Sitting in her parents’ lounge in Fielding, with a vibrant wall of drag costumes behind her, Spankie Jackzon, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2, reflects on her whirlwind journey, grand ambitions and bringing her solo show to Palmy Drag Fest.
A Triumphant Finale
Spankie recalls the night of the Drag Race finale with a mixture of joy and nostalgia. “Dad was sick, so he unfortunately didn’t fly to Sydney for the finale, but my mum did and was with me on stage and bawling her eyes out! Two of my good friends came around to the family home and sat with dad and watched it live on TV. So we’re on Zoom, Dad’s crying, my friends are screaming and mum and I didn’t get home until 6am the next day!”
After her victory, life took a turn for the crazy. “I finished up my full-time work and went straight into a five-city solo tour the week before I won. I was expected to have a break after, but that does not happen. I went straight off to the Drag Race tour. Came home, did Adelaide Fringe with the girls (fellow finalists Hannah Conda and Kween Kong, collectively know as BAB’Z). Moved home, had seven days to move out of my house, move everything to mum and dad’s and get back on a plane to go do the BAB’Z tour.”
A Theatrical Beginning
Spankie’s drag roots trace back to her early involvement in theatre. “I was 14, starring in the New Zealand play Ladies Night. I up-played Gavin, who was no good at stripping, and ended up hosting the strip show as a drag queen. Dad was in the show. He was 50, stripping down to less than a G-string because he has never been one to shy away.”
But Spankie’s passion for performance began even earlier. “My parents were always finding me in a piece of fabric or dressed up in my dad’s business shirts, pretending that I was the tooth fairy.”
Aspiring to Greatness
From a young age, Spankie had lofty ambitions. “I believed that I had the potential to become like a RuPaul. That was my goal. Not to win Drag Race, but to be no different to Dame Edna or Lily Savage, or any of those queens in prime-time entertainment.”
Her parents’ support was pivotal, though it came with practical concerns. “Mum was always saying, ‘That’s not going to put bread on the table. You need to go and get a job.’ So it was always finding the balance. Then my parents came to Melbourne for Christmas about three years before I moved home to help look after dad, and they came and spent Christmas with me in Melbourne. They came to (drag bar) The Greyhound and saw me do the Friday night show. That was when they realised that I was actually great at this.”
A Special Bond
Spankie’s gratitude for her parents is deeply personal, as they adopted her when she was just two years old. “I was adopted by them (because my parents were very young). They’re my nana and granddad, technically. My life could have turned out very differently. Fortunately for me, they welcomed me into their life… the person I’ve become today is really a testament to both of them. Mum is the love and the compassion, and Dad is the dreamer.”
The experience moulded Spankie’s views on adoption. “It’s ridiculous how hard it can actually be to adopt. Isn’t the child’s best interest what should be at heart? Don’t you want to put them into a family – instead of making it so difficult?”
The Unexpected Win
Reflecting on her Drag Race victory, Spankie admits she didn’t expect to win. “Absolutely not. I had come away from the filming experience wrapped with what I had done. But I knew that when it came to the runways, I wasn’t the winner. I don’t have designers at my disposal.”
Despite her doubts, her fans were unwavering. “I felt like I did great to get to top three. Then I hear RuPaul call my name. I was so in shock, I couldn’t talk… I later saw the TVNZ poll – it was something like 96% wanted me to win!”
Crafting Her Own Path
Spankie’s solo show, Just The Tip, is a testament to her creative vision. “It’s always been my dream to write my own solo show. All of my life, I’ve had notebooks filled with ideas. Sydney Fringe was coming up, and I needed to have that deadline. I had about five months, and it took me until the two weeks before the show opened to write it. I’m one of those people – when it’s right, it’s right, and it will just piss out on the page.”
Just The Tip will make its New Zealand debut at Palmy Drag Fest. “I wanted the story to not be like every other drag queen that’s come out of Drag Race. It’s always about their time on the show. That’s so stupid. We watched it already. I wanted it to be about the journey from small-town Fielding all the way through to me winning House of Drag. It’s basically just unfiltered. It’s not just about being gay; it’s about age and society’s pressures to be a certain way. It’s me singing too.”
Bringing the show home to Palmerston North is a full-circle moment for Spankie. “It’s on at the Globe Theatre, which is the first theatre where I ever did a dancing competition. I was sitting in the same dressing room when I got the call to be on Drag Race. I’m a bit nervous about bringing it home. Even my parents haven’t seen it yet. Mum’s asking me, ‘What’s in it? Can I read it?’ I’m like, ‘No, you can just wait till you see the fucking show.’”
A Personal Note on Love
Despite her professional success, Spankie tells us her personal life remains a work in progress. “I’ve found it way more difficult to find a partner since I won. I thought I’d be married by now! I’ve just always been unlucky. I did meet somebody after I won, but they wanted me for who I was, not who I am – basically just because I won Drag Race and I was kind of famous. That just closed it off for me. I just want what my parents had – tonguing on the couch and so in love!”
A Vision for the Future
With her eyes set on a mainstream entertainment crown, Spankie assures us, “I’m nowhere near finished. I’ve just begun!”
Catch Spankie Jackzon’s solo show Just The Tip at Palmy Drag Fest: palmydrag.com
