Bianca Del Rio: 'I never know what's going to come out my mouth'

Drag queen Bianca Del Rio is known for her quick wit and acid tongue – and she’s got some advice for anyone fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be sitting in the front row of her show on Saturday.

“Have a drink,” she says.

“If someone decides to be in the front row anytime I’m doing a show, they know what they’re getting into.”

Bianca’s show at Wembley Arena is the biggest she’s ever performed but she’ll still be in a position to roast her audience – even when it’s one of more than 12,000 people.

“Luckily, the first few rows are in my reach,” she says.

“We have an hour and a half of us cackling with each other and at myself. So just come with a good open mind.”

From Drag Race to Wembley

Bianca Del Rio was the winner of the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2014 with her comedy drag – beating Courtney Act and Adore Delano to take the reality TV show crown.

Since then, Bianca has headlined four solo tours, starred in two Hurricane Bianca movies and performed on London’s West End in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Bianca says that drag has “gone in and out of the mainstream quite a few times” during its history and that it’s “amazing” that so much light is being shone on the art form right now – even if she sometimes ruffles feathers with her politically incorrect jokes.

“Everything is not a political statement. Everything is not about being an advocate. Sometimes it’s just pure entertainment,” she says.

Her show in London this weekend is not only the biggest gig ever for Bianca – she’s also the first drag queen to headline a solo show at Wembley.

But that’s not worrying Roy Haylock – who’s been performing as Bianca since 1996 – despite joking that she’s also been on the booze to prepare for the show.

“Well, it’s daunting. It’s exciting on many levels but in the back of your brain, you’re thinking ‘Wow, this is the largest audience I’ve had at one time’,” she says.

“That should always be there. I think if I didn’t have that inner excitement then I shouldn’t be doing this.”

‘I’m just a man in a wig trying to have a blast with you’

Bianca has been touring her It’s Jester Joke tour throughout 2019, but after gigs in Australia, Asia, South Africa and Europe, she’s still not sure what the Wembley show will hold.

“I always tell people to expect the unexpected, because I never know what’s going to happen or what’s going to come out of my mouth.”

“You know, the point is I’m just a man in a wig trying to have a blast with you. And hopefully you can have the same with me.”

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