YOU CAN’T MISS THE NEW QUEENS ON TV
TV’s about toget a lot louder!
As drag queens Kita Mean and Anita Wigl’it step out on Auckland’s infamous Karangahape Road, they’re literally stopping traffic with their crazy outfits and wild wigs.
Flirting with passers-by as they strut the strip in towering heels, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time when this dynamic duo felt less than fully confident, but when asked what their younger selves would think about their new TV show, Houseof Drag, Anita can’t help but start to cry.
“I was bullied in high school – I was at an allboys’ school and I was always the different one,” the British-born, Kiwiraised diva, 29, explains through tears. “I wasn’t a drag queen then, of course, but because of what I went through, I knew I really wanted to be something. I’m really proud of where I am now.”
“Scene stealer!” yells Kita, 32, before teasingly jabbing her friend in the side and dissolving into a fit of giggles. But she also gets emotional when it comes to talking about her past.
“I wasn’t bullied, but I always struggled with who I was,” explains Kita. “I wasn’t openly gay in school and I would try to be part of the goth clique because I knew I wanted to be flamboyant and fabulous, but you can’t be when you’re pretending to be straight. It was depressing and really hard hiding who I was, which is why right now I’m living my dream.”
Kita and Anita met eight years ago, when they first started doing drag. It wasn’t until three years ago that they started working together, running their cult DragWars show, best described as a live version of the hit US series RuPaul’sDragRace.
Getset,girls! s!
In 2016, the talented twosome took over as co-owners of Auckland’s Caluzzi Bar and Cabaret. Now they’re adding TV to their repertoire as they celebrate the launch of HouseofDrag, which comes to TVNZ OnDemand mand this week.
The show follows nine queens competing in a series of challenges to win the title of ultimate Drag Diva. Kita and Anita are executive producers and also star as hosts, with Kita describing the series as “eye-opening but bloody entertaining”.
Kita says, “I love drag because I get to make people laugh. It’s nice to spread that laughter and happiness into the world when we’re so used to people bringing us down.”
Nodding, Anita agrees, “Recently there has been a lot of focus on normalising homosexuality, transgender people or people who don’t follow any kind of gender binary. That combined with people’s desire to have a good time, that’s why drag is so popular at the moment.”
Kita concludes, “There’s still ways to go. We know with this TV show, there are going to be a lot of negative comments that come out online, but we believe there are more positive people in this world than negative.”