio: A hoot! I got a call from Neil Patrick Harris, and I’m not trying to sound fancy because I do have his phone number, and he asked if I would be interested in doing this show. I was like, sure, what does it involve? He’s like, well, it’s basically drag queens throwing dinner parties, blah, blah, blah, and I said, I’m not interested in being a contestant. He’s like, no, we thought of you as a judge. Then I thought to myself, well, that’s challenging. How dare they assume I would pass judgment on another drag queen (laughs). But the big issue was timing, and Neil said they would move it around to best fit my schedule. So, it was lovely. We filmed in New York for two weeks, and I got to see a lot of friends of mine. I’m hoping for another season.
Denny Patterson: Do you like to cook?
Bianca Del Rio: A little bit. I’m the kind of queen that can make magic happen. I can get certain boxed or canned items and make them special, but I won’t lie to you about it. I won’t go, “this is homemade.” No, I threw this together. It’s like drag makeup. Throw a little glitter on it and you’re good to go.
Denny Patterson: If you did happen to compete on Drag Me to Dinner, what would your signature dish have been?
Bianca Del Rio: I know how to make these little tuna burgers. I know, random. And note, I said tuna burger, not Tina Burner. My boss in New York many years ago gave me the recipe, and that’s the one thing I can accomplish. But once again, it’s a lot of random little items that you buy. I don’t think anything’s fresh but the onion. You mix it all together, and it’s quick. I never really gravitated to the whole cooking thing. I’m not like, oh, let’s make a meal. Now, I am great at the cleanup and setting a table. I like to do that. I’m like a gay Martha Stewart.
Denny Patterson: I also love that you finally got to host Drag Race’s weekly recap show, The Pit Stop.
Bianca Del Rio: Yes! I’ve been asked for quite some time to host, but once again, I was always on the road. The Pit Stop is a big commitment, and doing those two seasons back to back was about six months of my life. Now that I live in Palm Springs, it was six months of me going back and forth to LA, and you can’t review the show until it’s been edited. It was a fun experience, and it was great to kind of connect with the new Drag Race audience. I mean, there are 16-year-old scholars who know the show up and down.
Denny Patterson: For real, and it’s exciting that Trixie Mattel is returning to host. Who would you like to see take over the show at some point?
Bianca Del Rio: Oh, God. Anybody who’s entertaining and doesn’t take themselves seriously.
Denny Patterson: I think Alyssa Edwards would be a good choice.
Bianca Del Rio: She’d be a hoot, but she would talk about everything but the show. You’ve got to rein her in because she will go off to la la land. But if we’re talking about an ideal duo, let’s put Alyssa Edwards and Miss Vanjie together. Talk about a trainwreck!
Denny Patterson: We’d go from a 30-minute episode to two hours!
Bianca Del Rio. Exactly! Talking about nothing, and subtitles everywhere.
Denny Patterson: My last question for you. With drag constantly evolving, what advice can you offer to newbie queens who would like to give it a try?
Bianca Del Rio: Don’t do it. It’s a trap (laughs). Maybe this is old advice now because we’ve seen people with no talent be successful, not just in drag but just in our lives, so I would say, find a lane. Not a lane with rules or restrictions, but if you want to be a singer, make sure you can sing. That song you put out, make sure you can perform it live and make sure you’re in good shape to sing it. Basically, don’t be a drunken mess lip syncing, and find what rings true to you. It sounds so crazy because we wear wigs for a living, but it’s like, find the closest thing to yourself that you enjoy. Getting dressed up and being in costume and cosplay, there’s an art to it. It’s an amazing world and there are very devoted artisans that create all that madness, but to me, drag is a little more than that. So, I would say, what’s worked out well for me and my career is finding the lane that you like and not having too many yes people around you. Because trust me, people will lie. I mean, we’ve got several Drag Race queens that are hideous putting out makeup lines. Like, what world are we in? I’m not buying a beauty product from you! So, I think that’s the best way to go about it, and also, don’t overspend. Going on Drag Race now is like going to college. Find a way to enjoy it. Making money is one thing, but know your worth. The most successful girls are the ones that have paid their dues. We’ve all done those bar shows for $50. We’ve all done those benefits for free. I still do it, and you have to. It keeps you humble, and it reminds you that it could be much worse.
Stay up-to-date and connect with Bianca by following her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @TheBiancaDelRio, or visit BiancaDelRio.com. For more information and to purchase tickets for Dead Inside, visit Kravis.org.
