Dita Garbo brought equal doses talent, experience and panache to the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 6 competition from the moment they hit the werkroom. While they have sashayed away from the competition, Garbo’s New Romantics runway and discussions on their own gender evolution make them an incredibly memorable queen. I caught up with Dita to dish on their Drag Race UK experience, the impact of the New Romantics era on them as a performer, and the advice they got that impacts them to this day.
Michael Cook: What was your Drag Race UK journey like from your perspective?
Dita Garbo: It has been an incredible journey and an honor to be a part of this season. it is a multitalented group of girls so to be a part of that and to get to show me to the world has been just super.
MC: Drag Race UK consistently features a myriad of queens that are presented, from bearded queens to ingenues to seasoned queens. What was it like to get to present your style of drag and perspective alongside all of these other spectacular performers?
DG: I have been in the business for a long time (laughs)! It has been great actually, to be able to show no matter what your age if you have charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent you are always going to have that no matter what age you are!
MC: During your time on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, when did you start to think that you actually may end up having to lip sync?
DG: I would say that acting isn’t exactly my strongest suit, but personally I was in a bit of a different head space and I kind of let that affect me and I wasn’t giving one hundred percent focus to what I was doing and what I was there for. That’s life though, we’re all human beings and sometimes these things happen though right?
MC: You bring up an interesting point about what people consistently talk about when they speak about “being in your head” during the Drag Race experience. Is it truly that difficult to remain in the moment and not constantly think about the cameras, the fandom and what impression you may or may not be making?
DG: I think it is yeah because you are in a bit of a pressure cooker. There are twelve of you all wanting to be shown and get as much airtime as you can and everything else. Equally, you want to do the best that you can and you all want to be in the top. Everyone has different talents and equally, many of us from our season are multi talented. It is that thing though, and once you have that nibbling in the back of your head or that voice that has sat there, it is hard to shake it; you don’t have your support network that you would normally have around you either.
MC: We see many queens coming into the competition who do know each other, and that has sometimes helped and other times it seems it may not be as helpful as well…
DG: I think it’s a positive, especially when you first enter the competition. I know a couple of the girls on our season knew each other so for them, they automatically had that sisterhood. I didn’t know them and none of them knew me, so it is harder.
MC: What do you think your rose and thorn are of your Drag Race UK experience?
DG: My rose, I have a couple of roses. My first high would be my hotel runway look because it told history about my town but it also had family in my look so that was very special. My second high would be the runway I just did, the New Romantics. I grew up during the New Romantics era, listened to the music; Duran Duran, I was a big fan! Being able to show that in front of Simon LeBon was incredible! Lowest point would be sashaying away!…
MC: Having Simon LeBon be an extra special guest judge and you being so influenced by him and Duran Duran as a performer truly must be an amazing moment for you as a performer…
DG: It’s wild, the whole experience is surreal; I think seeing RuPaul for the first time is surreal, it’s crazy! At the end of the day, we’re all people right?….
MC: What is next for you post-RuPaul’s Drag Race UK?
DG: I am a performer at heart. I would like to continue performing. I run shows, so I would like to take my shows to different places and different towns and also celebrate other talented people. Equally, I go into schools and do workshops on gender and stereotpiues and I would like to continue that work. Now is a very important time, we still don’t have full rights as LGBTQ+ people and until we do and we are recognized as equal humans, that is what I want my platform to be used, to shine a light on all of that.
It’s crazy, we had books banned when I was a kid growing up, when you grow up in the UK under Section 28 you can’t talk about homosexuality. It always feels like we’re going back to that time. We’re in 2024, we should be moving forward and opening up the world.
MC: What is the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from any0ne that you took into your Drag Race UK experience that you’ll take with you afterward?
DG: One piece of advice that I got hosting, I know some amazing hosts. Their advice to me is that whenever you are hosting an event, if there are a hundred or a thousand people at the event, host it like you are hosting a dinner party for your friends. Just make people feel welcome and feel part of what you are doing. That is my word of advice to people; if you are hosting something, just treat them like you would people that come around your house.
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