INTERVIEW – All Hail Queen Priyanka!: Canada’s First Drag Superstar Driving into Calgary This Weekend

Talking to the first winner of Canada’s Drag Race, Priyanka, is exactly like you would expect. Her energy and enthusiasm leaps through the phone. Delayed almost an hour for our interview because of rehearsals for the Canada’s Drag Race At The Drive In tour that kicks off this weekend at TELUS SPARK, she immediately showed her Canadian-ness with apologies.
"Are you so mad at me? I'm so mad because I'm always early and I'm so upset that I'm late for this. Usually I’m five, 10 minutes early!"
It’s understandable that Priyanka along with the rest of the Queens have had a crazy ride since the season finale Sept 3^rd.
"It's been honestly really, really wild. As you know, we're coming down to Calgary this weekend. I'm very excited to see Calgary again for the second time. I was there last month, and the fans are so cool. We're kind of like hitting the ground running. It's just been like, "Oh wow, you win whoo! Now interviews! Now rehearsal! We went from quarantine to doing everything"
She is thrilled to be returning to Calgary. She had a multi-day series of shows last month that included spending time with local queens as well as a visit to the salon and shop of Calgary’s own drag ICON DevaDave.
"I'm very proud to be who I am, but meeting DevaDave made me more proud to be who I am. Seeing a West Indian man run his own little shop. Everyone's so excited about DevaDave, and everybody knows him and everyone so happy to be around him. I was like, you're who I want to be! You are a hero. You are inspiring, you fight for queer people. It was amazing." She recalled. "Some of the other highlights were meeting all the other Queens. I met so many different drag performers who really took me in and I got along with everyone. I was hanging out with all of them. We all went out for dinner and hanging out backstage. When I first walked in, they were like, Oh, Miss Priyanka is here. Is she going...