Michael Cook: Juicy, you are the first queen from ‘Drag Race Holland’ Season 2 to be eliminated; you are now part of an illustrious sisterhood; what does it feel like?
Juicy Kutoure: Thank you so much! I feel very honored to have been given the opportunity in the first place, that is basically what I think of when I think of the experience.
MC: How do you look back on your ‘Drag Race Holland’ experience as a whole now?
JK: Well I am on Instagram queen and it was weird for me to get out of my shell, make an audition tape and send it. I made the tape and they contacted me for an audition and I told myself that “at least I was able to do an audition”. Then I got the call that I was cast on the show and it was like “what the fuck”!? I wanted to see how far I could go with this, and once I knew I was on it was like “where do we go from here”?
MC: Was the experience what you thought it would be?
JK: In some ways it was and in other ways it definitely was not. It was much heavier than I would think; you always see the commentary on the heel someone should have put on or what a queen should have worn, but actually standing there makes it such a different experience. It takes days to make an episode and those are long days. People really underestimate all of the work and all of the effort that everyone puts in. Whether you go out first or last, everyone put on a lot of effort. That part was not really different, but I definitely did underestimate that part.
MC: Your drag mothers (Miss Abby OMG & Megan Schoonbrood) both were part of Season 1 of Drag Race Holland. Did they give you any tips of the trade as you entered the competition?
They told me that the most important thing for me to do was to be myself, not to change myself to get attention for the cameras. That way I could be as genuine as I was, and that is exactly what I did. The best advice is that when I think I am giving one hundred percent, give one hundred and ten. You are just never giving enough on stage.
Welcome to the #DragRaceHolland Season 2 Talent Show 🇳🇱
Performing spoken word: #JuicyKutoure!@wowpresentsplus https://t.co/eocLbaxI9G pic.twitter.com/JfgNx9mPTI
— World of Wonder (@WorldOfWonder) August 11, 2021
MC: You participated in a challenge where the Season 1 queens returned. What as it like, right out of the gate, to see all of those now-legendary queens return to be part of your very first challenge?
JK: You know, I really expected to have a “normal” challenge, like a photo shoot or something more subtle. All of the Season 1 girls were there and I had no performing experience doing that; I almost peed my pants, it was like “Oh My God”!
MC: How did your journey in starting in drag start?
JK: People always suggested that I try drag, because I was a feminine boy, I did makeup, things like that, but I just never applied it all together. With my best friend, we were bored when the pandemic hit and she suggested that I try drag makeup. I tried it and thought it was so beautiful; I knew that it would not be a one-time thing and I really wanted to get good at it. I only knew how to do makeup, but when I got in touch with Miss Abby OMG she immediately said “we are going to be good friends and you are going to be my drag daughter”. That is how it started.
MC: What particular queens or type of queens really inspire you as a performer?
JK: I really love the “attitude” queens, the ones like Valentina or Trinity (The Tuck). The ones that really have that “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, they could really seal any makeup or outfit. Those type of queens, they don’t get down. That is what it is like to be free, and that is what has inspired me in so many ways. A hundred types of queens have inspired me on a hundred types of things really, it is a little bit of everything.
MC: Now that your Drag Race Holland experience has ended, what is next for you?
JK: I definitely want to work on my performing experience, because I want to get better at that. I want to be the face of a magazine or of a campaign and be a spokesperson for our community. Everyone brings new flair and I think I know a lot about our community and the world, an I think I could make a difference in that way. I just want to have fun with my drag sisters.
MC: When does Juicy Kutoure feel the most authentically herself?
JK: So often, people will ask if my drag persona is very different than who I am. I always say that I can revery myself inside out when I am Juicy. When I am out of drag, I am still “me” but when I am Juicy, my personality is just inside out and my personality truly shows on the outside, but with beautiful rhinestones on the outside. I basically always feel like the same person really.
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