Exclusive Interview - Adriana
I'm going to start right at the beginning and find out when you realized that you wanted to do drag?
It was when I was back up dancer that I started. I did it for four years but I had so many projects that I wanted other drag queens to do, some of them worked and some of them just didn't want to do it because it wasn’t their style. So I just said hey what am I waiting for? Someone else to do my concepts when I could do them by myself. I'm a very conceptual queen. I started by watching YouTube videos and at the beginning I was like i'm gonna try it and if it works I’m going to maybe do it for a year or something like that and now six years later and Drag Race Season Two.
How did you come up with your drag name?
Adriana wasn’t my first choice, that's something not everyone knows, my first choice was a little bit more filthy, it wasn't family friendly! I was part of a drag family in Quebec city and they said you're not having that name! So I changed it, but when I was looking for a name I didn’t know exactly what I wanted my drag to look like. It was very hard and then I started thinking well of course I want to do concepts, but what I want to look like is how I saw my Mom when I was younger. **Adriana laughs** A big milf that all my classmates were like oh my god your mom's so hot. She was this Latina with big hair, curly hair and big boobs, big, big hips and I thought I think that's the aesthetic I would like to have and I went with that. Then with my name, hers is so beautiful that I wanted to make it in honour of her.
I need to know what the original!
Oh my god, well it was not that bad but it was not family friendly, it's Megan C*ck’s.
Okay, yeah I can see why you changed it. I prefer this version and it has a nicer story.
Thank you I do too.
Of course on the show you were very open and you revealed how you struggled with your relationship with your Dad and the toxic environment that you were in, what would be your advice to somebody who is currently experiencing that in their home environment right now?
You're not alone! I think that's the hardest thing that I felt. I felt that nobody else was feeling what I was feeling at that moment, nobody could understand because in my family there was no not (at least that I know of) LGBTQ+ people from the community. I didn't have anyone to relate to and to go talk to. In school it was the same thing, we didn't have any groups for LGBTQ teenagers or children and I felt like nobody could understand, even going to a psychologist I felt like I was being judged and now watching the last episode that I went home on and seeing these teenagers being heroes to our community! That's what I would say, look for these people because they exist and they can help you, there's a lot of ways of helping your situation right now and you're not by yourself, just keep going.
Let's not give that side of the family any more airtime because of course on the flip side you had a very supportive family with your Mum's side. How do you feel that helped your drag?
Being from a Latin family and one that is very religious, (a lot of families in Colombia are) I didn't expect being supported the way that I was, of course at the beginning it was harder for them to understand that they would probably not have grandchildren, everybody had to learn something, I was learning but I was also teaching my family at the same time. We did a lot of teaching and learning with each other. Communication is so important and people are going to say okay communication, but it's in all relationships, it's so important people who are not able to communicate. Without it, things are much harder and the drama goes much bigger than just understanding and being able to put yourself in the other position. I understood why for my Grandma it was harder to understand so I didn't push it, I went at her pace and now we all get along.
I can relate because my Dad side of the family were very religious and I had a very sporty upbringing, I played rugby… you wouldn't believe it looking at me but I did and from the age of five to sixteen and when I came out my Dad had the same thing of saying look you need to just be careful and basically guided me and we did it together.
Most of their reactions are because they're afraid of what's coming for you but they're doing it out of love not because they hate you. yeah not because they hate you.
Exactly! The week you opened up about your family you actually did very well, that episode you won that challenge. How did it feel to win so early on in the season?
First I was screaming inside, I'm not the loudest but I was screaming a lot in my hand, it felt good having a win, it's like having a little taste of the crown. It was all the effort that I put on that outfit and on the performance. I wasn't sure about the character that I was going to play but I thought, hey come on, just give it a try and own it. To go ahead and getting the win… now there is so much pressure to have another one because I don't want to fall in the bottom the next week! The competition had been going up and down for everyone, it was literally a roller. I had to push myself even more after that. Yeah… I didn't know the Snatch Game would be next.
How would you sum up your experience on Canada's Drag Race?
It's incredible, it's made me discover how much I’m able to do. I’m proud of everything that I showed, I learned from my mistakes, and I left with my head high. I’m not feeling ashamed of anything, I’m glad that I left on such a beautiful episode and that we're teaching younger generations that life can be so good in our community.
The way I like to end my interviews is with a shout out, a space for you to shout out another Queer performer, King, Queen or anything in-between and why they deserve it.
Lady Boom Boom, she was doing drag since she was 11 years old in her room just performing in front of the mirror. At 18 ** Adriana Whispers ** we're going to say at 18 she started performing at the club... when she was ready people were like wow she came prepared and she's been growing since. She does everything by herself and she kills the stage, literally, she's a lip sync… I wouldn’t even say assassin, maybe like masked murderer?
Or a serial killer!
Yeah, serial killer!
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Photography - Courtesy of World of Wonder
Note: Some of this interview has been edited from the original transcript to help with readability.