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BenDeLaCreme hasn’t ruled out a Drag Race return – but she has one condition

BenDeLaCreme in a wedding dress

BenDeLaCreme has a brand-new show about love. (Eric Paguio)

BenDeLaCreme on her new tour, love and Drag Race.

BenDeLaCreme thinks that dating for drag queens has improved drastically since she started working on the scene two decades ago.

“When I started out doing drag 20 years ago, at that point, it was impossible to date as a drag queen,” she tells PinkNews.

“Nobody wanted to date a drag queen. But now that drag is so popular, it’s really changed. I’m glad that people are recognising that drag queens are highly desirable dating partners.”

The topic of love is firmly in DeLa’s mind as she is preparing to embark on a world tour of her latest show, BenDeLaCreme is… Ready to Be Committed.

The show, which will visit the US, UK and Canada, follows BenDeLaCreme on the pursuit of love.

“She’s on all the dating apps and guys are coming at her with very highly sexualised language,” DeLa explains, “but she’s such a dingdong, she doesn’t understand any of it and she thinks they’re all looking for love.

“It’s very much a show that’s written for people who are single and happy to be single, for people who are single and wish they weren’t, for people who are in relationships and happy about it, or for people who are in relationships and not happy about it. I want this show to speak to the full experience.”

BenDeLaCreme

BenDeLaCreme. (Liz Nicol)

When she’s not been busy in rehearsals, DeLa has been tuning in to the current Drag Race season – and she’s impressed by the current crop of queens vying for the crown.

“Sometimes there’s a lot of queens who are great at reality TV, but this feels like a cast that’s great at drag,” she says.

As with any season of Drag Race, season 14 has faced criticism from fans and critics alike – many complaining about its slow pace and non-elimination episodes.

And, of course, the fandom being the fandom, often criticism was lobbed directly at the queens who were spared from elimination on social media.

Asked why she believes the Drag Race fandom has developed such a reputation for its toxicity, DeLa suggests the show “cultivates drama for the sake of drama”.

“I think it’s complicated, right?” she says. “Because Drag Race is, at its core and at its best, about self-love and community and uplifting a group that has historically been disenfranchised who now is experiencing a different kind of popularity.

“But I watched all of UK vs The World and it was one of the most dramatic seasons – for zero reason. I think when Drag Race leans into pitting the queens against each other, which is so much of the All Stars format, it cultivates drama for the sake of drama, and conflict for the sake of conflict, rather than just focusing on the artfulness, so of course the fans follow suit.”

DeLa adds: “I think the conversation is flawed on all ends, right? The show gets more cutthroat when they feel like that’s what the fans want, and I feel like the fans get more cutthroat when they feel like that’s the lead they’re getting from the show. I hope all around, everyone on both sides can just defuse this thing and realise that it is really toxic.

“Drag is about fostering something that is really positive in the world. And so I hope that people, as they continue to explore their love for drag can realise that that if they truly love drag, then the way to honour it and its legacy is to spread that kind of positivity. Otherwise, you’re a fan of reality TV or not a fan of drag.

“Any fan who bullies a drag queen is valuing Drag Race over drag. If you truly love drag, and you truly love the queens, then honour those queens and show your love to those queens. If you are showing hatred to the queens it means that you value the drama that you’ve been fed over these individuals, and that’s not a love of drag.”

Despite her reservations about the direction the show seems to be heading in, the fan favourite queen hasn’t entirely ruled out returning to show for a third stint.

“I think that if Drag Race continues down the path of really emphasising the art and, quite frankly, gets rid of this dumb rule where the queens eliminate each other… That format, I would never go back into.

“But if Drag Race decides that they want to shift gears and make it something more positive… I’d love to see seasons where the queens face off but aren’t eliminated and there’s some sort of like point system. I don’t see any reason not to do that and if that were the situation, I would absolutely go back.”

The BenDeLaCreme is…Ready to Be Committed tour will tour the US before arriving for six UK dates in cities including London, Brighton, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester.

To purchase tickets for the US dates go to ticketmaster.com, for UK dates visit BenDeLaCreme’s official website here.

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