It was a "whirlwind of glitter and fabulousness" for the three Kiwi drag queens who went in to bat for Aotearoa in the highly anticipated RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under.
The full line-up of 10 fierce queens were announced yesterday, pitting the age old trans-Tasman rivalry to the test as they went head to head in the latest Drag Race saga.
"Obviously there's always New Zealand against Australia, but Australians were so sweet and amazing — at least to our face," Anita Wigl'it told Breakfast's Matty Mclean today.
The performer is no stranger to the drag community, as co-owner of popular drag bar Caluzzi alongside fellow contestant Kita Mean.
"It was a lot of fun. It was very intense being put into that dynamic all of a sudden but it was fun," said Mean.
The eight-part series aims to put contestants to the test on everything drag, from make up and fashion to comedy and dance routines.
However, beyond the iconic campiness of the show, it also touches on harder hitting issues.
“I can breathe in public!” judge Michelle Visage told Breakfast of arriving from the US, whose response, she said, has been “an absolute disaster”. (Source: Other)
"We hit on a lot of hard topics like coming out as a gay person, dealing with a lot of things like parents rejecting us and things like that," Wigl'it said.
"So it reaches out to a lot of people and helps them realise they're not alone".
It's not just the boost in Instagram followers that's got these queens excited, with the show likely to skyrocket support for the local drag scene.
Countries that have previously starred in RuPaul's drag race have seen the benefit of the show placing a spotlight on local talent. Now there's hope it will do the same here.
"They've had that economic boost for the community and now we get to share that — not just with ourselves, but we get to share that with our community here and more people are going to go and see drag," said Elektra Shock.
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under is set to hit premiere on TVNZ OnDemand later this year, hosted by comedian Rhys Nicholson, veteran judge Michelle Visage and the legendary drag queen herself, RuPaul.
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