Drag Me to Dinner’s David Burtka dishes on rude dinner guests and showcasing drag: ‘Drag queens are our superheroes’

Having hosted quite a few fabulous dinner parties himself, David Burtka is the man to go to with tips on how to throw a successful one.

The actor and chef is one of the creators and judges of the new drag-reality show Drag Me to Dinner. And his number one, top-tip: It’s all about the guests.

Drag Me to Dinner sees your favourite drag queens pair up and go head to head against two other queens to host the best dinner party. And it goes about as chaotically as you can imagine!

Joining David on the judging panel is husband Neil Patrick Harris, Bianca Del Rio, and actress Haneefah Wood. Murray Hill joins as host.

Speaking to Attitude ahead of the series’ launch on Hulu (not available in the UK) David gave us some tips on throwing a good dinner party, showcasing drag in 2023, and addresses his husband’s role in the new series of Doctor Who.

As a chef and pro party planner, what’s the key to a good dinner party?

I think it’s the guests. Pairing up people who are compatible yet have different things to talk about. I love putting a teacher next to a doctor or an actor next to scientist, a broad spectrum of people that bring a lot to the table. There’s a tonne of things, but if there’s one, I have to say your guest list, really choose that carefully.

Have you had a dinner party where you didn’t quite get that right?

Honestly, I don’t think I have. I’m trying to think of disasters, or people that probably shouldn’t have been there. I really don’t have time for shitheads. I don’t really associate with bad energy, I try not to at least. I’ve had people that talk too much. I’ve been at dinner parties where they drink too much and it’s annoying. I’ve had guests, I’m not gonna name names, because people probably know them, that were so picky that they sat there and crossed their arms and refused to eat any of the food. And that’s just annoying. And it wasn’t anything crazy. It was actually a well-known chef, and it was kind of embarrassing.

Interesting! In terms of Drag Me to Dinner, where did the idea come from?

We have this great producer at Matador Entertainment. He came up to us with the title, there was no real concept. At first, I think their concept was actual drag queens competing but then we took the kernel of the idea and fleshed out this idea of everybody knows cooking shows and they know how the formula goes. So, why don’t we take this formula and spin it on its side and make this wacky, crazy comedy competition? Really showcase the talent that we have and after five and a half years-six years it finally came to fruition. It’s been a labour of love.

How chaotic is it like to film with all these drag queens?

It’s chaotic but it’s calculated chaos. We looked at who the best comedy queens are, we picked 50, and 40 of them were able to do it. Most everyone that we asked said yes. The ones who couldn’t had other conflicts. Working with them was so much fun. We had so much fun on set. When you’re laughing hysterically, and the queens are laughing. And then the crew is laughing, the director is laughing, and everyone’s having a really good time. You could just imagine that if we’re having this much fun during the filming of the show, it’s got to come off that the audience is going to have fun too. Hopefully, people like it. It could be a disaster! Who knows?! We’ll see.

Who made the least edible food?

There were some hits, and there were some misses. But the girls all picked out the recipes themselves. We gave them a carte blanche to do whatever kind of food they want to do, whatever kind of decor they want. You just have to provide the entertainment. A lot of the girls had original songs, some did dances, some played games, it was really a lot of fun.

There’s I’ve noticed a couple of common threads running through your projects at the moment – inclusivity and being timely. Obviously, in Drag Me to Dinner you’re promoting drag as it is being viciously attacked in the US. What do you make of what’s happening right now, and the ability that you’ve got to host that platform?

I think it’s a great time to have a drag show out, especially this kind of show because these queens are able to showcase who they are. It really shines to see that these drag queens are really all loving and awesome, amazing people, and they’re not causing any harm, if anything they’re just having a laugh. I think the people who are pointing fingers and saying that drag is bad or whatever, watch the show. See for yourself.

These queens are amazing, and they should be celebrated. In the gay community drag queens are our superheroes. They’re our muses. They’re the ones we look up to. I think it just comes from people not being educated. So, educate yourself. So, I can’t wait for everybody to celebrate them. It wasn’t our intention to put it out now. I think everything happens for a reason. So, I think it’s kind of great that it’s happening now.

Another culturally relevant project is Honorary Male, which has a through line of being true to yourself, which again, is very timely right now. Is that what attracted you to that project?

Yeah! It’s another drag queen project. I’m in my drag queen world. I do think it is about inclusivity and it’s about celebrating and loving who you are. I’m one of the only people in the movie besides Willam who is Caucasian. [Otherwise] It’s all amazing Asian actors like Margaret Cho and Kevin Woo. It’s going to be a hoot. I’m playing Chip, a drag queen celebrating his 40th birthday, and is not really out to his parents and not really proud of who he is. He is figuring out life and having a midlife crisis. He also teaches dance to senior citizens and has this friend that he befriends. In the Chinese culture, they need an honorary male to pass down the generational lines, and their son and nephew is infertile. So, they try to get me to be the honorary male of the family.

Wonderful! You’ve just finished God of Carnage off-Broadway, which also feels quite timely. What was it like being back on stage?

Being back on the was just a dream. It’s a great play that does make people think and it is timely. Nowadays, kids having issues in school and beating each other up, it all seems to be more relevant than it was in 2009. And I think that a play like that is really important to see because a lot of times in life, we just repeat the same mistakes and we’re on this hamster wheel of like, do we ever learn? Do we ever not pass on terrible traits to our family? It really makes you think you can do something about it. You can break the cycle of raising asshole children. It was a dream. I also can’t wait to get back again to do something else.

Is there anything you can tell us about Neil’s Doctor Who role?

I am not at liberty to tease anything. Doctor Who is such a fantastic show, and I know Neil was so proud and so happy to be a part of it. And getting to hang in Cardiff for two weeks was awesome because it’s so different than London. It’s a whole different world, a whole different kind of person. And it was also great to be in that Welsh mentality. I loved it! I loved Wales as well as Cardiff, and I loved hanging out with the Who crowd. But I don’t think I’m at liberty to say anything.

Drag Me to Dinner is streaming in the US on Hulu.