Darienne Lake, a veteran queen who famously finished fourth in “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season six, is coming back to the franchise. Nearly 10 years later, the New York queen is returning to the “RuPaul” universe to compete in the eighth season of “Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars”. The show features previous “Drag Race” contestants from different prior seasons competing against each other. Ahead of the season 8 premiere of the “Drag Race” spinoff, Lake appeared at DragCon in Los Angeles to interact with fans and show off her latest looks.
At DragCon, Lake spoke about her feelings about returning to television, and what advice she has to offer to younger contestants. “It’s fantastic to be back in the swing of things. The timing was right, I was feeling great, and ready to have some fun,” said Lake.
As “All Stars” combines queens from the show’s many seasons, there will be a diverse age range represented. Lake said that she trusts the younger queens’ vision. “I feel like the children are the future,” said Lake. “If you teach them and let them lead the way, then it winds up that the teacher becomes the student. They really inspire me back, and I really appreciate that.”
Lake went on to explain how ageism has no place in the drag world. “Dreams don’t have an age,” said Lake. “You just go out, have fun, and live your life.”
In the nearly ten years since Lake appeared on the show, there have been several changes in the franchise. “We’re really expanding our audiences to include all types of drag and performances,” Lake said. In addition to programming changes, public opinion has also changed. After months of drag bans spreading across the country, the “RuPaul” franchise is more important for representation than ever.
“Some states don’t want drag queens around children. I saw this beautiful drag queen talking about it, and she was saying ‘I’m a cisgender female, and I can still do this even though I am also dressed in drag. Just because I was born a certain way it is legal for me and illegal for others,'” said Lake. “It’s wonderful that we now have this cisgender support. Who know’s what’s next, maybe even drag kings.”
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Lake further detailed how to support the LGBTQ+ community at this time. “There’s the ACLU, and the Drag Defense Fund. If you don’t have the finances to donate, you can still have conversations. You need to calmly let people understand what this is about.”
“You’re only going to get that energy back, so if you approach it in a calm, rational way, that is best,” Lake said. “All it takes is a conversation over some coffee and an Entenmann’s cake.”
Season eight of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” premieres today on Paramount+.
