Shangela: Seeing drag queen culture enter the mainstream is really cool
She has teamed with Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O’Hara for a new show.
Seeing drag queens make inroads into mainstream culture is “really cool”, a former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant said.
Shangela Laquifa Wadley, who has also presented the US series We’re Here, which is set to air in the UK, said she wanted to ensure the programme gave an accurate representation of drag culture.
“How cool to have more drag on what people consider mainstream television?” she told the PA news agency.
“It is really cool to see drag represented in an authentic and real life way.”
We’re Here sees Shangela and fellow former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O’Hara visit towns in the US to recruit and train people to feature in one-off drag performances.
The programme is set to air in the UK on Sky and Now TV.
Bob the Drag Queen said the programme seeks to help under-represented groups feel their lives are being portrayed on screen.
“I think that representation matters and I think that hopefully someone will see a little bit of themselves in someone they see in this show,” he said.
“I know that seeing myself represented on TV really helped me.”
Eureka said drag culture was “given a platform” by the success of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which now also has a UK edition.
They added that it is “important to be telling these stories on the scale that we are”.
All episodes of We’re Here will be available on Sky One & streaming service NOW TV from August 14.
