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00:00Oh, my blissful buttercups, this is exciting.
00:03Welcome to another episode of What You Pack In.
00:09We are here with the first of our three finalists, Darlene Mitchell.
00:15Hello.
00:15From Indiana.
00:16From Indiana.
00:17It's been a long, long journey, but we've made it to the West Coast.
00:21Yes.
00:22So you live in L.A. How long have you been here?
00:24I've been in L.A. since 2013.
00:26So basically native at this point.
00:28Not quite.
00:30From Indiana?
00:31Indiana, then Chicago, and then L.A.
00:33I was just going to ask you, when you're in Indiana, why not go to Chicago?
00:37I was there for four years.
00:39Went to college there, and then basically as soon as I could run further, I hit it.
00:43So cold.
00:44Yeah, those winters are brutal.
00:46Oh, my God.
00:47Brutal.
00:48Where did you go to university?
00:49I went to Columbia College in Chicago.
00:51In Chicago, what's it for?
00:52I have a fashion design degree.
00:53Do you?
00:55Yeah.
00:55Do you?
00:56The girls almost threw up when they found that out.
00:59No, that kind of tracks for me.
01:01Let me tell you why.
01:02You have such a specific eye for gauntlets.
01:04I mean fashion.
01:06And you know proportion.
01:09You understand it.
01:10Just because, listen, think of all the different designers in fashion.
01:14You think of Moschino.
01:15You think of Jeremy Scott.
01:16You think of, on the other side, of Valentino.
01:19So there's any way that you can go with it.
01:21And I totally get that with your vision that you are a fashion major.
01:26Yeah, I think, like, Jane was kind of the first one to kind of, like, clock it.
01:30She was like, oh, like, she's doing all of this on purpose.
01:34Like, there's an eye and, like, a finish to all of this.
01:38So I was like, okay, she sees it.
01:40Except for when it comes to shoes.
01:43Yeah.
01:44Here's the thing.
01:45I didn't even know I had bad shoes.
01:49And I'm like, well, I brought what I brought.
01:52So let's hit it.
01:53That's all you could do.
01:55That's the funny thing.
01:56It's like, I've got seven of these.
01:58Yeah.
01:59In seven different colors.
02:00Every color under the rainbow, I was ready.
02:02You know, being a club girl myself and touring and performing, I have the shoes that I call my club
02:07bangers.
02:07And then I have, you know, dainty, pretty shoes.
02:11Exactly.
02:11So I understand.
02:12But it alters the silhouette.
02:14Yeah.
02:14Especially when you're giving us something classier, which isn't really your vibe.
02:19Yeah.
02:20You have camp and kitsch in your looks.
02:23But there's also, again, like I said, it makes sense what you're doing.
02:26I think I fell in love with you originally with the burger bikini, which was very early on.
02:32And I loved it.
02:33And I kind of got your number at that point.
02:35Yeah.
02:35And then it progressively got worse and better at the same time.
02:39Yeah.
02:39Do you think you get your aesthetic from kind of being in the, can I say, white trash belt?
02:44Oh, absolutely.
02:46Of the country.
02:47Because that's where my bloodline hails from.
02:48Oh, yeah.
02:49And especially like with my entrance look with the corn and, you know, just this like county fair pageant.
02:55Love.
02:55Yeah.
02:57With like the nastiest bright blue eyeshadow, you know.
03:00And I've had to like kind of reframe this appreciation of like where I came from or what I kind
03:06of like grew up around.
03:07Because I always felt I just had to like run away from it and become something else.
03:11And then it was like, well, how do I include that back into my life?
03:14And it just sort of like always comes out in my, in my drag.
03:17So I was like, all right, we're just gonna, we're just gonna go to a hundred.
03:20We're just gonna run with it.
03:21You have been through the gamut of emotions.
03:55Oh, yeah.
03:55It didn't resonate as much, you know.
03:57And I really kind of had to reform the relationship with drag even.
04:02Because it was kind of like, well, I'm not like in nightclubs as much anymore.
04:06I'm no longer, you know, getting like completely, you know, drunk out of my mind and being trash falling down
04:12the stairs.
04:12You know, like that was the girl that I was, you know, just sprinkling trash all over L.A.
04:17And so for a couple years, I even just like used my, my out of drag name.
04:23I wasn't performing or anything, but, you know, taking photos for social media and that sort of thing.
04:28And just to see how it fit and I reached a point where I was like, I'm ready to like,
04:34you know, like do it again, you know, like create a character, go for it.
04:38So I kind of took the best things that I like about, you know, myself out of drag, my aesthetic
04:42out of drag and things that, um, that trash taught me and that sort of aesthetic.
04:48And believe it or not, Darlene Mitchell is the elevated version.
04:50I do believe it.
04:51I do.
04:52And I love Darlene Mitchell and I know trash and I would have been friends as well.
