While an evening for the Yves Saint-Laurent brand awaits him, Yann takes a few minutes to answer us, before perching in the high heels of La Grande Dame. At 25 years old, this drag queen from Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) will wear the colors of France this Friday March 29 in the final of the show “RuPaul's Drag Race UK VS the World”, broadcast on the prestigious British BBC.
Known for her participation in the first season of “Drag Race France”, La Grande Dame finished tied for second alongside Soa de Muse, behind the winner Paloma. This time it has gone beyond the borders of France to face competition across the Channel. “I went headlong, it’s an opportunity for even more people to be exposed to what I do, to what I create,” she tells us.
Four queens vying for a crown
After seven weeks of fierce competition between eleven queens from all over the world, there are only four left: The Grande Dame, Hannah Conda (Australia), Marina Summers (Philippines) and Tia Kofi (United Kingdom). The Frenchwoman enters the competition with one victory to her credit, just like Hannah Conda and Tia Kofi, compared to three for the Philippine Marina Summers. “They gave us lots of dance tests, it’s not my strong point. My thing is more visual humor, mimes... And looks.”
“The four of us really are friends. We get along very well, I have a big affinity with Hannah Conda, who is three times funnier than what we see on the show,” says La Grande Dame, less talkative when asked about her crush with Tia Kofi during the competition. “We took care of each other,” she sums up.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by @lagrande_dame
After a strong start to the competition, the drag queen experienced a slight dip during the competition, where she was more in the middle of the table. Looking back, it was an opportunity to approach the competition “with more distance”: “We are under a lot of pressure, but sometimes you have to remember that there is a world outside and that it's not that serious. Everything can change from one week to the next, I was super happy at the beginning. Tripping once is annoying, but it gave me space to have a little more fun.”
“For two months, we sleep six hours a night”
A show which is starting to rise again for the one who paraded for Victor Weinsanto or Kevin Germanier, since the filming took place in February 2023. “I was called by the BBC in November 2022. I pretty quickly said yes”. From there, the machine went into action as soon as it received the themes of the parades for which the drag queens must prepare. “It’s a marathon. For two months, we sleep six hours a night, we work all the time and when we're not working, it's because we're running somewhere to pick up pieces from this or that designer,” summarizes Yann.
In total, around twenty outfits and 20,000 euros invested. A nice sum, well above the 3,000 euros that La Grande Dame had mobilized for the first season of “Drag Race France”. “But it’s a record to have done with so little the first time, I was lucky to have a lot of pieces lent to me because I was already working with creators,” tempers the drag queen.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by @lagrande_dame
The participants have been waiting for the result for over a year! Indeed, the same process applies to all seasons of the “Drag Race” franchise: to avoid any leaks, several versions of the coronation are filmed, one for each candidate in the running. And those concerned only discover the chosen one at the time of broadcast, at the same time as the public. Whatever the result, “Dada”, as her competitors call her, is “too proud to have represented France”.
A new title put online this Friday evening
Going back for another round and a new season of “Drag Race” doesn’t even scare him anymore: “It can’t be refused. If someone calls me, I will always say yes. But it’s true that today I want to develop music, I find there the passion and bulimia that I had when I started drag.” Moreover, after the release in January of her first single “Accords”, La Grande Dame will take advantage of the final this Friday to put online her new track “Dada”, from an album to be released soon.
As for knowing where she will be this Friday evening for the final, it's impossible to tell the drag queen, due to confidentiality contract. “Maybe I will be in London, maybe I have something planned in Paris to celebrate with my people,” jokes La Grande Dame, who is amused by this uncertainty. Answer at 10 p.m. on BBC Three in the United Kingdom, or on the WoW Presents Plus platform (by subscription) in France.