Five minutes with … COURTNEY ACT

HERE’S WHY THE AUSTRALIAN STAR IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW Courtney, aka Shane Jenek, has become an Aussie icon with an international following. WHO caught up with the Brenda, Call Me! podcaster, TV host and drag star. Tell us about Season 2 of your fabulous podcast. When you get two best friends in a room together [she co-hosts with Vanity], there’s a lot of comfort that comes with that – we talk about a lot of topics. We talk about identity and sexuality and gender, and we also wanted to explore queer history through an Australian lens. We have so much amazing history in Australia, and it’s important to share, learn and listen to.

You have a lot of fun on the podcast, too.

We also touch on mindless, u y stu . I was just listening to the second episode and we talk about Harry Styles’ new album and then we delve into queer-baiting, and our thoughts and feelings on Harry’s sexuality and gender expression.

Do you nd a lot of freedom with what you can talk about on a podcast because it seems less censored than say, social media or television? Yeah! I guess it’s interesting because a tweet or an Instagram post can get shared or taken out of context, but podcasts tend to be listened to by people who like them. People don’t tend to grab sound bites as much and take them out of context. On a podcast you can just meander for an hour, and you truly get to explore stu and share ideas with a friend and special guests. Can you give us any hints regarding your special guests this season?

We record the episodes as we go, so we don’t really have anybody in the can yet. Now that there are more people visiting Australia again, we can have more guests in the studio for a chat. In an upcoming episode we do have [media commentator] Andrew Mercado to talk about the queer history of television. Believe it or not, Australia was so far ahead of the rest of the world in the 1970s. We had the world’s

rst trans person playing a trans person on a scripted series. That was Carlotta on Number 96 in 1973. Number 96 also had a gay couple who weren’t deviants or o ensive stereotypes. Do you have a dream guest? A completely unrealistic dream guest would be Lady Gaga. What else have you got coming up besides the podcast? I’ve got a second season of One Plus One on ABC. There’s a really exciting episode coming up, but I’m not going to talk about it until we’ve

lmed, because they’re very busy and famous. Is the guest Kylie Minogue? I’m not going to con rm or deny. · By Penelope Clifton (Listen to Brenda, Call Me! at podcasts.apple.com/ au/podcast/brenda-call-me)

Act says life is “definitely much more lowkey as Shane. When I’m Courtney, I draw attention with my big hair and Versace dress.”

There’s “no chance” Act will return for a third crack at Dancing With the Stars after coming runner-up again. “I won in the hearts and minds of Australians,” she says.