04:56Oh, absolutely.
04:57How difficult is it for you to be in the scene again?
05:00It's almost like I'm in the middle of it, like kind of like still kind of finding that out.
05:04And that was kind of like what was so sort of like jarring with the other girls at the beginning.
05:09You know, there was a whole series of a bunch of emotions and things happening, you know, coinciding with, with
05:14life and the competition all at once.
05:15And oh, by the way, cameras are rolling, you know, but kind of getting to know them and understanding like
05:20how I fit.
05:21It's almost like you're starting all over.
05:23When you took a break to get yourself together, what were you doing to sustain yourself?
05:26Um, I was working in like costumes for TV and film for a few years.
05:30Doing what?
05:31I was a costumer.
05:32That's amazing!
05:33So like local 705.
05:34Oh, you're in the union?
05:35I was and then I actually, actually just canceled it.
05:38Shut up!
05:39When I knew that like the show was going to start taking off, I was like, um, so listen, I
05:43need, because I kept it all those years.
05:45This all makes sense, Darlene.
05:47Yeah.
05:48Everything you gave was just so much fun.
05:51You never lip synced.
05:52Never lip synced.
05:53What is that like?
05:54I mean, were you sitting there going, I think I left this competition.
05:57I got to the final without lip syncing one.
05:59It was literally like after getting all the way through it, you know, and like really not feeling it in
06:04the moment and then kind of realizing like, I'm kind of iconic.
06:10You know what I mean?
06:11Like you dream of like the fact that I did that.
06:14Yeah, just, it's still kind of mind blowing.
06:16Iconic.
06:17And you won the roast.
06:18And I won the roast.
06:19Like, tell me how?
06:20It was funny.
06:21That's how.
06:22You were always good.
06:24Your critiques were wonderful.
06:25You know, people just edged you out for whatever reason.
06:28Yeah.
06:28In some challenges.
06:30And I think you really started to release yourself and allow yourself to be who you are.
06:36Totally.
06:36You stopped judging yourself.
06:38You stopped shaming yourself.
06:39Whatever you had attached to your past, something happened where you decided to really release it.
06:46You've done the work, but now in this competition, you really had to put it to use.
06:51Yeah.
06:51And when you did, I know, and it really sort of felt like that, like in real time.
06:58I can even think about the thought that went through my mind in the roast.
07:02Like, you know, I brought up my little bag of tricks, you know, and in my mind I'm thinking like,
07:06I don't even know if I'm really going to interact that much.
07:09Like, we'll just kind of see.
07:10Right.
07:11Like, I remember reading those first couple ones and like literally cards are shaking and I'm like, oh, sister, it
07:17doesn't seem like it's going well from here.
07:19So like literally that split second just being like, just hit it.
07:24Like, just burst through that wall and whatever you got, you got and like pedal to the metal.
07:29You know what I mean?
07:30And that's what it did and it paid off.
07:31So then literally from then on, I was like, what do I have to lose?
07:34Nothing.
07:35Let's talk about some of these looks.
07:36Now, Miss Greentown.
07:37Yes.
07:38Is that Indiana where you're from?
07:39That Greentown, Indiana, that's where she's from.
07:41And I knew that I wanted to kind of be like pageant-y.
07:44Like, my mom, when she was in high school, did like the little pageants that were in Greentown.
07:48My sister did the little pageants.
07:50My sister's best friend was like the county, you know, queen, the 4-H fair queen.
07:55So like, there's just always in my mind that's like, I want my turn.
07:59Yeah.
08:00You know, so like.
08:01So now you got it.
08:01Yeah.
08:01When I walked in, I was like, I'm going to give full county fair.
08:04It's toddlers and tiens.
08:06Yeah.
08:06Who made that?
08:08Mondo.
08:08Mondo Guerra.
08:08He's a designer, yep, and killed it.
08:10Yeah, that is so fun.
08:11And the middle one, did you put this together?
08:14And this one, I did myself.
08:15Yes, there's not much sewing involved there.
08:17But however, who built the burgers?
08:19So the burgers were like, just like a food prop.
08:22And do you remember the roach hair clips?
08:24I do.
08:25And you know, if I had to describe Darlene Mitchell in one look, it would probably be that one.
08:31Oh, love that.
08:33My favorite part of the costume was not the burgers.
08:36It is the tube socks that have rhinestones on them.
08:41Yeah, and the girls were like, did you really think that like it needed like a few more rhinestones than
08:47that?
08:47And I was like, oh, no, that's it.
08:50Just a little sprinkling like one inch apart.
08:52And I'm like, I thought I killed it.
08:54Symmetry.
08:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:56Your look behind me is kind of like your RuPaul, Diana Ross grand moment of I can do glamorous diva.
09:06With the shoe.
09:10Do you see the difference between that shoe and Sayah?
