“It was a hard battle being disowned at 15.
Even though my upbringing was tough, it taught me a lot about spirituality.
I combine the two: a little triumph, a little trauma for a come-to-Jesus moment.”
Kerri Colby talks trans rights and ‘heartbreaking’ exit in ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ elimination interview.World of Wonder/VH1
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve been a wonderful part of season 14.
Congratulations on a great run and I hope you’re not feeling too sad about reliving the elimination.
KERRI COLBY:Never.
Kerri Colby on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 14.VH1
[Laughs] Yes, honey.
I’m handing out hormones left and right.
Though Bosco was joking,Jasmine cited you as direct inspiration for transitioningbecause of your confidence.
It felt surreal, because me existing the way I’m able to now wasn’t always a possibility.
I was put through it, being brought up in the south.
Going against her in the lip-sync after you had that connection, I imagine it was tough.
It’s a TV show, and I laid everything I could on the floor.
You laid your soul on the floor, too.
That moment last week showed us so much about you.
That speech to Jasmine inUntuckedwas so moving and felt like a sermon.
How do you get to that point where that wisdom is just at the ready for you?
It comes from going through a lot of trials and tribulations.
Even though my upbringing was tough, it taught me a lot about spirituality.
I combine the two: a little triumph, a little trauma for a come-to-Jesus moment.
You incorporated that into the girl group challenge, too.
Were those critiques out-of-sync with how you were felt performing in the moment?
I was just as confused as the rest of America is.
I feel like they wanted to see a specific side of me.
When I brought my spin to it, which was authentically a character, I had so much fun.
I loved the song and helped make things rhyme and flow for a lot of the girls.
To hear that it didn’t land, in their opinion, was a little heartbreaking.
It was a user error.
It’s a very fast amount of time we have to get ready.
I was looking for a belt to put over it, but also second-guessing my [choices].
“I’mma do the best I can with what I got,” to quote Mariah Carey.
Who spilled that tea to her?
I’m trying to dance around being vulgar.
Do you remember what Willow said about Jorgeous and Orion?
I remember the whole thing about eating booty.
Was there a secret couple on set?
I can neither confirm nor deny anything.
What I can say is that Jorgeous is a precious little Latina angel, and she had her crushes.
Orion is someone she thought was very handsome while filming.
Your story with your family is one that trans kids will relate to.
Working through it by talking about it on the show, has anyone in your family attempted a reconnection?
I’m happy to talk about it because this is reality for trans and queer children with evangelical parents.
I haven’t made much improvement, but I did get to meet with my dad.
I did a show in Dallas, and he wanted to meet up.
It was his first time seeing me since living my truth.
I had a feeling it would go a lot worse, but it was good.
He kept things nonchalant and plain …
Being in each other’s oxygen and not going for a hostile moment was progress to me.
I haven’t made any groundbreaking reconciliations with anyone because they still hold to their opinions.
Like you said: you don’t need to.
Your life is yours.
How do you think we can combat this at every level?
This sounds like a job for the Trantastic Four.
We need to go whoop some people’s booties.
In seriousness … it’s stuff you’d never think could a real issue.
To discredit that and say it’s abuse is heartbreaking because it discourages people to be who they are.
We’veseen mental health [issues]and suicide rates go up because of that [in the past].
ET / 7:05 p.m. PT on the @EW Twitter account.
