(Photo by Nick Merzetti)
Priyanka sashayed into the spotlight after winning “Canada’s Drag Race” in 2020, the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” spin-off elevating the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent of the country’s queens.
The competition found the perfect representative for its inaugural season. Prior to her reign, Priyanka’s career began pre-drag as a children’s TV host and after it, she’s taken on the music scene and more.
The entertainer’s debut album “Devastatia” dropped last year, launching a new era and worldwide tour. She also led the fourth season of HBO’s “We’re Here” and created “Drag Brunch Saved My Life,” a Canadian series she hopes to bring stateside soon.
Before then, Priyanka will take the stage as a headliner for St Pete Pride 2025. Watermark Out News spoke with the drag icon about her past, present and future, including a potential “Drag Race” return and what fans can expect from her stop at Florida’s largest Pride celebration.
WATERMARK OUT NEWS: What drew you to drag?
Priyanka: Drag is just the best. It’s literally the best thing in the world. I think that what drew me to it was finally being able to fit in somewhere. Kids’ television is my background, and I loved it there … and then when I discovered drag, and I was out of the closet and around more people like me, I was like, “this is a really great way for my art to speak.” This felt like a way to be an artist.
What do you say to those who argue drag can’t be for youth?
I’m the one “Drag Race” performer you can’t really challenge on this because I entertained children professionally as the face of a national network before I won a global show. I know how to entertain kids. I know how to entertain adults … [and] I wish I discovered drag at a younger age. I think one thing that we can all agree on as a society is … we need to communicate to the audience that parental discretion is advised. If you choose to bring your child, then that’s not on the performer. It’s like when Sabrina Carpenter does her “Juno” position and there are 12-year-old girls in the audience with her all bent over. We all know when we’re going to a Sabrina Carpenter concert [that] her music is all about flirting, sex and stuff that a young, 20-year-old-girl goes through. So I think the same rules have to apply to the drag community in terms of communicating to our audience what it is they’re getting.
Also, if you were to go to an all-ages drag brunch and I came out and did “My Neck, My Back” by Khia, I didn’t get the assignment, right? So I think there’s that conversation to have as well; I think with the right leaders, management, event organizers and promoters in place, as long as it’s communicated, I do believe that drag is for children. It is 100% for kids. Kids are the ones who see it for the actual art that it is, too.
What have you learned about yourself as an artist since winning “Drag Race?”
I learned that I love to tell stories and I just started to learn how much I needed to trust myself. I think that’s the weird part. You do a show like “Drag Race” … but it wasn’t until after all the different things I did after that I learned to always trust myself and give myself time to dream. That’s when I’m at my best.
I learned to keep being that dreamer, and also that people get in their own way all the time, and you’re going to be working with people who get in their own way. So you can never let that poison you — because if I did, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t even be on this phone call. I wouldn’t have U.S. Prides reaching out to me. I wouldn’t have gotten “We’re Here” on HBO, there are so many things that wouldn’t have happened.
I think that’s the main thing that I’ve learned about myself. Because it’s weird to go from someone who’s a people pleaser, who wants to fit in so bad … to being this drag artist who can now finally make your own decisions and stand behind what you believe in. It’s a tough transition, that’s for sure, but the only person you have to please is yourself.
How do you think “Drag Race” has changed the state of drag?
With something like “Drag Race,” where they’re winning Emmys and there are spin-offs — and because of those spin-offs, I get to do “We’re Here” and I get to have my own TV show in Canada, and I get to have a music career, and that’s just me — there’s just a huge impact.
I think it’s become bigger than anyone could imagine. Some people say, “there’s so many seasons now, how am I going to catch up?” but just watch the season that’s for you … you don’t have to watch all of it. I think people forget that “Drag Race All Stars” is for a specific kind of audience, and the new “Drag Race” is for a specific kind of audience, and “Canada’s Drag Race” is for a specific kind of audience. I think we’re used to there being one “Drag Race” and now that there’s so many, there are people who are overwhelmed. But I think it’s great. The more jobs for gay people and the more exposure for drag queens, the better.
Would you compete again?
