Krystal Versace promises ‘drama’ in new BBC reality series celebrating the ‘sisterhood’ of drag
Exclusive: "So much work has been going into this: this hasn't been an ordinary season"
Drag Race UK fans are about to get a new fix of brilliant queens as Krystal Versace finally debuts her series, Keeping Up With Krystal.
The series 3 winner was the youngest ever to be crowned on Drag Race, with Ru telling her: “You, at 19, were born to be a drag queen.”
Since then, she’s thrown herself into touring and perfecting the art of drag, with lots more exciting things on the horizon.
The first of which is new BBC Three show Keeping Up with Krystal which dropped in full today (30 June) on BBC iPlayer.
Cameras followed her and sister queens around as she prepared for her debut solo show at the iconic London Palladium in the space of just two months.
Ahead of the six-parter, Krystal caught up with Attitude to discuss the “Real Housewives” esque show, why she’s used her platform to include her sister queens, and the fierce nickname given to her by RuPaul.
Attitude: Hi Krystal, how are you doing? You’ve got a very busy few days ahead of you I’m sure…
K: Yeah, good! Just getting prepared for the crazy weekend ahead, for Pride. It’s real busy. I’m starting with the premiere of the show. I just found out the whole series actually comes out at 6am on BBC iPlayer, which is incredible. We’re gonna wake up early and watch it, I’ll binge it with the girls. We’ve got a show [at Heaven] in the evening where we celebrate the premiere of the season. The next day, I’ve got some sort of brunch going on… and then I fly to Paris for Fashion Week. I’m back Monday for a second Heaven show… it’s a busy weekend.
The TV series feels like a long time coming, how are you feeling about it finally getting out there?
K: Honestly, I can’t wait. It’s felt like so long, but so much work has been going into it: this hasn’t been an ordinary season. Comparing it to the previous winners, we were basically creating our own mini series season of Drag Race, really. It’s become its own reality TV show with loads of people involved. I’m so excited that all the girls are with me, and we’re able to sit down, watch it together, because they’re a part of it as much as I am. We’re all part of it together. My mum’s already set an alarm!
It seems really important to you that local queens and sister drag artists were brought into the show, can you talk more about that?
K: It was super important for me. It wasn’t really a case of thinking about it, to be honest. It was more, creating a series as an insight into my life and my creativity and us doing the show and it made sense for us all to be involved. It’s as much my show as it is theirs. It was inevitable that was gonna happen. It’s incredible to look back and be like, “right, I did that!”. I’ve made something that I’m going to cherish forever. I’ll look back on it and still celebrate and love it, because my girls are in it.
It’s very exciting to be able to give them a platform and a chance to show off their creativity and how incredible each and every one of them are. They’re all so different in their own way. And they’re all so funny and everyone’s got their own spark. If I get the chance to just show that to people and just put it on a platform like while presenting the BBC and broadcast them on TV, then let’s do it. Let’s you know, it’s time to see my girls.
The title, Keeping up with Krystal, it immediately gives off Kardashians reality TV vibes, you already said it reminds you of Real Housewives too. What sort of dynamics will we see between you all?
K: What I love about it is that it’s always something I’ve wanted to see. It’s going to be a reality show with drag and our artistry at its core. You’ll see behind the scenes and us working towards a show. A lot of artists and queens are gonna relate to that, but also you’ll see us keeping it real, us as people without the makeup and hair on. You’ll see when we’re angry, when we’re tired, when we’re uptight, when we’re stressed, when we’re having a laugh over something silly when we’re doing stupid things. It’s everything in one, it’s sisterhood, queerness. It’s reality, it’s dramatic, it’s beefy, and it’s just entertaining as a whole.
What do you think was the hardest thing about putting it all together? You didn’t have much time.
K: There was so much that was difficult. So many arguments about how I wanted things specifically to be run. Me wanting something so specific was difficult, the team doing stuff and me not being happy with it. I’m always gonna speak my mind and be like, “No, that’s not how it should be, it needs to be like this”, so some people lose patience with me, I’d lose patience with them. But I want everything to be perfect! I’m ready to put out something that I truly love and I’m proud of.
You were the youngest-ever winner of Drag Race, how much has that changed your life?
K: It’s very cool, I’m always grateful for it but I worked for it really hard. I’ve really done my research and I’ve always paid attention to every single detail and aspect of everything, aesthetically and business wise. Ru used to call me “laser eyes” on the show, she’d go, “Oh, laser eyes is watching,” because I used to analyse everything. I’ve always done that from a young age. That’s how I think I’ve become good because I see past what people initially see and dive into the details. That’s how I’ve grown very quickly and been able to be successful.
[Drag Race] has changed my life. In many ways. I’m flying all over the world, always. I’ve got tours in the States, Australia, I’m off to the Philippines soon. I’m about to attend Fashion Week. It’s done everything for me. I’ve conquered everything I’ve wanted to and I’ve got so much more I want to conquer and I will, which is exciting. It’s given me a platform to really harness my artistry.
Would you ever consider an all-winners version, if it came up, or going on a season of All-Stars?
K: I would consider it, I wouldn’t immediately say no, but I would need to know a lot beforehand. As of now, I really don’t want to do it. It’s not really something I want to do and go through again. I love Drag Race, and I love the fandom and I love what it does. But at the same time, I’m Krystal Versace. As an artist, I’m always gonna be Krystal Versace, I’m not always going to be Krystal Versace from Drag Race. I’ve got the crown, it’s always going to be mine, but, I’m an artist, I’m a public figure and I want to work on that always, instead of being attached to Drag Race all the time because it’s a limited thing. It’s one step in the right direction, but I’m not always going to stay in that step.
We’re about to mark the end of Pride month, through quite a horrible time for parts of the LGBTQ+ community. Do you think it’s reminded us all why it’s so important to still mark Pride in 2023?
K: It’s so important. There’s so many things in the world right now where it feels like we’ve kind of gone back in time. In America and [drag bans in] Tennessee, and how drag is being perceived now, because people are putting actual s**t out there. Some people don’t realise that why we march every year is because there’s always something we’re marching towards. We’re always marching because there’s still things that aren’t quite right – that’s why we do it. That’s why we come together as a collective. For both queer pride, trans pride, all the prides, it’s so important to involve myself in all of them and march and use our voices. There is always something we are working towards. It’s so important to remember that.