09:13Yes, absolutely.
09:14A dainty shoe?
09:15So like, I put the gown on and I was originally thinking another shoe because one of the other girls
09:19was like helping me, you know, like get dressed.
09:21And I'm like, yeah, in an ideal world, that's great.
09:24Did you have it hemmed to that height?
09:25And it was that.
09:26And I'm like, you know what?
09:27It's the, it's the chunky red.
09:30This gorgeous, beautiful gown here.
09:33Clomp, clomp, clomp.
09:34Especially when you can hear it over the runway music.
09:37Hysterical.
09:38Hysterical.
09:38It is very Darlene Mitchell.
09:40Yeah.
09:40You have been such a joy to watch and to go through this journey with.
09:44I'd love to know for you, Darlene Mitchell, what it would mean to you to be crowned America's next drag
09:50superstar.
09:50Oof.
09:51It would be so many years of having this dream and to have that come true.
09:59And this sort of like personal sort of like, like is Renaissance the right word?
10:06Yeah, yeah.
10:06Like this like sort of like reclaiming and for like it to happen during this sort of, you know, really,
10:11like you said, vulnerable moment that I can like sometimes get into the headspace where I sort of like can
10:16judge that a little bit.
10:17But I think like one thing that I've learned from this competition is like that journey never ends.
10:22No.
10:22You're never at a finishing point.
10:23Okay.
10:51Yeah.
11:20Yeah.
11:22It's a good day.
11:23Hold on a minute.
11:23How do you do cosmetology school on Zoom?
11:27Don't you have to?
11:27You tell me.
11:28You tell me.
11:28State of California handed me the license.
11:31But I did all of cosmetology school on Zoom.
11:37And at the end, they were like, all right, you're a professional.
11:40And I was like, uh, sure.
11:41Okay.
11:42Finalist, it's Mikey Meeks.
11:43Hi, hi, hi.
11:45Hello, hello, hello.
11:47The applause.
11:48The applause.
11:49I hear it.
11:49Oh.
11:50All the way from Orlando, Florida.
11:52Yes, ma'am.
11:52Did you grow up there?
11:53From Tampa originally and moved to Orlando for college.
11:57So, and I've been there for 12 years since.
11:59Wow.
11:59Mm-hmm.
12:00And you know, it is a mecca of drag.
12:02It is.
12:02And people don't really realize.
12:04And you are, I'm not sure we really covered it much in the competition, but you are, you're a pageant
12:11kid, too.
12:11But you're a Miss Newcomer, aren't you?
12:13I am.
12:13Right now, currently Miss Glamorous Newcomer.
12:16Thank you very, very much.
12:18Miss Glamorous Newcomer.
12:20Was that your first pageant?
12:21That was my first, like, real traditional pageant.
12:24I would compete in Miss Comedy Queen beforehand.
12:27And lost, so I'm not that funny.
12:28Ah!
12:29So you started on a high, like, at least for you in your personal life.
12:33For sure.
12:33You get here, and you're one of five.
12:36I know.
12:36Florida girls.
12:37Yes!
12:38Did you know all of them?
12:39I knew Juicy.
12:40I knew Athena.
12:41I knew Discord.
12:42Did not know Mia.
12:43That was my first time working with her.
12:44Were you like, what the?
12:46Maybe sort of, kind of.
12:47I mean, we joked it was called, it was the Florida versus the world season.
12:50A hundred percent.
12:51Florida is a drag mecca, for sure.
12:53And we each, although we are all from Florida, every city in Florida is different.
12:57So we are all bringing different aspects.
12:59So I could easily see why there was a lot of Florida queens, for sure.
13:03You started out the competition with that kind of spooky burlesque?
13:07And that's actually an act I've done at National Comedy Queen.
13:09Which I absolutely adored.
13:11I loved it.
13:12It was the other girls who decided to keep you down.
13:15Why do you think they did that?
13:16Do you think they were scared?
13:18From what I understand, there were maybe alliances happening.
13:22There we go.
13:23Between others that I fully was like, oh, this is going to be a great time.
13:27We're going to play fair here.
13:30Silly you.
13:31Silly you.
13:31But also, to be fair, there was only five of us for that Raid of Queen.
13:34And we all kind of brought it.
13:36So in the moment, I was like, man, I really, I really sucked, didn't I?
13:40But then looking back, I'm like, no, I still stand behind it.
13:42I think it was a great act.
13:43It's different from everybody else.
13:45And I'll keep doing it.
13:46It was really weird.
13:48Because you were always, you were never bad, right?
13:51You were always good and under the radar-ish.
13:56And then the improv challenge is where I think it all changed.
14:01We did do the SNL challenge.
14:02That was like second or third, I think.
14:05And me and Juicy were paired up together.
14:07Yes.
14:07Juicy was stressed going in.
14:09Everyone was picking roles.