I’ve been asked to go back, not for “All Winners,” but I’ve been asked when “Canada vs. The World” came; they called me to ask me to do it, but I wasn’t at a time where I wanted to. I had kind of just won, I was still in my reign, and I was just releasing my first EP and wanted to tour the music. I didn’t want to be on TV right then, I wanted to be on the road and performing in front of my fans, and I felt crazy for turning down TV, especially coming from TV.
But I think that I would definitely be open to it, because I love “Drag Race” so fucking much. It’s such a fun show, and I love what it does for people. I also just love, as a fan, seeing the glow up that you get. I can’t imagine watching season one and then watching, if I was to go back for another season, what that would look like and who I would be and just having that time capsule of my life.
But it’s all about timing. I mean, if a major pop star was like, “Priyanka, come open for me,” I would choose that over “Drag Race” because that’s where my career is going. So that’s tough to say, because I love “Drag Race” so much. It depends on the timing.
What was your time like on “We’re Here?”
It was the most messed up, but also beautiful, tragic and dramatic thing I’ve ever done, ever. I didn’t realize the power of drag. I felt like I knew, but I didn’t know until I was shown how much it meant to small town America. We were in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We were in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, these small towns, and it was the best to go and meet people and get their stories.
I’m such a story person. I just love talking to people and hear about all the different walks of life, all of which was being healed through drag. What a gift. People always ask me, “weren’t you scared walking around Oklahoma and Tennessee?” And the answer is like, obviously, hello. The first day of filming, a big truck of like these scary men drove by us and called us all a slur and it was like, “okay, well, that’s day one of shooting, great,” but I also knew what I was getting myself into and the production kept us safe, of course.
But once you get over that first week, you’re living there. We lived there for two months, so you just become a regular of the town … I think fighting for small towns to be more inclusive is the key to inclusion.
What’s it like bringing your Canadian perspective to the U.S. right now?
I think about my career in Canada versus America, and I will just play at a music festival as one of the artists in Canada. It’s not “it’s Pride, so Priyanka performs” there; it’s very clear that I’m a year-round musician, and the same with the U.K. as well.
It used to feel like America was moving faster than Canada, and Canada had to keep up, but when it comes to integration of more queer people in media, Canada is definitely really pushing for it right now. It is happening in the States with ebbs and flows, but obviously, we want to see more of it. Hello.
How do you describe your brand of music?
Music is what took my “Drag Race” reign to new heights … the music is the thing that really solidified me as an artist and gave fans more insight into who I am. Also, it is the one thing that sets my soul on fire. Drag is the vehicle and music is the art. It is the best. I’m working on music right now, and it’s so cool to be creating in this headspace, with this political climate, with what’s going on in the world, with my life.
I think that having done my first album last year, I had my EP in 2021 and then debut album in 2024, now I’m able to create from a different space because I’ve toured so many times. So now I have more stories to share and more perspectives to write about. So it’s really cool. I feel like I’m really, really, really finding my unique perspective as an artist, versus trying to make songs that sound like somebody else.
What can fans expect from your performance?
It’s going to be me and two dancers with a full festival set. You’re going to be jumping and probably crying and sweating. I dance for half an hour, so I’m going to be sweating a lot, and it’s going to be just so fun and so free. My whole goal with any of my shows is to feel the way that I felt when I went to go to my first drag show — it’s just like total escapism, and that’s exactly what everyone’s going to feel when I hit that stage.
Why else are you excited for St Pete Pride?
I’m just excited because I’ve never been! I’m excited to look at all the vendors. I’m excited to walk around and meet people there, talk to them and see what it looks like. I love it … You get so used to your hometown prides, so I always love to go and discover and see what everyone else is doing for Pride and what their take on Prides are. It’s so cool.
What else do you want readers to know?
I want people to remember that coming to Pride, supporting Pride is really important, and then also figuring out how to not make it a once-a-year habit is important. What else can you do outside of Pride month to help? Are you helping a charity? Are you going to support the gay clubs that exist, giving them a little bit of money to help them keep their doors open for other queer communities? Really thinking about how to keep giving back to the queer community especially is so important. Things that really can help us thrive as a queer community year-round, that is always the goal.
Priyanka will perform Saturday, June 28 at St Pete Pride. For more information about this year’s event read the official guide, available in print during this year’s festivities and digitally here. Learn more about Priyanka and her work at TheQueenPriyanka.com.
