Nobody—not even Billy Ray Cyrus himself—can rock a mullet quite like Aquaria (aka Giovanni Palandrani). From the beginning, the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 fashion queen was ready to prove that her young age (she was 21 at the time) and then-rival Miz Cracker wouldn’t keep her from taking home the crown. And she was right! Even with the drama that unfolded on her season, Aquaria, now 23, turned looks for every competition and runway. Lest we forget her rabbit ear and top hat getup for the Hats Incredible challenge.
But before she was even crowned, the producers of Drag Race followed Aquaria on the Werq the World tour, which also starred fellow show alumnae Shangela, Valentina, Alyssa Edwards, and Latrice Royale. In a new docuseries of the same name, Aquaria shows viewers what it was really like waiting to find out her Drag Race fate and how she’s figured out her next move.
Here, she talks to Cosmopolitan about being the most “annoying” queen on the tour, not returning for an All Stars season, and her friend and tour mate Sharon Needles.
Cosmopolitan: Your Werq the World episode follows you while you were waiting to learn if you won Drag Race. What do you think watching it back now?
Aquaria: It wasn’t a well-rounded impression of me because I was a little shaken and stressed from filming [Drag Race], but I guess that’s a true documentation of how I was at that time.
The doc shows you touring with your friend and drag mother Sharon Needles. It seems like everyone on the tour has huge personalities, so how do you make sure you don’t rip each other’s heads off?
You see a lot of my and Sharon’s stupid dynamic [in the show]. She’s certainly like an older brother, and we’re always getting at each other and taking the piss out of each other. I just make sure that I’m the most annoying one on the tour so everyone is more chill to me. If I’m the most annoying one, then nobody can really bother me. And I usually stay on the crew bus because it’s nice to have a physical break from the queens. It’s like hanging out with the boy boys. It’s a good physical separation.
Could you see yourself doing drag forever?
I don’t see myself doing it forever. I love being involved in nightlife and in the art world, so I’d love to do some marriage of those two.
Would you ever go on an All Stars season featuring all the winners?
I don’t necessarily need to. I enjoy sharing my art to those that enjoy me and not trying to appeal to those who don’t.
Did you have any issues with viewers’ reactions throughout your season?
I enjoy doing something on a large scale like that, but I’ve experienced Drag Race all through its lifespan and I definitely think I kind of know a lot about drag and…my knowledge of things and styling choices don’t necessarily match the learning curve of some of our viewers. As the show grows, it also strays from the knowledge of drag that the original audience used to know, which tends to lead to reductive comparisons and improper judgy-ness.
You just passed on the Drag Race crown to the season 11 winner, Yvie Oddly. What advice would you give her as the new reigning queen?
I would say good luck and just enjoy yourself. I’m just happy to have the weight lifted off my shoulders. It was a super-exciting opportunity, but at the same time, I was doing a lot at once and was really busy for a while.
You can catch Aquaria’s Werq the World episode once the show premieres at 5 p.m. PST Thursday, June 6, on Wow Presents Plus.
