New York City queen Dusty Ray Bottoms was the latest guest on the always entertaining Hey Qween this week, hosted by Johnny McGovern.
For those unfamiliar with Hey Qween, Johnny (otherwise known as the “Gay Pimp”) and his lovely cohost Lady Red Couture welcome a variety of guests on the show to discuss their lives, spill a little tea and of course… throw a little shade.
Dusty did not disappoint whatsoever. The talented performer, who appeared on season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and has developed quite the name for herself in and out of The Big Apple, discussed many facets of her life during the extremely riveting interview.
This included her diving deeper into the background she has with her family, which was a big focal point of her storyline on the show. While on RPDR, Dusty discussed how his coming out story was truly horrific, and how his parents sent him to a conversion therapy camp when he was much younger. Something he talked about in the interview, that was not discussed on the show, was how he was also sexually assaulted at a mall when he was 12 years old and the aftermath of that situation.
Dusty, along with Blair St. Clair and Monique Heart, really tugged at our heartstrings this past season with their openness regarding issues like conversion therapy, rape and homophobia within their own families. If anything, it furthers the conversation in our community and props to each of them for being as candid as they were and are about them.
A fun part of Hey Qween is called “Look at Huh”, where Johnny shows an assortment of people that the guest has worked with in the past. This allows them to discuss their honest opinions about each person they “look at,” which can sometimes lead to some serious shade being thrown.
It was during this where Dusty flat out admitted to not liking one of her season 10 queens after her season finished. Could it be Aquaria? They had issues in the first episode when Dusty called her out for her attitude with her prior to going on the show (they are both from NYC).
Turns out it was Chicago-based queen The Vixen, who was quite the polarizing cast member this season. “So, when I came back from Drag Race, I told Mark (his partner) that I loved everyone. The one person I did not like was The Vixen.”
Her feelings changed, however, many months later. “It wasn’t until we all got back together, and we were shooting something… I forget what we were shooting,” he said. “But we were all in the same hotel, and we were all just on a hotel balcony smoking a blunt. That day, most of us girls all sat in a circle and we all spilled the beans on what we said about each other. I was like, ‘Vixen I said this about you,’ and then she was like ‘this is what I said about you.’”
The cast did this before the show aired, which Johnny said was “such a good idea.” Dusty later admitted that the two were able to “jump on that page” later on that night, while also adding that she was “a very different person” after the show finished.
“Vixen is very chill, she’s very humble… she’s also very wise. She’s a very wise soul,” Dusty continued. “She’s definitely someone to look out for and definitely listen to.”
Watch the full clip here: