As the first Brazilian queen to grace the Drag Race runway, Miss Abby OMG had a high bar to reach on Drag Race Holland. Her smoldering runway looks aside, Abby more than made her mark, cracking the Top 4 and solidifying her place in Drag Race herstory. I sat down to chat with this stunning queen post-elimination we talked about what it is like competing with a sister from the same house, as well as her post-Drag Race plans. A hint?-you may be seeing her on another runway sooner than later.
Michael Cook: You made it to the Final Four of the inaugural season of Drag Race Holland. What does it feel like?
Miss Abby OMG: It feels amazing! It feels unbelievable to be here. I fought to be here so it feels really good.
MC: The entire cast of Drag Race Holland are extremely talented, but so many of you are breaking glass ceilings for so many different genres of drag. What was your experience like during the season?
MAO: It was hard, I am not going to lie it was really hard. I learned so much from this experience though, I think I learned more from this experience than I have from the five years that I have been doing drag; I learned a lot believe me. I learned a lot not just as my character in drag, but as a person. It was really life changing.
MC: You are the first Brazilian to compete on the Drag Race franchise. What is it like knocking down barriers and giving Drag Race fans a competitor that they can look at and see someone that looks like them?
MAO: It felt weird at first, Brazilian fans are crazy fans (laughs). I had all of Brazil supporting me and expecting me to do well, they expected a lot and I sometimes felt I did not give that to them.
MC: You are one of the rare queens who has survived a number of “lip sync for your life” performances, and you have now taken a place in history with stellar queens like Raven and Kameron Michaels.
MAO: You know, it feels like I was the “dark horse” of the competition. No one sees you as a threat, but at the same time, you are the biggest threat of them all; you can take anyone out.
MC: What do you think are the most marked differences between the Brazilian and Holland drag scene?
MAO: The biggest difference is that Brazilian drag is very exposed and naked. It is all about body and about showing your body and beauty. Dutch drag is much more about costumes, big wigs, and very conceptual. Not only one person thought about your costume, a whole crew did. That is one of the biggest differences.
MC: The ballroom culture has had a monumental impact on the drag community, and is only now finally getting their due in terms of recognition. You have actually started your own house. What is it like for you being a mentor to other girls?
MAO: It is a blast as well as a curse to compete with your sister from your own house. It’s your sister who supports you through everything, but at the same time the person from your house knows what you are good with and what you are bad at.
MC: Everyone on your season truly managed to respect each other and truly remember that they were now part of a sisterhood, do you feel that way?
MAO: Yes that is true. At the end of the day, we are sisters and we support each other a lot. You did not see a lot of bitchiness and things like that that are part of the drag community.
MC: What’s next for Miss Abby OMG?
MAO: I think for me, what I would like to do next is to do more fashion and to maybe do more fashion shows, photography or videos. I am going to focus more on that, and I am definitely going to focus on performing. I want to show my performances to the whole world, so the next stop when we can is going to be a world tour.
MC: How have you managed to stay creatively fueled and inspired during quarantine?
MAO: I think that watching a lot of movies and a lot of online content. I am getting a lot of inspiration from movies. Just making sure that what I am doing is getting upgraded; the whole world is now watching. I am putting more thoughts into my performances and into my looks, more than I have before. It’s time for an “Abby upgrade!”
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