RuPaul’s star Tayce has called for the franchise to embrace drag kings, saying that it’s ‘unacceptable’ for them to be overlooked.
The , and includes Dakota Schiffer, the first ever trans woman to compete on a UK season.
With Victoria Scone, the first cis queen to compete in the whole franchise, also in the line-up last year, it’s clear that increasingly varieties of drag are being celebrated – but that still hasn’t extended to drag kings.
‘There’s such a long way to go,’ season two star Tayce told Metro.co.uk as the first episode of Queerpiphany, her new show with Munroe Bergdorf, hits YouTube.
‘We’re getting, finally, some trans representation. We’ve got drag queens, we’ve had cis queens like Victoria Scone, so we definitely need drag kings on the map. I know [drag kings] Beau Jangles, Prinx Chiyo, and they’re amazing, amazing performers.
‘And sometimes they get a bit overlooked because they’re drag kings. I just think it’s a bit – well, it’s unacceptable, really. Drag is such a broad range of things. Drag is literally what you put on in the morning when you go to work. It’s how you present yourself to the world.
‘I can’t wait for [drag kings] to finally, hopefully, be able to get on the show because there are some amazing drag kings out there.’
However, that’s not to say Tayce isn’t over the moon about the current casting, as she prepares to see plenty of her friends compete.
‘I know a lot of the girls. It’s such an amazing cast, last year was good but I feel like this year it’s a really, really strong cast and a really broad range of people as well,’ Tayce explained.
While Tayce knows most of the cast super well and is rooting for all of them, she did give a prediction about who might just snatch the crown: ‘I’m gonna say Black Peppa.
‘I’m gonna put my money on Black Peppa, she’s just a force to be reckoned with, I think. To have that platform and probably a bigger budget in the future for what she wants to do and where she wants to go, I think she’s gonna do some amazing things.’
Tayce has had an incredible journey since appearing on Drag Race and is now helming the new season of Queerpiphany with pal Munroe.
It sees the pair tackle queer issues in a fun show, with their first guest being none other than Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney.
‘It supposed to be something that’s a bit off the beaten track. You hear about straight issues and all of that, but [it’s great], especially with the platform MTV has given us, to talk about queer issues and shine a light on that,’ she said.
‘Season one was so good but it was really nice to come back and go again and have a new bunch of victims to talk to!’
Chatting about ‘absolute babe’ Yasmin, Tayce went on: ‘I’ve known Yas for a little bit before that anyway, before she even got on Heartstopper, so it’s great to see her just living her best life, to be on such an amazing show and how well received she was.’
As for what she’s most excited for fans to see, Tayce is buzzing for the guests, who include Shon Faye and Layton Williams.
As well as Queerpiphany, Tayce is looking to the future – and is about to enter her popstar era.
‘I’m really trying to get into music to have my popstar, superstar era!’ she explained, adding that she would love to get her dad, Wham!’s Roger Radix on board for some performances.
‘Obviously my dad is an amazing bass player so i’d love to feature him on some songs and if I was to play live, I would love him to come and do his thing on the bass.’
As for a potential return to Drag Race?
‘I would love to go back and turn it out again! I would love to do an All Stars. I’d love to do the proper American All Stars, get a UK queen over there to stir it up a bit!’
The first episode of Queerpiphany S2 is available now on MTV UK YouTube.
