Exclusive Interview - Vanity Milan
Vanity Milan, hey girl, welcome to Spill the Tea! To start, how did you get into drag?
HII 👋🏿 Thank you for having me 🖤
Obviously RuPauls drag race had a huge impact on why I got into drag but being from a performing arts background I also got into drag for the love of performing and entertaining. I love makeup and being able to change my face using makeup and padding to enhance my silhouette has always interested me but I didn’t start drag properly until 2019.
How did you choose your Drag name?
I’d like to thank my mum for the name, I’m a very vain person apparently and where there was a mirror or anything I could see my reflection you’ll find me admiring myself, mum told me one day that my nickname should be vanity so it’s always stuck with me, Milan? Because I’m always keeping and serving up the latest fashions and trends. PERIOD!
How would you describe your Drag style?
Ratchet pageant queen though I’ve never been in a pageant, being a performance queen it always gotta be fierce and unapologetically BLACK!
What emoji describes your Drag?
😈
What is your go to lip sync song?
It’s a todrick hall mix, it’s starts with Dem Beats, then Dripeasha, Attention, Get My Wig which usually ends with me on a table/bar/podium whipping my hair VIGOROUSLY!
When on stage what do you love most about it?
Hearing YAAAAAS! WERK! And lots of screaming and cheering I’m an entertainer and I’m here to entertain seeing people twerking along with me dancing along with me lip syncing along with me fulfils my purpose of being a drag entertainer.
You were the winner of the Tuck Shop’s The Crown, how did it feel to win?
This was the first competition in drag and I’m going to be 100% with you, when they announced my name as the winner the first thing that ran through my mind is FUCK! I’ve got work tomorrow.
I was shaking, the crown was placed on my head and it fell off, and I thought, great start, however it was an honour to become the first winner of The Crown 2019 , I felt accomplished but I knew it was the beginning and there was a lot of work involved.
How has Covid changed the way you do Drag?
Being a performer that feeds of adrenaline, the crowd, hearing the cheers and the energy has changed immensely, myself and many other kings and queens have been forced online and asking for tips because of Ms Rona.
I don’t take it for granted because I can still interact with followers but not being able to feel the energy and see people in person does have an effect on the way we’d do drag.
But it’s always good having social platforms to interact with followers, putting a little bit of joy back into someone’s day when I go live is equally the same feeling.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has helped catapult Drag into the mainstream, but Drag goes beyond Drag Race, what one other Queen deserves a shout out from you?
Yes!! it goes WAY beyond drag race, for me it’s about being proud of who I am, CELEBRATING my community paying homage to the people who paved the way and ran so that I could walk and also to show someone like me it’s okay to be who you are and not care.
I would love to shout out my sister Sissy Lea, after winning The Crown, I quit my job and announced I’d be doing drag full-time. She helped me to realise it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought and luckily enough she owns her own coffee shop called Zippola in Enfield and offered me a part time job which allowed me to fulfil my weekend bookings and still earn money just in case I wasn’t booked.
The coffee shop also has a stage and she regularly hosts events where I’ve been lucky enough to grace the stage and perform for the amazing people of Zippola.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m not sure what the future holds for me, I take every day as it comes. However, I hope to have a great long career in drag and performing so that I’m able to provide for my family.
Any last shout out?
Shout out to my family and friends for the constant support, shout out the event managers/organisers/bookers who have always kept me in mind before and after these hard times. Shout out to my husband for ensuring that I look good and putting up with me 😝
You can find Vanity Milan on Instagram by clicking here.