A Kent drag queen is set to appear on the new Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, with the hope to put Folkestone “on the map”. Dita Garbo has snagged a spotlight on the new season, and will be one of the 12 participants attempting to be crowned The UK’s Next Drag Race Superstar.
Describing herself as “burlesque Hollywood glamour”, Dita said she got into drag in Madrid, Spain years ago where she was in an androgynous drag group called Lujuria, which means ‘lust’ in Spanish.
She told the BBC: “I took a fifteen-year break from drag to travel the world as a professional dance teacher, but once a drag queen, always a drag queen. I re-emerged as a burlesque diva a few years back, and I’ve even set up my own little Folkestone drag scene.”
As the oldest contestant, Dita hopes her experience and knowledge will help her become the oldest winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK. She added: “I can sew, I can d ance, and I can sing too so I’m excited for any challenges that require those skills!
“I’ve been a performer all my life and I’m so proud and happy to have been invited by Ru into the Drag Race UK sisterhood and I can’t wait to show what I can do as a mature lady. I’ve got a ton of experience and knowledge that I can bring to the competition plus I would be the oldest winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.”
Her influences are burlesque icon Dita Von Teese and Hollywood starlet, Greta Garbo. Hence her name – Dita Garbo.”. I like to say I’m the burlesque lovechild of Dita Von Teese and Greta Garbo.
“But I can switch it up if I need to keep up with the kids.I can jump, split, kick, turn, shablam, drop, turn, backflip, split again… but then I might need some help getting up,” she said.
The competition will see hopeful drag queens compete across ten weeks in a variety of spicy challenges and iconic games designed to test their drag mettle, with the winner of the week being awarded a coveted RuPeter badge, and the bottoms of the week facing a lip sync for their life and the risk of elimination.
RuPaul, affectionately known as Mama Ru, leads an esteemed judging panel that includes regular judges, Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, Graham Norton and a bevy of celebrity guest judges, who this year range from Mabel to Simon Le Bon.
The show will air on BBC Three on Monday, September 16 at 10pm.