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Chris Collins, better known by his drag name Hannah Conda, is usually front and centre at WorldPride, held in Sydney last year. In 2023, however, he was nowhere to be seen. When a drag queen mysteriously disappears like this, there is usually one reason: drag queen legend RuPaul Charles beckoned.
Early last year, Collins received such a call and was soon whisked away to compete in the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World, becoming the first Australian queen to hit the global drag stage.
Chris Collins, otherwise known as Hannah Conda, is the first drag queen to bring Aussie talent to the global Drag Race stage.Credit: Anna Kucera
“To be the first is incredibly overwhelming and heartwarming. I don’t take it lightly,” says the 32-year-old Sydney-based queen.
The original version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which began in the US in 2009, has been going strong for 16 seasons, spawning countless spinoffs around the world. Each season, RuPaul invites between 10 and 14 drag queens to compete in multiple categories, such as acting, dancing, fashion design and stand-up, before crowning the winning queen. The Emmy-award winning reality show has made global stars out of its contestants, including Trixie Mattel and Bob the Drag Queen.
Hannah Conda’s first runway outfit was a collaboration with Aboriginal designer Paul McCann.Credit: Bruno Lozich/Instagram
One of its most recent spinoffs is the Antipodean series, Drag Race Down Under, which began in 2021 and has now been running for three seasons. Two of the three seasons have been won by New Zealanders.
After placing runner-up to Kiwi queen Spankie Jackzon in the second season, Collins felt it was time for the Aussies to shine on an even bigger stage.
“I believe Australian drag has been overlooked for a while,” says Collins. “We got a bit of a bad rap in the early part of our seasons … My goal was to give people a more well-rounded idea of what drag is in Australia and New Zealand.”
The first season of Down Under was criticised for its lack of diversity, given only two of its 10 contestants were people of colour (one was Aboriginal and another Polynesian). One of the Caucasian competitors, Scarlet Adams, was also criticised for performing in blackface, brownface and yellowface earlier in their career. Adams has since apologised, including on the show itself.