Some queens walk away from RuPaul’s Drag Race with a crown; Trixie Mattel walked away with a career. During her first trip down Ru’s rabbithole, the show was not always kind to Trixie. Her elimination in only the fourth episode of Season Seven was quite controversial. In fact, she received over 19,300 votes in a poll of fans for the title of “queen who left too early”.
But Trixie keeps coming back for more. She first returned in episode eight of Season Seven as a result of winning the conjoined twin challenge. Recently she returned to compete in the newest season of Drag Race All Stars for a place in the All Star Hall of Fame. Despite facing the indignity of being forced to compete in what are regarded almost universally as the two worst challenges in Drag Race history (“ShakesQueer” in Season 7 and “My Best Squirrelfriend’s Dragsmaids Wedding Trip” in All Stars 3), Trixie has consistently found ways to prove her comedy chops. In fact, she’s demonstrated this both with RuPaul and company and in collaboration with fellow Ru girl Katya — first on their web series UNHhh and then on The Trixie & Katya Show on Viceland.
The story of how Trixie got her name drag name is one of triumph over adversity. As a young man, her stepfather called her “Trixie” as an insult when he felt she was acting too feminine. She ultimately reclaimed the name — starting her drag career simply called “Trixie” — and later added Mattel as an homage to Barbie. Because she was never been allowed to have one of the iconic dolls growing up, she decided to become one.
Having solidified an increasingly central place in the queer conversation, we couldn’t wait to get Trixie’s thoughts on why this is a unique cultural moment for our community. In our exclusive video mini-interview, she shares some unique thoughts about how we intersect with the culture as a whole — both her own perspective and what she’s learned from working with RuPaul. We hope you’ll enjoy it, share it with friends, and we’ll be back soon with coverage of the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten.
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