14:10I already picked you because, I mean, I'm from the house of massage.
14:13Yes, you are, darling.
14:14And everyone's picking.
14:16I looked at Juicy and I'm like, Juicy, I already have this.
14:18There's one other person.
14:19Pick this.
14:20We'll do it together.
14:21Jean.
14:21Jean, right, Jean.
14:23And then two things hit me.
14:25One, I was like, oh, Jean is kind of more the lead character here.
14:28And two, if I'm in the bottom, I'm going to get Juicy.
14:31Oh, that stressed me.
14:32So I brought out the acting education there and helped her out.
14:35And she got the win, which blew us away.
14:38But I told her afterwards, like, I think I, give me like $1,000 for that one.
14:43For me, I kind of started to look at you differently in that challenge.
14:47Okay.
14:47I felt like you were not only funny, but you were willing to go there.
14:51And even though Juicy won that, you two were really strong together.
14:55You know, you're only as strong as your acting partner.
14:58Right.
14:58And that really worked for me.
15:00Well, I'd love to hear that.
15:01And then you were Stephanie and the ridiculousness of how you were willing to go there.
15:08The yes and.
15:10Did you feel that when you were doing it?
15:12No, because you get handed the storyboard.
15:15You, for the first time, you're looking at it.
15:17So in the moment, it feels like I'm trying to, one, do everything I know I need to get done.
15:22Two, have Michelle's advice.
15:24Three, kind of a proof of concept at the same time, too.
15:27Because you're helping us with what, how much you know of it.
15:30Which is nothing.
15:30Which is nothing.
15:31Right.
15:31And so, and we're also filming out of order and all that.
15:34On the main stage, when we were getting critiqued, the second the ad started, everyone starts laughing.
15:39And Ru's laughing the whole time.
15:40And I'm like, oh my God, so this is what it feels like.
15:44This is lovely.
15:45Ru loved it.
15:46And I got my first win from that one.
15:47Yeah, it was so stupid.
15:48Yeah, yeah.
15:49But now that you're telling me your comedy background, it actually all tracks.
15:53Okay.
15:53Every single part of it, from the spooky burlesque to all the way up to the final, to where you
15:59are.
15:59Yeah.
16:00You have done some really funny things and some really beautiful things.
16:04And you were able to listen to critiques and adapt and go with it.
16:09Yeah.
16:10I love that.
16:11Did you make a bunch of new friends here?
16:12I love these girls.
16:14Jane, for sure.
16:15Jane was someone I could really collaborate with, comedy-wise.
16:19I think she is a hilarious queen.
16:21We were going back and forth with jokes a lot.
16:23Athena is my new drag mom.
16:25One of my new drag moms.
16:26Is it your Dion or your Visage?
16:26Can I not have multiple mothers?
16:27I guess you can have a high five.
16:28It's a world full of mothers.
16:29Why can't I be a Mr. Miss Mikey Meeks Dion Visage?
16:33You can.
16:33How about that?
16:34As long as Visage is last.
16:35It is.
16:36Okay.
16:36It was the most money, for sure.
16:38No, I represent the Orlando chapter of the Dion dynasty now.
16:42Oh, I love that for you.
16:44What was your favorite challenge?
16:46Oh, my gosh.
16:47My favorite challenge?
16:47The Rusical.
16:49The Rusical.
16:49It felt like I hadn't done a musical in a minute.
16:52So, to be able to bring that side of myself back, oh, it felt so fun.
16:56It was so fun.
16:57Is a musical or Broadway or the West End something that Mikey Meeks would want to do?
17:01Well, yeah.
17:02I mean, before I found drag, that was my whole pipe dream.
17:06Was I was raised as a kid in high school.
17:10I mean, I had my BFA in musical theater.
17:11That's what I knew.
17:13And then did an internship.
17:14That kind of made me lose my passion for the art form.
17:17What did you intern for?
17:18An acting internship at a professional theater.
17:20And that took away the magic?
17:21It did.
17:22Yeah, it did.
17:22And then right when I left, COVID hit.
17:24So, the business was gone.
17:25And at the same time as, like, leading up to that internship, I was finding my queer sensibility
17:29and meeting new friends who brought me out of the theater lifestyle.
17:33And that's when I started to find drag and realized, oh, I can create my own creation, my own being.
17:40And I found it artistically fulfilling in ways I never felt before.
17:43Well, bitch is back.
17:44It's back.
17:44So, is it something you want to do?
17:45Yeah, sorry.
17:46That was a long answer.
17:47That's okay.
17:48What I was going to say was I haven't envisioned that for myself because I didn't think it was possible
17:52anymore.
17:52It's possible, Mikey.
17:53And now it's possible.
17:54Yeah.
17:54It's so possible and it's so fun, you know.
17:57Being a musical theater kid, there's nothing like it in the world.
