By Jerome Stuart Nichols
Bianca Del Rio, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 6.
The sixth season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" featured the densest well of talent to ever grace its main stage. While all 14 queens brought something fierce to the runway, those with the biggest voices made the biggest impression this year. Unfortunately, for runners up Courtney Act and Adore Delano, it was the most hateful bitch you know, Bianca Del Rio, who snatched the crown.
Over the past five seasons, it's become tradition for the winning queen – and every other one on the show – to immediately hop in the studio after the finale. Luckily for our already promo-filled Facebook feeds, it seems Del Rio will be staying out of the booth for the foreseeable future.
"Oh, god, never," Del Rio says, practically gagging. "I'm not going to do that bullshit. I have no desire to do that. You don't need another rancid queen singing another horrible song – no."
Although she has made the decision to deprive the world of yet another throbbing dance mediocrity, she's still got a lot to say. Specifically, about you, your weave and every bad decision you've ever made. With a one-woman/man show in the works, and her new web series "Bianca Hates You," she'll have plenty of opportunities to say what's on her mind.
Del Rio's hate has become so popular, she offers personal insult videos as a "thank you" for donating to her crowd-funded film project "Hurricane Bianca." Of course, if funds are low, catching her in town at 8 p.m. May 29 at the Andiamo Event Center in Novi with fellow contestant Darienne Lake will almost certainly make your shadiest dreams come true.
"All you have to do is show up and breathe," she says.
On "Drag Race," Del Rio's quick wit was the star, but her fierce looks and sickening sewing skills always helped keep her on top. Regardless, she still got a lot of pushback for not being more varied. Like most things, Del Rio laughs off the criticism.
"Everybody has a fucking opinion and thinks they know better than you. You get on the show, you wear what you fucking want and prove me wrong. They can say whatever the fuck they want – the comments, YouTube, critics, blogs. I don't have to explain myself."
Her words may be harsh, but Del Rio also managed to be one of the most helpful and caring queens in the competition. Even though she's been praised for taking Trinity K Bonet and Adore Delano under her wing, she sees it as just a kind gesture.
"On the show, it's not so much taking people under my wing," she explains. "It was just a moment that they needed help and I thought, 'Why not?' I would have done that for anybody. It was just common sense – they needed help. I didn't change the world; I didn't cure cancer. Every drag queen is not a douche."
Throughout the competition, Del Rio's unique versatility helped her sail through the sea of lesser queens. While she's not a trained singer or dancer like her fellow finalists, she'd took her limited experience and made it work. Also, unlike many famed queens from "Drag Race" history, she was more than willing to take a critique.
"The show is the show and I think you need to play the game. When people made suggestions, I didn't take it as something completely insane. I thought, 'Sure, why not try it?' You can't go in there thinking you've got all the answers. The majority of the time, all they want to do is see that you're listening."
Every season, there's a queen or two who stun, even when they take their face off. From day one of "Drag Race," that was Del Rio.
"People are weird," Del Rio says. "I think it's interesting, for me, because I'm 38 and all of a sudden you have people interested in what you're about. I think it's very sweet and very kind. I'm grateful and appreciative, but you always have to question people who are a little too eager. I haven't really dissected it but I'm not dating anybody, so…"
With all that's been happening for Del Rio in the last year, it's surprising to think that she was close to hanging up her wig. With her 20th drag anniversary and 40th birthday around the corner, the plan was to settle into a calmer, drag-less life. Luckily for fans, it looks like her "Drag Race" win has put retirement on hold.
"I did the show at 37 and I was like, 'Well, let's see what happens with this.' Now that it's snowballed, 40 is impossible at this point. I have a while to run. This has opened a million doors for me. I'm kind of excited about this next journey."
