With a fresh and dynamic new cast and a brand new host (Michelle Visage has taken over the reins from RuPaul), Drag Race Down Under has kicked off a phenomenal Season 4! Olivia Dreams has the dubious distinction of not only being the first queen eliminated from Season 4, but the first queen ever eliminated by Michelle Visage on Drag Race Down Under! I got a chance to sit down with this Wellington doll to dish about her Drag Race Down Under experience, The Michelle Visage factor, and what she has planned post Drag Race!
Michael Cook: Drag Race Down Under is a unique and wonderful franchise and consistently is full of surprises. When you saw Michelle Visage walk into that werkroom and you knew it was going to be a completely different kind of season, what did you think?
Olivia Dreams: Honestly when I first got there, I saw Michelle and I saw all of the queens and I was like “Oh we didn’t come to play this season”! Everybody came to absolutely kill it. I think everyone was still in the mindset of it being another Season 3, but it was absolutely not a Season 3! I think we all had to take a few moments to readjust our expectations and really step our game up in that moment.
MC: What was it like having Michelle Visage be the brand new host of Drag Race Down Under?
OD: It is definitely different. She just has such a commanding presence whenever she is in the room. She just exudes this aura that makes you feel safe and feel good. It is hard to describe, but it was absolutely amazing having Michelle there. She also understands Down Under drag and she has a soft spot for Down Under drag. I think that’s what also made it that much better, she understood us. She didn’t try to Americanize us and it was absolutely amazing to have her there.
MC: As a fellow person from the Garden State of New Jersey, I can tell you that our delivery is straightforward, but packaged with a great deal of love many times.
O: Definitely. I think any of the critiques she gave, while they may seem blunt, they were honest and they were truthful. Sometimes that’s what people need to hear, you don’t need to sugarcoat it all the time. She always did it in a way that didn’t make you feel bad; she knew I could do better and she was trying to explain that to me.
MC: Speaking of honesty, you were very honest about choreography not being your strong suit when you were going through the initial choreo with Kween Kong.
O: Yes! When we were put into our groups I looked around and I was like “Oh I’m with the dancing divas”! I can dance, but I would not consider myself a “dancer”. Being part of that group I already felt the pressure to be like “”Okay, I really have to step it up”. I think that honesty is the best policy and me being honest in the moment and saying “Hey look, I’m not the best dancer” although I still am better than Lazy (Susan) (laughs)!
I don’t feel bad about being honest; I think it was the right call for me to make and just say it was not my strong suit, but I was going to give it everything I can and I really needed to push myself this week as I was in the bottom last week. I think I kept up with everybody, even though I struggled with it. I think I really delivered great and I am really proud and happy with what I delivered. I was just unfortunately, surrounded by absolutely talented queens and it was like, I did really great, but everyone else did a little bit better.
MC: What do you think your rose and thorn are of your Drag Race Down Under journey?
O: My rose is probably getting to be on Drag Race! As a queen from Wellington, it was finally great to see some representation from the scene that I grew up in. It was really great to be able to be on Drag Race Down Under. Another great thing was meeting the cast, all of the other queens. We are absolutely professionals and you do see the shady moments on tv, but we are such a tight knit cast; the whole time we were there we were just having fun together. The thorn would be going home so early, I really wanted to stay longer. I really thought that I had proved this week that I was taking on critiques and feedback, so to be sent home I was a little bit hurt and I felt a little bit disappointed in myself. I let my inner saboteur in and I really thought that I could have gone further if I had just really taken it back to the the simple fact “Olivia just have fun on Drag Race, that is all you need to do”.
MC: So many people consistently do say, it is very hard to not get in your head and a big regret is that they did not just keep it simple and have fun!
O: I am happy that I got there, sad that my journey got cut so early, but I am really proud of what I got to deliver. To let the world see a bit of Olivia Dreams. What happened happened, there is no sense beating myself up.
MC: For those that have never experienced it, what is the Wellington drag scene like?
OD: It is an absolute smorgasbord of every aspect of drag. We have alternative, classic camp, beauty queens, drag kings, drag things, whatever you are into, there will be a drag performer in Wellington here for you. That is what I really love about our drag here, it is not one pass, one lane, cookie cutter kind of drag. Everybody takes drag and transforms it into what they want. Wellington is the creative capital of New Zealand. There are so many creatives here, we have dance schools, art schools, any sort of creative school we have probably got it. So it is really nice to see people take the creativity and shape their drag in how they want it rather than try and copy another person’s drag.
MC: With the Drag Race Down Under platform you now have, what do you think you want to do next?
OD: My next step is honestly to break into the international market. Now that I have been on Drag Race it is time to branch out and maybe go to Australia for a bit. I have friends in the UK and the US, so I want to break into those sort of markets. Who knows you may see me performing in a bar in New York…!
MC: What advice do you think you took into Drag Race Down Under that you used throughout the experience and may use going forward?
OD: Honestly I think it was from my drag mother before I left. She said whatever happens you are are supposed to be there. I think that in my deepest darkest moments, that is what I held onto. I let my inner saboteur in a little bit, but still had the idea that “I’m supposed to be here”. That is what I was holding onto. That is the piece of advice that I took for me.
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