Vivian Wilson On Loving RuPaul's Drag Race, Her Top Queens, and Her Devil Wears Prada Lip-sync Vision

Vivian Jenna Wilson, 20, aspires to be a model. For her new Teen Vogue special issue cover — her modeling debut — you may be surprised to learn that her moves have been very much inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race. Check out the behind-the-scenes footage of our shoot in Tokyo and you’ll see Wilson voguing and strutting like she’s on the Drag Race runway. In fact, it’s her favorite show.

“I’m really interested in drag. I love drag,” Wilson tells Teen Vogue. “I have such an appreciation for the art form, and I would really love to participate in the LA scene sometime. It's on my bucket list to win a drag pageant.”

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Read on for more tidbits from her interview with Teen Vogue, including some that are not included in our bigger story (which you can read here) about her love for the Drag Race universe and her own drag aspirations.

Wants to do drag — as a drag king

In her Teen Vogue feature, Wilson tells writer Ella Yurman that she has Drag King Dreams of her own:

“I think I would be a drag king. I think that would be more fun. But I feel like I would kind of want to do both. Honestly, what if I was a femboy drag king? I would eat that up.”

She even has a performance in mind:

“The first number I would want to do is, and I know it's kind of a cliché, but the iconic cerulean speech from The Devil Wears Prada. I would just gradually reveal more and more cerulean, and just live my Meryl Streep fantasy. I'm obsessed with that movie.”

Vivian wears a Yohji Yamamoto dress, hat, and shoes.

Favorite queens

We asked Vivian to name her top three queens of all time:

“Oh, that's so hard. Okay, number one is Sasha Colby — I don't even have to think about that. Sasha Colby is the legend, the icon herself. As a trans woman myself, seeing a trans woman like her on the screen who exhibits so much power, radiance, and beauty is so completely awe-inspiring. She has such an important drag family, and she's such a pillar in the trans community, which is something I really look up to. I'm literally crying. She is mother. She is a goddess.

“Two, probably Bob the Drag Queen, because I feel like I ended up watching her the most out of anyone. I love her series. She's been a constant in the reality TV scene, which I just adore.

“And number three, I kind of love insult comedy, so I'm gonna have to put my three as Bianca Del Rio.”

She’s keeping up with the current season (of course)

In the currently airing season 17, Wilson loves Hormona Lisa and Lana Ja’Rae. She has some thoughts on one of contestant Joella’s looks:

“This drag queen named Joella, who is literally known for her looks because she's the ‘Slaysian diva of Los Angeles’ … She came out in this ... Raja called her ‘a fabric Pop-Tart,’ where it was just her head that was visible, and it was just a square pink mattress-looking quilt thing. And she looked like one of the walls from [game show] Hole in the Wall. It's literally my favorite thing ever, and I will never stop talking about it because, holy sh*t, that was such a moment. The f***ing fabric Pop-Tart.

“It's iconic for all the wrong and the right reasons at the same time. I think it transcends fashion. I think it's revolutionary, because I'm reminded of Lady Gaga when she wore Comme des Garçons to show that beauty comes in any shape, and I feel like Joella is reminding us that Pop-Tarts can be beautiful too.”

Learning about new siblings

As Wilson has previously shared on social media, she’s learned about new half-siblings via Reddit — particularly the RPDR subreddit — at least twice. She tells us about it in her profile:

“I found out about Grimes having a second child because a drag queen posted about it on Reddit. For a time, me and Grimes were not really in communication because I wasn't in communication with anyone in that family, which still holds true. Tatianna from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 and RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars 2 tweeted, ‘[Not] Grimes popp[in] out another axolotl,’ which made the front page of the RuPaul's Drag Race subreddit, which is how I found out about it.”

Wilson says she learned about Musk’s reported child with right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair the same way. “If I had a nickel for every time I found out I had half-siblings through Reddit,” Wilson says jokingly, “I’d have two nickels.” ​​