As standout competitors on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, falling head over heels is not something Kori King & Lydia B Kollins planned on. Post-Drag Race though, they are putting their relationship front and center and starring in the new show Pillow Talk with Butt King where they are jumping into bed and dishing on Drag Race & what it truly is like being in a relationship as newly minted Drag Race fan favorites! I sat down to chat with Kori and Lydia to discuss their new WOW Presents Plus show, embracing the attention they’ve been receiving, and they gave me some dish on that now-famed “Kiss Me Deadly” lip sync!
Michael Cook: Pillow Talk with Butt King is such a fantastic capsule of what it must be like simply sitting in bed watching the two of you chat and spend time together. What was it like having this experience elevated for WOW Presents Plus?
Kori King: You know what’s crazy, when we were doing it you don’t see the graphics and all that, so it really just felt like we were in bed talking, especially as the episodes go on. It just gets more and more insane; we truly forget the cameras are rolling. Just like the viewers. I am excited to see it edited down and I am excited to watch it with the viewers.
MC: That’s a great point, you film it one way then once the World of Wonder magic is put on it, it truly becomes something totally magical.
KK: Especially since we filmed it so long ago, you forget what you said and how you said it. Then everything is added to it, so it is new to the viewers and it’s new to us.
MC: What is it like for you to have been such a standout on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, to the point that you have your own WOW Presents Plus series with Lydia?
KK: It feels so good. At this point in Drag Race, you never know where you are going to land. The fact that I was so well received by the viewers and the fan base, it is so comforting.
MC: Lydia, during the first episode you mentioned that the now legendary “Kiss Me Deadly” lip sync is literally the first time that you actually kissed! Tell me more..
Lydia B. Kollins: You know, a lot of it came from my own nervousness. I was just like “No, we can’t kiss, what do you mean”? Then it just came down to the moment and it was like “Well it’s gonna be now or never, one of us is gonna go home so we should just do it”. Then the song and everything, it just made sense.
MC: The lip sync and now Butt King, the two of you are simply determined to continue making iconic television. I think you both mentioned in the first episode that you are the first lasting couple from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Lydia B. Kollins:! Yes! The international season girlies do like to kai kai, but I think that we are the first public coupling.
MC: As your relationship flourishes, Kori you have moved to Pittsburgh PA, the hometown of Lydia correct?
KK: Yes, I moved in July! It’s funny, I don’t leave my house unless it’s to get food or to go to the gym. The same life that I lived in Boston is the same life that lived in Pittsburgh. I wake up, go to the gym, get food and thats about it!
MC: Lydia, both you and Kori have truly hit a sweet spot with the Drag Race fandom. You personally had two back to back seasons competing on Drag Race and now you have Butt King. What is it like being so celebrated?
LBK: I am honestly just very grateful. I keep saying that it is just the easiest thing, the easiest job. It’s wonderful, I talk to Kori regularly every day and so when I see us talking about “whatever” on the show, I am so fulfilled; my mind is blown everyday.
MC: You mentioned on the show that Kori would have to be the one to propose marriage if that day ever came. Hypothetically, Kori who is standing along side you as you take the plunge?
KK: The best man has to be Crystal (Envy)! Probably Suzie Toot would be the maid of honor.
BK: I would also have to say Suzie; and you know what, let’s throw Joella in there!
Follow Kori King on Instagram
Follow Lydia B Kollins on Instagram
“Pillow Talk with Butt King” is streaming now on WOW Presents Plus
