Karamilk is Sharing Her Inner Child

Regrets are so last century. When you flex your fabulosity at full volume, you drown out all the naysayers, negativity, and haters. That’s what true identity feels like. Claim it.

“Live your authentic self and don’t be afraid because you could be the representation for a younger version of yourself. And I think that’s so important.”

Karamilk may only be 25 years old, but she speaks with a sense of wisdom that transcends time and echoes back to her inner child.

“If you see that representation, then you’re like, ‘oh, that’s something I can be when I grow up,’ and we need more people who aren’t scared or hiding in the closet. They’re wanting to live their authentic selves. If we’re pushing that down or suppressing it, then we’re going backwards, and there’s so many queer children, trans kids that are suppressing their identity and not able to live their authentic selves, but if they see representation or see someone who looks and acts like them, it’s it’s gonna bring out the best version of them and hopefully they can live authentically. At the end of the day, that’s what everyone deserves to be or deserves to have.”

The philosophy she’s spinning seems kinda heavy for reality tv, but Canada’s Drag Race is no ordinary show. In the most recent episode, Karamilk and Eboni La’Belle discussed intersectionality, tokenism, and marginalization. “We were sharing our experiences and I learned from Eboni in that moment, and she learned from me, but I also think it’s something that people could watch and feel. I’ve gotten so many messages – that’s not something that they’ve seen or that they’ve heard of. Even people from my high school and from growing up, they messaged me and were like, ‘I’m sorry if we made you feel that way.’ I think it’s important to have these conversations because it kind of allows people to think of things from a different perspective.”

The convo spilled from the Werk Room to the whirlwind of challenges facing the final five contestants. “It was shot in a very limited amount of time, and it went by so quickly, but I also feel like it was all the time in the world. It was so weird.” Karamilk continues, “The process of doing one challenge, not making it, doing the next, not making it, to the next, not making it. It puts you in your head a little bit. But then it also pushes you more because it’s like, okay, well, this is my time, this is the next moment to pull out a win. But yeah, it was very exhausting, very draining. And I think it’s also like you’re doing these challenges, but then you also have to think about how we’re on TV, we have to talk to each other, we have to have conversations. It’s like, I don’t really want to talk. I just want to focus on the challenge. So yeah, I was exhausted.”

Karamilk survived the gauntlet but suffered elimination after four gruelling face-offs. “At the end of the day, it was the last opportunity to make it to the finale. So it was very much just like, you have to really give it your all. And I think I did with every challenge. I’m very, very happy with what I did. I watched that episode last night versus actually doing it. When I watched it, I was like, whoa, I did good!”

Understatement alert! Karamilk expressed her heritage in the design challenge, creating a stunning gold-striped ensemble that dominated the runway. She also performed a heartfelt monologue that we *defy* you to watch without tearing up. And that lip sync? How could they have picked a winner?

Great question.

“Judges will say one thing, and then whatever,” Karamilk shrugs, “but I think seeing it for yourself and then also hearing the outside noise and how other people perceive it, I feel good about what I laid out there.”

Pride: accomplished.

“I just didn’t expect to grow so much,” beams Karamilk. “I learned a lot about myself. At the beginning, I wanted to be like, ‘I’m that girl, I have all this down, I’m gonna win every challenge.’ But when you get there, that all goes out the window, and you have to take it day by day. So, yeah, each week I learned something new about myself, and I think those are the tools that I’ve taken and that I can apply to my drag now. I’ve learned so much about the process and the show, and also just drag in general.”

And she’s bringing her big bag of beautiful tricks to everything on the horizon. “You’ve seen me lip sync a lot on the show, so now you get to see me lip sync in person. I definitely want to go around the world, around the country, do more curated shows, very choreographed.”

She may not have snatched the crown, but Karamilk won something even more valuable: sisterhood.

“Going through this together, especially that episode and that challenge, not a lot of people in the world can relate, so we’re definitely trauma-bonded for life.”

Let’s just take a moment and savor the deliciousness of that turn of phrase: trauma-bonded.

“I grew so close with everyone there,” declares Karamilk. “It is a competition, but we also are a family, and I would say that’s my second family, especially now. We’ve grown so close to each other. But yeah, I think the top four, everyone is so, so deserving… I think it’s a very well-rounded top four. So I’m excited to see what happens!”

She’s teasing the finale like a wig that lost its volume. Well done, Karamilk – we’ll miss you, but your legacy lives on…