18:00Heading out on that stage, all the nerves in the world, and then you get out there and it's just
18:06like, the people, the applause, the vibes.
18:10And I haven't felt that in a minute.
18:11So, I think as soon as I get that real taste of it, I'm going to want even more.
18:16Seeing Jinx Monsoon on Broadway was so inspiring.
18:18And she's so wonderful.
18:18Seeing all the other queens doing their stuff on Off-Broadway and Broadway.
18:22Yeah, I very well think you might be heading back to theater for a little bit, whether it's on Broadway
18:26or regional, who cares?
18:28Let's talk about these fun and fabulous and Mikey Meeks looks.
18:32These crazy looks he is.
18:33Yes, that you have worn.
18:34We'll start with that Burning Man.
18:37Missing over there.
18:38Yes, speaking of COVID, they're zip ties, aren't they?
18:42It's all zip ties, yes.
18:43So, this was for Shake, Shake, Shake, an outfit that moves on the runway.
18:47And in my head, I was like, moving, okay, party, party.
18:50Well, my aesthetic is party girl, part of it.
18:52Okay, let's do an EDM type of ravey type of girl.
18:55So, I was right.
18:55Yes.
18:56It's kind of Burning Man.
18:56It's kind of Burning Man.
18:57But I really wanted to go club kid with this.
18:59And to me, a club kid pulls from materials at home.
19:03Well, what can you find easily?
19:04Zip ties.
19:05It's over 20,000 zip ties.
19:07From toe all the way up to that boot.
19:09Right.
19:10On the gauntlets, on the bra, on the panty, on everything.
19:12But originally, there wasn't headphones.
19:14And I was like, well, she needs to be listening to something, right?
19:16She's shaking, shaking, and dancing.
19:18And so, we got the headphones, rhinestoned them for filth, and two giant antennas on top.
19:22Love it.
19:23That was really fun.
19:24Yeah.
19:24That was the episode I was in the bottom for.
19:26Yeah.
19:26Well, the other ones were more fun.
19:28No, I love it.
19:29We were enamored by this middle headpiece.
19:32This was the star of the show, in my opinion, with this.
19:35Who did that for you?
19:36So, the rose wig is by Gender in Montreal.
19:39And my whole concept was sweet as a rose to thorny and horny.
19:43Yes!
19:43The whole outfit's amazing and lovely.
19:46You know, it's a bodysuit.
19:47But the wig was the star of the show.
19:51So, it almost forgave the fact.
19:54I had to reveal to something.
19:56See, that's the issue.
19:57I make a joke of it.
19:58Yeah.
19:58But I know that we're going to end up somewhere, somehow, having a runway of everything that I loathe.
20:03And it's not that it's not.
20:05Look, Beyonce wears them every night.
20:06But they're, you know, incredibly gazillions of rhinestones.
20:10The issue is, it's something we can see.
20:12If you go to any bar in Orlando, you're going to see a leotard, a catsuit, chaps.
20:17That's just...
20:18I agree with you.
20:19Yes.
20:19But I do have giant spikes on it.
20:21And it is really sexy.
20:23Spikes are one of the things on my list.
20:24You don't like spikes?
20:25I'm over them.
20:26Nini, I'm so sorry, Diva.
20:28Nini.
20:29I know.
20:30Well, you see it all.
20:30That's it.
20:31After 100 years.
20:32And let's not forget about the 100 years before Drag Race that I've been involved.
20:36Of course.
20:36With drag.
20:37So it becomes like, when I see something new, like a rose wig.
20:41Right, right, right.
20:42It's like, oh my god!
20:44This is so exciting.
20:46Of course, of course.
20:47I agree with you.
20:47That's what it's about.
20:48I think my favorite Mikey Meeks look is this gorgeous kind of...
20:52Galaxy dress.
20:53Yeah, because it's so vintage, musical looking.
20:57Was that an inspiration for it?
20:59It was.
20:59Very, like, traditional Broadway.
21:00Also, the silhouette kind of mixed with, like, vintage film.
21:04That's what I'm talking about.
21:04Like, very, like, big production, 1940s, 1950s.
21:07Ziegfeld.
21:08Ziegfeld.
21:08Very that.
21:09This is created by Jeffrey Kelly in Orlando, Florida, who has created a lot of my looks for
21:13the season.
21:13He's amazing.
21:14And my whole tagline is, the Meek shall inherit the earth.
21:17But I, being here, I feel like I already have the earth.
21:19So let's go for the universe next.
21:21The whole thing is a galaxy homage.
21:23The big drape on the side.
21:25That ring of space around me.
21:27Beautiful hair.
21:28I just felt so glamorous.
21:29It has been so fun, Mikey, to watch your trajectory.
21:32To come out where you did.
21:33You had highs.
21:34You had lows.
21:35You rode the wave.
21:37But at the end, you are here.
