Bianca Del Rio doesn’t think she’ll “survive” a second run on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The legendary comic recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly for their BINGE podcast series with fellow fan-favourite Adore Delano, who she memorably competed against on the sixth season of the Emmy-winning series before scooping the crown.
Discussing the show’s evolution in recent years, which has catered towards a younger aesthetic thanks to the influx of queens with large Instagram followings, Bianca said she most likely wouldn’t return to the franchise for All Stars or that much-rumoured winners’ season because it’s now a “different element”.
“First of all and foremost, I’ll say it here, no one has ever officially asked me from World of Wonder,” she revealed. “In interviews I’ve always said no. Why would I go back to high school? There’s a reason each person won their season.
“It’s a different vehicle. I don’t think I’d be cast, I don’t think I’d be interested in doing it now, because the game has changed… It’s just a different world. So rather than saying I don’t get it because I’m old, I’ll say it’s not for me! I don’t think I’d survive this time around!”
Bianca echoes the comments she made in an interview with Adore for GAY TIMES last year. During their conversation, Bianca observed that the series has changed since their season, which aired in 2014 and included contestants such as Courtney Act, Darienne Lake, BenDeLaCreme, Laganja Estranja, Milk and Gia Gunn.
“When people ask me about the latest seasons, I’m like, ‘I’m watching a different show now’,” she told Adore. “Maybe it was different because I was on it, maybe I think of it differently because I’m old. Time flies!”
Bianca asked Adore if she’ll ever made a comeback on a future season of All Stars. Adore originally returned for the spin-off’s second season, but then left of her own free will in the second episode – making her the first contestant in HERstory to do so.
“No, I wouldn’t,” she admitted. “Maybe it’s because you’re asking me while I’m sober. I probably said that [I’ll go back] when I was drunk on stage to get a big crowd reaction. But no, I wouldn’t go back. Like we were saying earlier, it’s a completely different show now, I wouldn’t be comfortable at all.”
Bianca added: “People have asked me that and it’s a weird thing, because I had a great time and I had a great run but I don’t know if I’d want to risk all that to go back. It’s hard. I came out unscathed, so I’m not going back.”
Although Bianca and Adore aren’t willing to sashay back into the werkroom for a second/third time, Violet Chachki recently expressed interest in doing so – despite climbing all the way to the top on season seven – to “showcase” where she’s at in her drag career.
“Drag is something that should be fun and not taken so seriously, so I don’t think it’s that serious of an issue about me going back and losing, doing poorly or being edited badly,” she explained. “I’d love to come back and do a talent show challenge, so that would be good motivation!
“If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, I don’t fucking care anyway. It would be a nice ending to the Drag Race legacy and I don’t know how much longer they can go on. I don’t know how much longer Ru has. I think she’s going to ride it until the wheels fall off.”
Related: Drag Race All Stars 6 might be coming sooner than you think.
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