Bianca Del Rio talks Joan Rivers, RuPaul's Drag Race and her new show ahead of Birmingham performance
She’s known for her cutting glances, clown aesthetic and choice words from her 'rolodex of hate' - and now Bianca Del Rio is returning to Birmingham.
The RuPaul's Drag Race winner, created by Roy Haylock, is a legendary name within the drag community. Now the 42-year-old queen is back with her third show Blame It On Bianca Del Rio, which comes to the Symphony Hall later this month.
“I always tell everyone to expect the unexpected with my shows,” the iconic queen said.
“When I begin to craft a show I have a loose script that I start with, then 60 per cent of the show is audience participation.
“By the time it reaches Birmingham who knows what it will have turned in to.”
Bianca brought her sold-out Not Today Satan! Show to the Symphony Hall in 2016 - and she is excited to return to the area once more.
“The crowds in Birmingham are great," she told us.
"The shows sell out so fast in the UK compared to the US because Drag Race is so popular, but you don’t have the same access to it as we do".
In 2017 Bianca’s comedy stylings were showcased during the Klub Kids’ Comedy Queens Extravaganza tour that came to Birmingham’s O2 Academy.
The show was compèred by Bianca, and starred the likes of drag royalty Jackie Beat and Lady Bunny, as well as Drag Race stars Charlie Hides, Katya Zamolodchikova and Alyssa Edwards.
“I always find when I’m travelling in a group how much I like travelling alone,” joked Bianca.
“Travelling with six drag queens is a lot of hard work; it's a lot of luggage and a lot of personalities.
"It works best for me, and my nerves, to travel alone.”
Bianca is best known for her cutting sense of humour, something that she realised from a young age she would eventually be celebrated for.
“When I was younger I always spoke my mind and it got me into a lot of trouble, and now its considered funny,” she laughed.
“I think the interesting thing, especially in America at the moment, is that you can't say anything. Everyone is so PC and you’re always offending someone.
"You need to have a common voice of someone who doesn’t give a s***, and that person is me.
“Someone will have a problem no matter what you do. I always say if you don’t like me then don’t watch me, there’s things I don’t like and I don’t have anything to do with them.
“I always joke about The Kardashians, who I can’t stand, but I won’t spend my days on Twitter giving them hate.
“I don’t think I need to tell any of them that they’re talentless b******".
Before creating Bianca, Roy primarily worked as a costume designer before being catapulted into stardom. In 1993 he won a Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Costume Design due to his work on Snow Queen at the age of 17.
In 1996 he got his first taste of drag after accepting a role in theatre show Pageant, and Bianca Del Rio was born.
"I started my career in theatre. I didn’t necessarily plan to start drag, there was a role in a show that was drag-related and I took it - everything just evolved from there,” she said.
"People in clubs then saw me performing and asked if I wanted a guest spot, so I said yes - I was always the yes person back then - and next thing you know it's been 21 years since I began.
"It's been quite a rollercoaster.”
In 2005 Bianca moved from New Orleans to New York city after Hurricane Katrina, before eventually settling in Los Angeles where she still lives today.
This move led to her scoring weekly live performances, including in cabaret with Lady Bunny at XL Nightclub.
In 2013 Bianca was propelled into the public eye when she was announced among the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season six.
A fan favourite from the start, Bianca wowed audiences and the judges with her polished sewing skills, unique sense of humour and mother-hen attitude towards co-contestants Adore Delano and Trinity K. Bonet.
Bianca beat Adore and Celebrity Big Brother winner Courtney Act to the crown - earning the adoration of fans across the globe.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race was an insane experience,” Bianca admitted.
“When you’re filming it you have no idea. You’re all wrapped up in your own little world and it's like a pressure cooker, then you go back to real life for a couple of months before it airs on television.
“After that, all of a sudden everybody knows who you are.
“It has snowballed everywhere I have gone and it's opened up so many doors for me. I did the show when I was 37 and it really was a golden ticket for me.”
Since her win Bianca has gone on to tour across the globe and even star in her very own film, Hurrican Bianca; but she has still managed to keep in touch with her fellow Drag Race sisters.
“I live in Los Angeles and so do Adore and Courtney so we’re very close, as is Darienne Lake,” Bianca told us.
“You often catch up with people when you’re on the road, but the four of us have a group chat together where we always ask ‘where in the world are you today?’ to keep in touch.
“I always say that in our season, we all won, because everyone is all over the world doing something and we all have a close connection.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race has not only transformed Bianca’s life, it has catapulted the art of drag into the public eye like never before.
Since Drag Race premiered in 2009, 10 seasons have aired, including three All-Stars spin-offs.
In 2016 the show earned RuPaul an Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program, and the show itself was awarded an Outstanding Reality Program award at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.
In 2017 the show was nominated for a whopping eight Emmys including Outstanding Reality Competition - and the phenomenon continues to grow.
“The rise of the show has been amazing for me personally, and it has transformed the world of drag,” Bianca said.
“It has brought drag into the living rooms of people who probably never would have been interested in it to begin with.
“While travelling I have seen so many different people come together at drag shows, like a 13 year old boy in heels with his grandmother, who both loved the show and watched it together.
“Drag for me doesn’t mean I want to be a girl, it is my act. It's the costume I wear for my show, and Drag Race has humanised us.”
There’s no doubt that Drag Race has taken the world by storm, and it has also accumulated some celebrity fans that have even left Bianca Del Rio speechless.
“Meeting RuPaul left me completely starstruck,” Bianca recalled.
“I had known of Ru since I was in high school, so it was amazing to meet someone so influential in person.
“Getting to meet Joan Rivers after the show was such a blessing. She was very kind and generous, not to mention she was one of the funniest people ever. I think that’s the most I’ve ever been starstruck.
“You also never know who is watching the show, sometimes I get tweets from people like Neil Patrick Harris saying ‘I love you and I love Drag Race’.
“Everyone from people who work in an airport to movie stars watch it.”
Bianca Del Rio will perform at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on July 30.
