Combining smoldering looks with stunning talent, Krystal Versace proved quickly that age is just a number when she snagged the crown on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3. Now, she is stepping onto the stage once more and bringing along her closest friends and colleagues on the brand new WOW Presents Plus show Keeping Up With Krystal Versace. I sat down with Krystal to chat about her brand new show, what life and her career have been like since winning Season 3, and whether or not we may see her on a future All Stars installation.
MC: Post-winning Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 a couple years ago, how does it feel to now have your own WOW Presents Plus show, Keeping Up With Krystal Versace?
Krystal Versace: It feels fabulous honestly. I have these moments where i say to myself “I have my own show”. I mean, when you search the BBC it is going to come up that have my own show that I thought of and conceptualized. It’s quite cool, it’s really cool that I’ve got that and I’m quite proud of it. We’ve known about it for so long and some loads and bits that no one knows about because they obviously haven’t seen it. It’s almost like I’m going through a mini Drag Race again.
MC: The show’s focus is on your family, both on stage and off. How do you describe the show for those diving right in?
KVL: First of all, it is going to be very dramatic. We actually call it The London Housewives, The Queens of London! It is literally like The Drag Housewives of London, that is the easiest way to put it. Many of the people reading this are probably big fans of Housewives, so they can only expect what shenanigans go on on Keeping Up With Krystal Versace. I
‘m very excited for it, it’s dramatic, its emotional, and we touch on so many different things. I truly believe that anyone watching will find something that they really relate to and can connect with. Because it’s real, there are five of us, and we are very different indivudials that come together to create such magic. Everyone stands out in their own way and it’s really great.
MC: Everyone in your orbit seems to have a very forthright and direct way of communicating. Was there anyone that you had to convince a little more to participate in the show?
KV: Oh not at all, everyone was so down in fact they were probably more down that I was honestly. It takes a lot of convincing for me to do things, I like to think things out and I am not easily convinced unless it’s properly up my street. There was a lot of back and forth with WOW, they were probably getting tired of me because I was like “I want this specific show and its gonna happen. You’re gonna fly all the way from Hollywood, you’re gonna land in the UK and were gonna shoot this sickening fucking series”. I ended up convincing them though (laughs).
MC: As someone who has already competed on reality television, you are very keenly aware of how the cameras and reality television as a whole work. Was there a learning curve for how the rest of the cast got used to having their lives documented?
KV: Yeah, definitely some more than others. Dosa (Cat) as herself has been doing a lot of tv and she’s very good at talking, that is something that I really love. Someone like Imani (Versace) was very new to something like that, so she was very quiet; she usually is though, until you fire her up and then she’s like a firecracker! It took certain individuals time and some have been on tv or will be -wink wink-so it’s different adjusting for different people.
MC: During you season of Drag Race, your age was spoken about a great deal by your competitors. Do you think you’ve moved past the criticism finally and proven yourself at the age of twenty one?
KV: Honestly, I do hear it all the time and I’m kind of used to it. A lot of people know me for what they’ve seen on tv and if i’m honest, that’s not even, I wouldn’t say thirty percent of who I am. This is now an opportunity for people to get to know who I am, my creativity, and how I function.
People have seen this part of me on tv and that is really only a part of me and they can judge me off of that and that’s fine. If I’m honest, a lot of Ru girls, -I’m not saying any names-still patronize me to this day about my age and I don’t really have time for it. I let my shit speak for itself and some of us don’t.
MC: You won the crown on Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. That should probably provide you with a certain amount of perspective
KV: Exactly, and that’s the thing I’m not fazed by any of it. Honey if you feel the need to come and patronize me, then just check yourself a second. Check the receipts baby (laughs)!
MC: Since you were crowned the UK’s Next Drag Superstar, what do you think has been the biggest pinch me moment for you?
KV: Oh my God, there have been so many things and I have met so many people that I never realized they would be fully on my side. Doing things like the Palladium show which was a massive part of Keeping Up With Krystal Versace, that was a massive pinch me moment. Not only was it a show that we were putting on, but it was a show that we fully conceptualized. Every single one of the girls that is on Keeping Up With Krystal Versace helped me put that show together. So it was a massive moment for us, as a little family in London, that we were able to put something on stage and also bring these girls on stage that were not Ru-girls. We literally took over a tour to put on our show. It was major, a major moment and a pinch me moment for us all.
MC:Are you keeping up with RuPaul’s Drag Race now?
KV: As a busy girl, I try to do what I can I’ve watched some series and episodes on the flights, you know how it is. I’m keeping up here and there but not really as much anymore, there is just so much.
KV: Oh yeah, I’m always like that with everything though, I’m always giving my opinion. There was definitely moments in there, like when I saw that cast rolling in I thought “Wow that looks lovely”! I didn’t really get a taste of that on my season. That would be lovely, I mean competing against the best is one of the best gratitudes that you could get.
Competing against winners on my level, it would be lovely. It’s not something I’m really interested in yet or that I am really keen to do yet, if I’m being honest. But we’ll see; times change, I change. As for the moment, I’m just living through my artistry and just being the icon that I am.
MC: How do you push back on the rhetoric and bigotry that is being directed at our community and what encouragement do you have for the community?
KV: It’s very frustrating a lot of the time. I have to just cool myself down when I hear it because it really does anger me. I think keeping pushing through and shining the light on our artistry and our form of art is so important. Keep going and don’t stop. Keep reposting things, keep marching with these prides, that is what it is about. Keep shining; at the end of the day, if you keep shining, no one can put out your light.
No one’s gonna put me down, no one is going to say anything or do anything. I think for us as people and as icons to a lot of people, it is important for us to be leaders. The children and the younger generation are the ones that will help pull through when it is their time; that’s why it is important.
‘Keeping Up With Krystal Versace’ is streaming now on WOW Presents Plus and on the BBC in the UK!
Follow Krystal Versace on Instagram