21:40In the finale.
21:41I'm so proud of you.
21:43Thank you so much.
21:43I can't wait to see the theater, the performances that you're going to be doing.
21:47I know I'll see you on the road.
21:48I can't wait to get out there and support you.
21:50I'm just so proud of you.
21:52Good luck in the finale.
21:53Thank you so much.
21:54Thank you, thank you, thank you.
21:55And thank you for joining me for another episode of What You're Packing.
21:58I'll see you next time.
22:00Mwah!
22:01I see the sun shining bright.
22:03Ain't a cloud in the sky.
22:05Yeah, it's a good day.
22:07Mwah!
22:07Yeah!
22:10Joining me from Denver, Colorado, it is Nini Cope.
22:13Hello, hello.
22:14How are you, Michelle?
22:15One of our three finalists.
22:16Yeah, yeah.
22:17Blows my mind, but saw it coming at the same time.
22:20Condragulations.
22:21Does it really blow your mind?
22:23The goal was never to win, per se.
22:27It was like get through each challenge, doing the best, and be proud of whatever happens.
22:34And then by the time we got close to the end, I was like, okay, wait, go for the crown,
22:39go for the win.
22:40But it was like a steady, just focus on the one thing in front of me and get there.
22:45That's a great way to look at it.
22:46Don't run before you walk.
22:48Yeah.
22:48Don't put the cart before the horse.
22:50Sure.
22:50Right, so are you from Denver or you live in Denver?
22:52I live in Denver now, but I grew up in Texas, you know, raised in the Bible Belt, the whole
22:57thing.
22:57Wow, what part of Texas?
22:58In the Fort Worth, Dallas-Fort Worth area.
22:59So did you get to spend any time checking out Dallas Drag?
23:02Because Dallas Drag is woo-wee!
23:05I know.
23:05Yeah, the thing is, I was never even aware of drag growing up.
23:09It was just so outside.
23:11I would always kind of like tune in and watch Logo secretly and then flip the channel, you know?
23:16So I didn't find out about drag until I moved to Austin and went to college and was meeting other
23:21queer people that were showing me the ropes.
23:24Did you go to UT?
23:25I did, yeah.
23:25Oh, so you're a smart one too.
23:27I guess that's what they keep saying.
23:29And what did you get your degree in?
23:31I got my degree in mechanical engineering.
23:33Wow.
23:33Yeah.
23:34Let's go back to Dallas-Fort Worth area.
23:38Yeah.
23:38Your family knows that you're this queer little artistic kid.
23:41Yeah, yeah.
23:42Growing up, I was in heels since I was a toddler and trying on my mom's clothes and telling her
23:47I want to be a girl and all this stuff.
23:49And I think that was always there.
23:52Yeah.
23:52And over time, you just kind of slowly realize that that's not always the way that the world wants you
23:59to walk through it.
24:00And so I was probably the biggest bully of myself and just closed off so many parts.
24:06But that artistic self was the through line that kind of pierced through all of that self-hate that kind
24:12of built up.
24:12And just letting that artistic self kind of fully bloom again has been the most amazing thing of becoming an
24:20adult and realizing I can do whatever the fuck I want and make whatever I want out of these ideas
24:26that I have and these communities that I build.
24:28What I'm hearing is you talk about the shame and I think there's a lot of shame in young queer
24:33kids who are told that it's not right to be gay or it's not normal or there's something wrong.
24:39So it's amazing that you were able to kind of rewrite and reprogram, so to speak, and rewire the shame
24:46and come out as a victor on top of all that.
24:50So you're from Texas.
24:51Yes.
24:51And one of the first things I noticed immediately was your resemblance to another Texan, Alyssa Edwards.
24:57Yes.
24:59Everybody, when I'm in drag, is like, is that I've been mistaken for actual Alyssa.
25:04No, it's a compliment.
25:05Yes.
25:06But I'm like, she's glamazon, six something.
25:10Her drag is much more expensive than mine for now.
25:13Different.
25:14You are definitely more cartoony.
25:16You are definitely more geometric.
25:18Yes.
25:18Alyssa's pageant, glamazon, shoulder pads, hair.
25:22Yes.
25:22But you two need to do something together.
25:24Oh, my God.
25:25Please.
25:26Alyssa, let's do it.
25:27How do you choose Denver?
25:29So my boyfriend and I were living together at the time.
25:31Pandemic hits, world shifts, and I was like, let's go New York, let's go Chicago.
25:36And he was like, no, babe, let's go Houston or Miami.
25:40And I was like, no, babe.
25:42And then we ended up just being like, Denver?
25:45Denver.
25:45Okay.
25:46And it had the outdoors.
25:47It was not this huge city.
25:49It's been great.
25:50It's a gorgeous city.
25:51It's amazing.
25:51So are you in with the Nina Flowers and the Evie Oddleys and all that crew?
