Canada’s Drag Race has had some polarizing performers during its five seasons, but Tara Nova is one who fans-and the nightlife world-will no doubt remember. During her run on Canada’s Drag Race, Nova revealed that drag performers at St. John’s, Newfoundland’s Velvet Club and Lounge were paid a total of $37.50 to perform six numbers. The fallout from the conversation notwithstanding, Nova sparked a conversation that many in nightlife and the drag community feel was way overdue. I sat down to chat with Tara Nova about her Canada’s Drag Race run, her experience as a queen in Newfoundland, and her potential television plans post-Canada’s Drag Race!
Michael Cook: You were a joy on Canada’s Drag Race this season and the fans got to at least know you a little bit prior to your departure. Did that make it a bit easier for you?
Tara Nova: Absolutely not (laughs). I think that I definitely should have been there for longer, I think that I had a lot more to prove. I was expecting that Episode 2 would be a design challenge, usually for Episode 1 or 2 there is a design element and that is my thing. I was expecting to win that and I would have been malicious with my little Beaver!
MC: Do you think that having the Golden Beaver helps or hinders you through the competition?
TN: I think that it does help and the only thing that you need to be wary of is that there are alliances within the game now. It almost makes it like Survivor now, people are talking and playing strategically now. The social game is a very important aspect and you do not know where the alliances lie some of the time, especially early in the season.
MC: Tell me about your Canada’s Drag Race experience all the way around…
TN: I think that it is everything that I really needed. Being from the East Coast, we do not get these opportunities that often. I am the second ever East Coaster. We have very minimal resources and we really don’t have a lot to work with and a lot of our stuff has crazy import fees on it, so you work with very little. I was happy to show that to the world and also intrigued by how that was received. I liked seeing how the judges received it, I liked seeing how people online received it, it really lets other East Coasters in on what the experience could be for them and things that they could do differently as well.
MC: It’s so interesting, the East Coast in the States is full of access and resources, while the East Coast in Canada is truly a different world entirely, it’s almost like it’s upside down in a way.
TN: It is completely upside down, that is the perfect way to put it. The East Coast in the States has people with more money in those areas. The East Coast in Canada is upside down and completely the opposite. Not a lot of money here, complete lack in resources, and there is a lot more that you have to fight against to get places.
MC: Consequently, coming out as a drag queen and being cast on Canada’s Drag Race is an act of rebellion in itself.
TN: Totally! It’s not totally understood here and sometimes it’s not totally appreciated here. Being able to go and show your authentic self means everything. I grew up in a very rural community and I was the only queer person. I felt like an alien there and felt like everyone looked at me because of it. Then I was able to get somewhere that actually appreciated the talents that I had…
MC: I have learned that when given the opportunity to get out of the place you were raised, you simply take the opportunity.
TN: And that is exactly what I did. As soon as I got out of my rural community when I was eighteen and graduated, it was straight to the city. Even the city here, it is more “fruity-tuity”, but it could be better and that is what I am working towards. If you are a drag performer or given a platform, you are almost put into this role of being an advocate for your community and that is exactly what I am doing with my platform.
MC: Do you think with being able to craft what you have been able to craft in your career, you have a deeper appreciation being from an area where access is not nearly as much of an option?
TN: Yes, there is authenticity in the earned. You don’t see that often even with other girls on the show. A majority of girls that are on the show are able to throw a paycheck at people and to me, that is not impressive. To me, I shouldn’t be this way, but I look down on that a little bit. I’m like, okay girl, so what do you offer? What can you do? Show me that you can do more than your makeup and a split. Show me that you are actually engaging with the art of drag.
MC: What are your rose and thorn of your entire Canada’s Drag Race experience?
TN: I think that my rose is getting to understand myself better. I feel like going into it, I am a Capricorn. I always have that wall of perfection, I was putting up this wall that no one was allowed to see behind it or break it down; I was always perfect. Once I got to the show, I was humbled a bit by the things they said. Watching it back, I realize I am very silly, very goofy and actually good at this tv thing. It really made me understand myself more and realize that I am more of a personality than I give myself credit for.
The thorn of the season would probably be taking the alien role. I knew it was a risk and I did it anyway, maybe if I were just a pretty girl than it would have worked out better for me. But I took the risk, I thought outside the box, I thought that it was something that the other teams weren’t providing. I mean, if we’re teaching aliens, there needs to be an alien there right? I’ll say that was the thorn because that is really my only regret from the show.
MC: You were great on television and showcased your strengths while you were there,but some people still find it hard to watch themselves back and see that they actually are captivating on screen.
TN: The thing was, I got sent home early so I thought I wasn’t good at tv. Then I watched it back and I was like “Wait-I was really good at tv”!
MC: What do you want to do post Canada’s Drag Race?
TN: I want to keep being an advocate for my community, that is very big for me. Casting for Season 6 is happening right now, I would also love to design and create for my Season 6 sisters. I would also like to do more tv and not just drag related. You have Traitors: Canada, you have The Amazing Race: Canada and I have a lovely boyfriend to do that with me. I would love to push myself into more tv, there needs to be more East Coast representation everywhere.
MC: What would you love to do for the community you come from, not just the drag scene, but the community as a whole?
TN: I fought for equal pay when I was on the show and it caused an international controversy and scandal that really affected the drag scene here. It shook things up in the right way how it should shaken up. I would like to be able to foster a great enough drag scene that the tourism of our province is attracted to it so that they can give us more corporate, specific, curated corporate gigs. That would ensure that when tourists come here-we run on a tourist economy here-that we are providing entertainment. I think that we need to break through to the government here in the province and let them know that there is an entire sector of entertainment here that is so so valuable.
MC: Your comments on bars and what they paid in Canada definitely got people taking and brought forth a conversation that was much overdue.
TN: Sometimes you need to shake things up. It is something we have argued about for years and if someone has a platform now you have to speak the truth and you have to let it be known.
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