When members of your drag family include performers like Charity Case and Raja, Kyran Thrax had to expect that she would be a performer to watch on this season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Nonetheless, Thrax kept her eye on the prize, going on to win four challenges and grab the crown for Season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race! Post win, I caught up with Kyran, who was clearly still on a post win high. We chatted extensively about the competition, her fellow competitors, and the big screen plans she has post Drag Race!
MC: You are absolutely and completely glowing; clearly you are still on a high from winning RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 6!
Kyran Thrax: Oh yeah, I am still on a high. My brain is still going a million miles a minute and every minute I wake up and I say “I won Drag Race”!
MC: Watching winners all across the globe win Drag Race franchises on the runway is always a thrill, but seeing those reaction videos of the winners finding out in real time is an extra added treat. What was that moment like for you?
KT: Oh My God, I was elated. It is so surreal being in that moment. You know that you filmed it, but you don’t really know until you watch it. Even if you’ve accepted it or even if you sat there like “I know I’ve won” whatever mindset you are in and hearing yourself getting crowned, is…I just cannot explain it; it’s just so surreal.
MC: Is there ever a time that you thought you really may not win the competition?
KT: When me and LaVoix really started getting neck and neck, I thought that it could go to either one of us. I never thought “Im not gonna win” I just thought that it would be between me and La Voix. The whole cast is just incredible and amazing, it was definitely not a walk in the park. I wasn’t sitting there thinking “I’ve got this”!
I was confident in showing what I can do to the best of my abilities and the only moment that I had a confidence knock in was the roast. That wasn’t necessarily me thinking “Oh I’m not gonna win now”. It was me thinking “I’m glad this happened”. I needed this moment to happen for me as a human being, it felt important to me for that moment to happen.
MC: You came in and as the competition continued, you were excelling and hit a lot of “firsts” for Drag Race UK. Did you start to feel the heat on the back of your neck from your competition or did you simply stay the course and keep your eye on the prize?
KT: I was trying to just focus as much as I could on myself. I so really wanted to just prove to myself and to the judges that I am the best. That I could do all of these things and that I could do them well. I wanted to do a spin on these things that they have seen so many times; so I was just trying to think at first about myself. I was thinking after I won Episode Three, that was two wins in three weeks. In the back of my head when we walked off the runway I was like “Oh God, they’re not going to like me now”. Were such a lovely group of girls, I think that they were happy to see anyone winning and thriving.
MC: it must also give you a bit of extra pride that Drag Race UK Season 6 is being lauded as one of the best casts in recent memory!…
KT: I was just saying that, I won an amazing season! That feels like such a huge and mind blowing accomplishment because everyone is so so good. Anyone on that cast could win on All Stars!
MC: The legacy that you come from is extremely strong, with both Charity Kase and Raja being part of your drag lineage. Have you heard from your drag family on your win?
KT: Yes! Everyone has just been super lovely and super supportive. The influx of messages has been very overwhelming in the best way. I haven’t gotten around to replying to everyone yet, but I have seen all of the love and all of the support. It just makes me feel so happy.
MC: Who have you heard from, that reached out that totally gobsmacked you?
KT: I don’t know if it is a thing in the US, but Tracy Beaker! She is an icon and a character played by Dani Harmer. We were chatting on DM’s and she is an absolute legend here in the UKon a kids show that we would watch growing up. She is such a part of my childhood so talking to her is just amazing and it makes me feel super happy. Just some absolute legends that I have looked up to forever, it just feels so surreal to be in the same sphere as these people; how is that real life?
MC: Is there anything that you want to do in the not too distant future?
KT: I want a good part in a big film in the nest year I think. I would love it to be in a horror film. I would love to do something like that Bill Skarsgard does, he just a wild horror icon. I would love a wild draggy version of that, or like Art the Clown!; I would love to just do something like that! I love big character acting and something that is really meaty, but importing my drag. I want to do anything and everything, but definitely acting acting acting and putting Kyran into all of the cinema screens in general!
MC: It would be wonderful if Drag Race winners could go and speak to new queens out there about the wonderful road they were about to go down on Drag Race. What advice do you give the new class of 2025 on RuPauls Drag Race Season 17?
KT: First of all, I love them, absolutely love them. I have known about half of them and am so excited to be working with all of them soon, My advice to all of those gorgeous girls would be to take it seriously, but also not seriously at all. This is your life, your career and your art, but don’t take anything too seriously to not have fun. Just make sure you are having fun this entire ride no matter what happens. Fan response can be crazy and can change overnight; you just need to be making sure that you are having fun with what you are doing.
MC: If you had to choose, what do you think your rose and thorn are of your Drag Race UK journey?
KT: My highest moments were the acting challenge and Snatch Game. I am an actor, that is what I do. So to be able to come in and be validated on that was everything and more. Lowest was it ending. I remember just being so sad when we were finishing filming. I remember saying to all of the queens and everyone there that if you had said that were would be ten more episodes, I would say sign me up!
MC: What is one thing that you have learned from your fellow finalists Marmalade and Riles Slavez?
KT: From Marmalade, the detail is just impeccable. The love and the passion that you put into every single thing that you put onto your body is just inspiring. She is amazing at everything else and well, which is the most annoying thing (laughs)! Now when I look at things, designing things or thinking of a concept for an outfit, I think “What would Marmalade do”?
Rileasa (Slaves) is one of the most caring, compassionate and loving people that I have met in my entire life. I am always aspiring to be that. That chillness, and I know she would say that she was hiding her stress, but from my perspective it was so nice and calming to be there with her and have that relationship with her. We have spoken so much about this, but I felt so loved and safe with her. She is so amazing and incredibly surprising also. She tells us she can’t do something and then she does it!
MC: You know, when I interviewed Rileasa she spoke about you & she said “It’s taking the Hunchback of Notre Dame and putting it in Paris Fashion Week. It’s the juxtaposition of things that dont really make sense but it makes sense, and that for me is a talent unto it self”. That is quite the compliment!…
KT: I am putting Hunchback of Notre Dame in Paris Fashion Week in my spotlight on every single social media (laughs)!
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