25:55I joined the drag scene pretty late.
25:57So I didn't start doing drag in Denver until 2023.
26:00I'm kind of in this newer generation of folks that have popped up.
26:04And how long have you been doing drag?
26:06Performing for two years.
26:08So are you doing it full time or do you have a job?
26:10No, I am employed.
26:12I have a 401k.
26:13I engineer by day, drag queen by night, very Hannah Montana.
26:18Best of both worlds.
26:19Best of both worlds.
26:20Are you planning on staying in that?
26:22You know, I have put in the resignation.
26:26I have said divas, put the calculator down, pick up the wig brush.
26:30We are, we're going to go for it.
26:32Okay.
26:33I feel like so many queens can make drag work in a way that like I was always afraid to.
26:38Okay.
26:39And I said, okay, if drag race calls, that is the sign.
26:42And just like give yourself over to drag.
26:44And that's what I'm doing.
26:45How many times did you audition?
26:47I have auditioned twice now.
26:48So this is the second time.
26:49And you're in the final.
26:51It's crazy.
26:52How does that feel for you, Nene Kogel?
26:54I like it.
26:56I'm so happy and so sentimental.
26:58I'm like, it, it feels like a dream come true.
27:00It's so cliche, but I'm like, this is something that never felt possible.
27:05And then slowly and surely I was like, I can do this.
27:08I'm capable of doing this.
27:10I, I can figure this out.
27:12Excuse me.
27:12You won the first challenge.
27:14Yeah.
27:14Hey, hello.
27:15And you won Snatch Game.
27:16And Snatch Game.
27:17As Sir David Attenborough.
27:19Yes.
27:19Tell me more.
27:20Tell me more.
27:20What else?
27:20Well, I want to know how you came to that ridiculous choice of doing David Attenborough.
27:24You know, a lot of the drag that I had been doing at the time was like, I was doing
27:28some
27:28of these environmental drag shows that were inspired by nature.
27:31And so I'm like, very Denver.
27:34And I was putting David Attenborough narrations in my numbers.
27:38So actual David Attenborough.
27:39Real David Attenborough.
27:40Don't sue me, girl.
27:42And at that point I was like, wait, I could just do this as a character.
27:46And it's niche enough that everybody knows the voice, but they don't know the person per
27:50se.
27:51So you could do anything.
27:52Could do anything.
27:52And you did.
27:53And I did.
27:53Yeah.
27:53Made him a horny old man.
27:55You did.
27:55Hey.
27:56Can I tell you why it worked?
27:57Yeah.
27:57You were able to be present and be there for everything everybody was throwing at you.
28:02And that is what really worked for me as a judge.
28:05But for somebody who's only been performing for two years, to be able to do what you did,
28:08come out of the box, win the first challenge, win Snatch Game, and then send a whole bunch
28:13of bitches home.
28:14Yep.
28:15Yep.
28:15Everybody has me blocked.
28:16They don't want to talk to me now because I stole their dream.
28:19Sorry, girls.
28:20What inspires your drag?
28:22Because your drag is very uniquely you.
28:25Yes.
28:25Very unique.
28:26It's so quirky and you.
28:27You know, there's types of drag and you kind of don't fit into any of them, really.
28:32It's your own quirky sense of Nene Coco.
28:36I think my drag is kind of-
28:38Kiki No No.
28:38Kiki No No.
28:39It's a drawing.
28:40It's my art style.
28:42Very graphic lines, big shapes, geometric.
28:45And I think that has just carried into my drag now.
28:48And it's about that visual impact when you first see it.
28:51It speaks for itself and just is in your face from the back of the room.
28:54Nene loves a headpiece.
28:55She does.
28:56What's that about?
28:57She loves a headpiece.
28:57She loves a structural thing.
28:59I think it's half because I could sew them down or like I can whip around and it'd be fine.
29:06And then it's also just, I love doing interesting shapes that I haven't seen before and finding
29:11ways to make something stand on your body that shouldn't be able to do that.
29:15Define gravity.
29:16Define gravity, if you will.
29:17So, yeah, I love it.
29:19Let's talk about some of these gorgeous.
29:20We got to see all three of these.
29:21Yes.
29:22Let's talk about the pink one with the brain.
29:24Yes, my very cerebral look.
29:26Yes.
29:27See what she did there.
29:29And I thought it was cool.
29:30Like I did this little internal organ and nobody else had kind of taken that point of view.
29:34But the reason I picked it was very, it was kind of my drag is this combination of the
29:39left brain, right brain.
29:41Those two things mash together.
29:42And so, you know, I don't think I'm like, I'm super smart.
29:45It's not really how I feel.
29:47But I'm like, my brain is the thing that I think about the most.
29:50It is the thing that gives me the most anxiety and trouble.
29:53But at the same time, it allows me to create the things that I think of.
