The new season of Drag Race Down Under, hosted by Michelle Visage, eliminated its first queen on Friday 8 November – Olivia Dreams, 25, the show’s first drag queen from Wellington, who is of Te Rarawa descent, sashayed away from the Werk Room and spoke to Woman’s Day…
How was your time on Drag Race?
As the first Wellington queen to be cast, it’s an absolute surreal experience. Even though my journey was short, I really am proud of what I presented. I wish I could have gone further. But honestly, I think there’s no point in beating myself up about it. It happened and I just got to be on the show full-stop, so that’s the biggest achievement.
How does it feel being the first queen eliminated this season?
I mean, I’ll be iconic, right? That’s notoriety right there. Some people may think that’s sad, but I think people will remember me as the first out.
In the moment, I was crushed. I was really emotional about it, more for the fact that I wanted to stay there with the girls because we formed a close-knit family. But I just let my inner saboteur win. I just felt defeated and I was really beating myself up because I knew I could have done better. But that environment is a pressure cooker.
It’s really hard and it was a sad moment for me, probably the lowest I’ve been. But now I’m at peace with it. I’m glad that the world got to see a bit of Olivia Dreams. It may leave people more intrigued – they don’t know my full potential – so I’m hoping that will drive more people to really invest in getting to know who I am.
It’s in your name, but sometimes dreams come true and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you decide to dream bigger…
Full disclosure, when I actually applied for the season, I didn’t expect to get on. I was like, “Why not? Let’s see what happens.” So when I got the call, I was like, “Oh, my God, this is actually real.” I didn’t expect it, but I was so happy to be able to provide Wellington a spot on the show. So proud to unlock that dream.
What kind of flair did you bring to your audition video?
I spoke a lot about growing up as a young takatāpui queer person, and the struggles and lack of visibility of queer people on our screens and in the media. I wish I had seen more queer people growing up. I wish I had that role model. I want to be that role model for those people. I grew up in a small town called Dargaville – 5000 people, rural community. I was the only queer in the village. I just wanted to prove, if there’s anyone else there going through the same thing I did, that with hard work, passion and dedication, you can achieve your dreams.
Tell us about that journey from Dargaville to Wellington…
I left Dargaville when I was 17 and I moved to Whangārei, the big smoke of Northland! I spent a few years there, then moved down to Wellington when I was 21 and, honestly, it’s been the best move that I’ve ever made. I’ve really grown into myself.
My mum said when I moved to Wellington, she saw me become who I was meant to be and she’s seen how happy being here makes me. It’s just surreal to think that a small boy from Dargaville has grown up and is now on an international TV show.
If you get Mum’s approval, then that’s all that matters…
Absolutely. Mum’s my number-one fan. She’s always there supporting me when she can. Always calling me before a show, wishing me luck. She’s definitely been my rock through this journey and through my Drag Race journey.
There’s a moment in your last episode, during the critiques, where guest judge Kween Kong told you to call on your Māori ancestors to give you power. How did it feel hearing that?
It was really uplifting for me. That moment has carried with me through this entire journey and I think it’s what I needed to hear. I was letting my inner saboteur win. I was feeling really down on myself, so to have Kween say that directly to me, as another indigenous person, it was quite uplifting and gave me the strength that I needed to go forward.
Back in the Werk Room, you had a vulnerable moment wondering how people would react to you being chosen for Drag Race. How do you feel about that now?
I went into the show with the ethos of “whatever happens happens”. I wasn’t going to stop myself being vulnerable or emotional. I wasn’t going to lead myself into false delusion. I’m really glad that there are vulnerable moments there from me because I think that provides the audience an opportunity to get to know who I am as a person. I was in my feelings because it was a very harrowing experience. It was not a nice feeling.
Before we went into filming, there were comments going around the local community, like, “Why has Olivia been chosen? There are so many other people who should get this opportunity over her.” I took those comments into the show as well. I set myself up to fail in doing that. Everyone’s got opinions, right? I’ve grown and worked through all of those emotions.
At the end of the day, I got on the show for a reason, the other people didn’t and that’s the end of the story. There’s no point in harbouring these feelings and letting them get me down.
How has Olivia Dreams evolved?
When I first started doing drag, I did it as a creative outlet. I’m not a writer or a painter. I was actually a really shy person and it came through on the TV a little bit, but that’s because I like to get to know people before I unleash the true me. But as I’ve gone on, Olivia has helped me to break out of my anxieties and shyness.
It’s helped me grow into the person that I’ve always meant to be. And now I view Olivia as a conduit to help other people realise their full potential because I do drag for fun. So where Olivia is going now is creating these opportunities for newer performers to really maximise who they are and to get the full joy out of drag.
I’m always saying, “If you’re not having fun doing drag, you probably shouldn’t be doing drag.” I just love who I am at the moment and I love uplifting people.
Me and a few of my drag friends bring drag to the provinces because we’re here, we’re queer, we’ve got a message to spread and we’re just trying to humanise the fact that there’s nothing wrong with drag. There’s still that anti-drag sentiment in New Zealand. We’re just going out there and proving those people wrong – that drag is just another form of performing arts.
Drag Race Down Under is now streaming on WOW Presents Plus, with new episodes dropping Fridays.
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