Thirteen new queens are currently competing for the crown on season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race. While the community is still reeling from the previous week's All Stars results, VH1 quickly recovered with a brand new group of drag queens battling it out on Thursdays at 7 p.m. CT.
It wouldn't be a challenge without at least one Chicago performer, and this time there's The Vixen.
This fierce competitor is going to take no prisoners in the process of battling it out.
Windy City Times: Where does the name the Vixen come from?
The Vixen: The name comes from Vargas girls and pin-up girls. When I was little I loved drawing sexy and flirty women. I used to dream about being a burlesque performer and having a show called Vixen. When I started performing, I decided that should be my name.
WCT: Were you into Dita Von Teese?
TV: Definitely, but even further back, like Betty Page.
WCT: Are you from Crete, Illinois?
TV: No, that's where I went to high school for my sophomore through senior years. I am from the South Side of Chicago, baby!
WCT: How long have you performed drag?
TV: It will be six years in April. The first place I remember thinking I was performing actual drag was at the Jeffrey Pub on the South Side. A drag queen saw me performing live in my normal fishiness, then asked me to come out and do a show. I did, and she booked me for the rest of the year!
WCT: Talk about your intro outfit in the workroom on episode one.
TV: I wanted to show all of the Chicago pride that I possibly could. It was every logo and landmark that I could think of.
What is hard to see on it is that I even have a necklace that has green lions that look like the lime stone lions in front of the Art Institute. There's the Bean, there's deep-dish pizza, a Ferris wheel, the Chicago Bulls bullhorns; my skirt is the Chicago skyline, and I am wearing white socks.
WCT: When I watched you in the dance-off after the Sasha Velour interviews, I thought of Berlin nightclub and [its] annual Voguing for Tots. Did that help in the moment?
TV: Yes, I have done that before and did it last year, too.
WCT: How do you feel about the drag scene in Chicago?
TV: The Chicago drag scene is the weirdest and coolest place to learn drag because there is some of everything. It doesn't matter what kind of drag you are doing just do it to your best potential. We have the best club kid, pageant, and fashionista drag. Chicago is a melting pot of artists. It is a renaissance of us all being the best we can be.
I started with many draft queens that had already been on Drag Race like Kim Chi, Shea Coulee, and Trixie Mattel even. Being in the dressing room with them give us all the vibe to be better. One person will put on one mole, then one will put on two. Shea will put on 10 lashes, then Kim Chi puts on 17! We grow from each other.
I am very lucky to have started with some real titans and have picked up a lot of tricks.
WCT: Do you have any favorite music you play in the background when you put on makeup?
TV: Right now, I am in love with Lizzo. You can't help but feel confident when you listen to her.
WCT: How hard was it to be cast on RuPaul's Drag Race?
TV: I auditioned four times. Every year it got harder. I knew this year would be the year because one of our challenges for the audition was to make a dress out of paper. That is something I always do. When I saw that as a requirement for the audition I knew I had it in the bag!
WCT: Do you feel a lot of pressure with the massive amount of people watching?
TV: I am excited because it couldn't happen at a more perfect time. The fans of the show are so vocal and I am such a vocal queen, so I think it will be a conversation…
WCT: Do you have plans to work in the Chicago LGBT community?
TV: Yes. One of the things that I came up with for the season is every episode I am going to support a charity that ties into the episode. As much as I can I will have them be Chicago local charities, especially from the South Side.
WCT: You are going to be at Roscoe's for the premiere?
TV: Yes. I can't wait. Roscoe's was the first place I competed in drag so to be there now and be at the top of competitive drag is very full circle for me.
WCT: You never know who is going to show up there. Mick Jagger showed up the night after they announced your placement on Drag Race to see the show.
TV: I was there for that.
WCT: Was it hard to keep the secret you were cast on RuPaul's Drag Race?
TV: Yes—very hard. For at least the last three years I have been performing about four nights a week. When I was gone, everyone noticed. It was very hard to not talk about falling off the face of the earth!
WCT: Do you like to travel? With the show, you will be booked everywhere.
TV: I think that is what I am most excited about is seeing the world: [going on] road trips and getting on planes. I have always wanted to be a traveling rockstar tour kind of girl.
WCT: How do you feel about RuPaul's recent transgender statements concerning Drag Race?
TV: When I started drag every other person in the room was either trans, a bio queen or some form of female gender. For me, that has always been at the root of drag. I hope as the show progresses, we learn.
