South Auckland-raised Kween Kong was not only a top-three finalist on Drag Race Down Under Season Two but recently reached the finals once again on the new international franchise, Drag Race Global All Stars. She talks to Oliver Hall about using her success to move her family to Melbourne, working with RuPaul and navigating ‘white’ editing teams.
Your drag proudly represents Pasifika queens. Who are the Pasifika queens that inspired you to get into drag and have had the most influence on your career and style?
First and foremost, all of the women in my family are the biggest inspirations; they’re big, strong, warrior, matriarchal women. Whenever I think about a new look, it comes from them. Then when I look at my community, the whole queer community in New Zealand was built off the backs of Māori and Pacific Island queens and trans women, like my Drag Mothers Tess Tickle, Buckwheat and trailblazers like Bertha, Chanel, Da Vinci, Kola Gin, Venus and Cindy of Samoa – icons! Growing up queer, you knew you were safe in Family Bar because there’s been many a time I’d seen Buckwheat chase grown men down the road for being disrespectful to any kids. Those Pacific Island and Polynesian queens always pushed community first over everything, which is so beautiful. They don’t necessarily do that here in Australia. They push themselves before the community, which is tricky to navigate when you’re coming up.
Global All Stars must have felt very different to Down Under, with each queen representing a different international Drag Race franchise.
On Down Under, we had, like, three cameras and about two lights. Spanky Jackzon and I had to walk sideways onto the stage; it was such a small berth. RuPaul was literally right in front of us, which is really bad if you haven’t trimmed your nose hair! I look better from a distance, so I appreciated that Global gave us a lot of space, probably 50+ cameras and lighting galore! When I walked onto the main stage, it took me about 20 minutes to process. Even MTV backing us! I come from Mangere. When I was growing up, we used to watch MTV Cribs every day, and now I’m literally talking to the PR and Marketing team who promote all of these massive shows. They went all out! 12 countries, 12 different queens – the best of the best. So it felt right that I was there.
How do you look back on your Down Under experience? It felt like you went in as a frontrunner but took a while to feel comfortable and confident on screen.
I don’t think it was necessarily on screen. I was navigating being in the room and being edited. Walking into Global All Stars, with a legitimate production crew who have experience with not only reality TV but story navigation, it was clear to me why I felt so compromised on Down Under – because I didn’t trust people. For our local production, it was only the second season. They were still very young, and I mean that in the most disrespectful way possible (laughs) – they were trying to figure out what they were doing. I could feel the manipulation clogs turning, and they were shifting me into being ‘the struggle bus’, which, anyone who has met me knows I am not the struggle bus. My skill set speaks for itself. With Global, you see what I can do at my full capacity… I served a purpose for Down Under; they had me bring up conversations like race and showcase how those conversations need to be had.
When you say ‘the struggle bus’, can you elaborate on that?
I’m a confident, strong person who has created a platform for myself, but to be completely honest with you, that doesn’t align with a predominantly white editing room. They need to give me permission to feel confident. You see that across the fandom when a queen of colour is confident. Whereas our white counterparts are celebrated equally. If they’re confident, they’re not regarded as cocky, they’re looked at as role models. But I called it into account, and in Season Three, we had a lot more colour in the editing room and on the other side of the camera because of the conversations that I brought up… So the struggle bus was that they made it look like I was struggling with my confidence and in my head, when, in reality, I am the bus and I will run you down, literally!
So how has your life changed since Down Under?
I’ve been able to move my entire family from New Zealand, from our family house in South Auckland, over to live with me in Melbourne, and so we bought a couple of properties and have just been living our best lives, letting drag pay the bills! It’s changed my life in the best possible way.
I’m so pleased for you! Do you feel appearing on two seasons of Drag Race has improved your drag?
Well, you’re standing in front of RuPaul! RuPaul is one of my biggest role models. The empire she’s created for herself as a queen of colour! When she started drag, it was such a different time politically, so just seeing the way that she’s navigated her trajectory. The first season I was just so star-struck I couldn’t even have conversations with her face-to-face, whereas, coming back the second time, I really felt the rapport and just the love! It’s helped me to become my own boss and enabled me to go work for myself, which is such a privilege.
There are people who are very critical of RuPaul. They say she hasn’t used her platform enough to support Black Lives Matter, hasn’t had drag kings on Drag Race yet, fracking… What do you say to the people who are critical?
When people are critical, there is nothing you can do that will please everyone. My experience with RuPaul has been nothing but positive. She’s been so generous, both on camera and off camera. She’s an incredible role model, and she does her best for our community. She’s made the mainstream recognise drag. If we didn’t have Drag Race, which is now in 15 different countries, we would still be working in pubs for drink cards. She has given queens a trajectory for us to get out of those spaces and be respected for doing makeup, hair, acting, singing – everything that most people on TV can only do in the singular. I honour her for that.
When the cast was announced for Global All Stars, the name that grabbed a lot of attention was (eventual winner) Alyssa Edwards returning to the franchise. What was it like competing with that legendary name?
Alyssa Edwards is one of my favourite drag queens. Having her come back was such a gag! She came to me straight away and said, ‘Oh, girl, I’m a fan,’ so I was really honoured to compete with her. She’s an old-school girl like I am, so we connected over our understanding of what drag was before Drag Race became a thing.
Michelle Visage will be hosting Season Four of Down Under. You’ve worked with her twice now. Do you think she’s ready for this big responsibility?
She’s been ready for years! This is the opportunity that she’s been building towards. Michelle has been by Ru’s side since day one, so if there’s anyone that you can trust to fulfil Ru’s idea of a global superstar for drag, Mama Michelle is that person.