29:56So I was like, let me give a little nod to that girl.
29:58I think it's kind of cool that you can be okay with being smart.
30:01Why would we shame?
30:03I think there is the left brain and the right brain.
30:05And you just happen to have, you have them both.
30:07You got them both.
30:08Hey.
30:08So let's talk about this middle one.
30:10Now this to me is like quintessential Nene Coco.
30:13Yeah.
30:13This was actually one of the pieces I didn't make.
30:16Oh.
30:17Yeah.
30:17I know.
30:17It's an artist in the UK named Kate Tabor.
30:20And her whole thing is movement and color and silhouette.
30:24And it was just right in the lane of what I wanted to do.
30:28Because I think my drag kind of mirrors those things.
30:30This turned out to be a little more Teletubby than I was going for.
30:33But I was like, acid trip Teletubby girl.
30:37I'm there for it.
30:38It was fun to look at.
30:39It moved.
30:40It still have a, weirdly still have a waist.
30:42I remember when I walked out, I heard like a little gasp from the judges panel.
30:46So I was like, oh my God, wait.
30:48I wonder what they think about this.
30:49Do they love it?
30:50Do they hate it?
30:50I don't know.
30:51So this last one I know you made.
30:53Yes.
30:53And you performed in this one.
30:56I did.
30:56That was not an easy choice for performing.
30:59You didn't think about that?
31:01This was every single look.
31:03Like the brain over there, the skirt comes off.
31:05She's ready to go.
31:06Like every look was ready to be lip synced in if I had to.
31:09Except for this bitch.
31:10And I was like, if I get to the finale, of course I'm not going to be lip syncing.
31:15Girl, they give me an improv challenge and I said, oh, f**k.
31:19Okay.
31:19At that point I was like, whatever has to happen to just be able to sell the song, we're going
31:25to do it.
31:26Well, you did.
31:26I did.
31:27Yeah.
31:28And lip syncing against Juicy in that final, she inspires how I perform.
31:32Like the way she moves is unlike anything I've ever seen.
31:35Agreed.
31:35And I was like, if I'm going to take down this girl, it'll just have to be doing it my
31:42own way.
31:42I can't do all the flips and stunts that.
31:45Uh, yet.
31:45Well, I can.
31:46Wait, don't, don't get it twisted.
31:48You did.
31:48I absolutely can.
31:49And I, and will.
31:50Were you a gymnast?
31:51I was a gymnast as a kid.
31:52Yeah.
31:52I, in sixth, seventh grade.
31:54Wait, sixth, seventh grade and you can still do flips like that?
31:57Yeah.
31:58That's how I know I'm young.
31:59Because I'm like, as long as I can still do a standing back tuck.
32:02In drag.
32:02In drag.
32:03Yes.
32:04But Ankle's feeling it still every now and then.
32:05I'm like, okay, we might, we might put that, put that down for a bit.
32:09So what would winning the title of America's Next Drag Superstar mean to you, Nini Coco?
32:14It, I think it would mean that like creative person that I've always been is at my core and
32:20is true and is, is powerful.
32:23Art was always something that I liked and was able to kind of calm me and center me.
32:29And then I realized it, it can bring you to this entire other universe of collaborators
32:34and community.
32:36And that's where I've been finding the most joy is over these past couple of years is
32:39just meeting community through drag and through art and through just doing crazy on stage.
32:46And like every day I get inspired by the people around me and like that, that's the joy of
32:51it all.
32:51And so I want to continue to share that with people.
32:53What would you do with the money?
32:55Oh, house, car.
32:58I'm sorry, donate it all.
33:00I am so proud of you.
33:02No matter what happens, you have been incredible this season to watch you come out and do your
33:08thing and always be kind and always do it with a smile.
33:11You always seemed wonderful and genuine.
33:14And I love that about you.
33:15Thanks, Michelle.
33:16And I feel like you really saw each of us, not only saw us, but you gave us the real
33:21tea,
33:21but it's never mean.
33:22It's like, I can see what you need to do.
33:25And it just, thank you for that.
33:26I want nothing but the most success for each and every one of you.
33:29So thank you for saying that.
33:31I appreciate it.
33:32And I think you're just the cat's meow, kiddo.
33:35Oh, thanks, girl.
33:36I'll see you at the final.
33:37Absolutely.
33:38And this is it.
33:39It's a wrap on another season of Whatcha Packin'.
33:41Of course I couldn't.
33:42And I wouldn't want to do it without each and every one of you.
33:45I love you.
33:47See you next year.
33:53My tongue pop is only 50-50, though.
33:56Like, every now and then.
33:57Hold on.
33:58Lube it up.
33:59See, that was so pathetic.
34:01It's, sometimes it works.
34:02It has to be dry.
34:02I mean, I'm, yeah.
34:03I mean, I'm, yeah.