Adore Delano: ‘We need to stop pretending we’re not wh*res’

Adore Delano shot to fame earlier this year when she appeared on the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, eventually finishing third behind winner Bianca Del Rio. In June, Adore – real name Danny Noriega – released her debut album Till Death Do Us Party, and saw it peak at Number 59 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, the best ever chart performance from a former Drag Race contestant.

Thanks to gay dating app Jack’d, who collaborated with Adore on her latest video, I got the chance to chat to Adore recently – and found she was just as opinionated as we remember from the show. Warning: this interview contains language that your grandmother really wouldn’t like – all from Adore, of course.

Hey Adore! So nice to chat with you, finally.
“You too, babe!”

First of all, are you pleased with how your debut album and all its singles have performed? 
“I was Number 15 on the US pop chart at one point, it was awesome! It’s fucking cool. No other drag queen has been able to do that. It shows that if you put work and money into your shit, then it will pay off.”

What’s the concept of your new video, I Look Fuckin’ Cool’.
“The new video is awesome! It’s futuristic. The story is people can’t express themselves anymore. The cops are trying to come down on the cool drag queens, and we fight back. It’s really fun shit.”

Why did you decide to work with gay dating app Jack’d on the video?
“I used to hook up a lot on Jack’d. I remember turning Bianca onto the app, and Courtney Act too. At least over here, that’s what all the hot guys are on. They’re a cool-ass app and they offered to help fund the project.”

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_SEVX5mNyg[/youtube]

 

Were you worried about being criticised for working with a gay dating app? Some people feel that they perpetuate the stereotype that all gay men are promiscuous.
“If people think it is a stereotype, then they are a stereotype. The reality of the gay community is we all use Jack’d to hook up. If you don’t then that’s fine and you’re an awesome citizen of the world. But at the end of the day, the reality of the world is we need to all stop pretending we aren’t whores, because we are all whores. If you’re sleeping around, then you’re a whore. Why are you a whore? Because just like ‘tranny,’ you made that word up and I bet you get heated and you answer to that word. If you get offended by that, then you’re a fucking slut.”

Have you kept in touch with everyone from Drag Race?
“I’d say the Top Five are the closest. I’m close to Darienne Lake, and I’m going to dinner with Bianca Del Rio next week. I miss them, and I’m so close with Courtney Act too. She’s my ride or die bitch. I love them all, and we talk every day.”

Do you think everyone in the show was edited fairly by producers?
“I mean, it’s not to bad-talk the editors, but I came out pretty cool, definitely. A lot of the things that Darienne or Courtney said, it came out of context. It can affect your bookings and the way people portray you. I did think that was kind of unfortunate.”

Would you go back for RuPaul Drag Race: All-Stars if you were asked?
“Not this year, no. I’m too busy and I need money! But next year, I would probably. There’s talk of it being recorded in 2015 actually, and I mean, why not lose on the show for a second time, it would be cool right? Ha!”

Speaking of Drag Race, how did the controversy caused by the show’s infamous “She-Mail” catchphrase make you feel? 
“We’re growing to be so sensitive and anal about everything. We all grew up being called ‘tranny’. We all grew up being called ‘faggot’. We all have these negative words thrown at us. You are what you respond to. When RuPaul was coming out you were considered a transvestite when you were doing drag, so they all kind of took the power of that word and used it themselves to fight the negative connotation. When you fight RuPaul, who is a Godly figure in our community, who are we really making the enemy here?”

What can we expect next from you musically?
“We’re supposed to start a new album in November. We want to release the videos I’ve already done for My Address is Hollywood and Jump the Gun, but I want to do [videos for] the whole album. If I’m exhausted, I might take a four month break…who knows?”

You’re so well-known as Adore now, but would you ever risk releasing music as Danny?
“I used to say hell no, but seeing how long it takes to do my make-up every day, I definitely will. I’ve talked about it with my manager a few times, so definitely. I would love to do some cool shit as myself, and finally have my eyebrows back!”

Who are your biggest influences?
“I loved Freddie Mercury. I love tragic beauty in Hollywood like Anna Nicole Smith, Miss Piggy. You know, powerful women.”

And what about your biggest fashion inspirations?
“I think that everything Adore is inspired by things that made an impact in my life. Courtney Love, Garbage, even Amy Winehouse. They’re a melting bucket of who I am. It’s not like I go to the shop and think what’s high fashion, I’ll wear shit from the thrift store. There’s people’s stories in those clothes – like a woman could have come home from work and beat her kid in this dress and I’m going to wear it tonight.”

You’re known for answering back to people who make negative comments about you on social media. Why do you bother? 
“I think that stupid fucking people need to be called out, especially in the gay community. When they see you on social media, they think you’re famous and therefore think they can talk shit about you. They don’t think you’ll respond back to their bullshit, so when you do, they reply with ‘oh my God I love you’, and I’m like ‘Yeah really, you love me bitch?’. It’s always good to make people look as stupid as they are. A lot of them are, like, these 13-year-old dumbasses, and I swear to God I wish I was 13 so I could smack the shit out of them.”

Finally, when you visited London recently, you shared a picture on Twitter of yourself passed out on a mattress in west London. What happened?
“I was drunk, man! I got so wasted and I was crying by the side of a building in drag and people were looking at me clearly thinking I was this suicidal mess. Then I took all my make-up off and I saw this mattress with a piece of bitten chicken on it and I just decided to lay on it. So gross, I know.”

The album Till Death Do Us Party by Adore Delano is out now.