She’s made out of sugar, spice, all things nice, and an industrial slick of make-up (that somehow always looks even better in person than on Instagram). She’ll slither into your heart, and we just dare you not to be won over by that friendly cackle of a laugh that bubbles out of her. She’s beloved Sydney drag legend, Hannah Conda.
After a respectable stretch as one of the most adored and in-demand drag queens in Sydney, Hannah won hearts far and wide as a runner up on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. And now, Ms Conda is about to be seen on screen again as a contestant on the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs The World (streaming new episodes weekly on Stan from February 10), which sees nine queens from across the show's international spin-offs battle it out to be crowned a Global Drag Race Superstar. Hannah’s presence on the new season isn’t just a personal accomplishment, she is the first Australian queen to compete on a global season of Drag Race [*receipts below].
With Sydney Mardi Gras right around the corner (the Harbour City’s annual festival of LGBTQIA+ pride), Time Out Sydney’s Arts and Culture Editor (and resident queer culture vulture) Alannah Le Cross caught up with Hannah Conda about everything she has on the horizon.
Alannah: You’ve been sitting on a secret for a little while now. How does it feel to finally have the cat out of the bag about RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World?
Hannah: It's just a massive weight lifted off my shoulders! We filmed exactly a year ago, while Sydney WorldPride was happening, and I snuck away. It was a good thing because when people asked “Where were you during WorldPride!?” I could say “I was there, you were just at the wrong events!” It was a really great cover story. I was so devastated that I missed out on something that we'd been building up to for years [Sydney WorldPride]. But when Mama Ru calls, you answer the phone and you go! It's been the worst-kept secret, I think.
Alannah: You are technically the first Australian queen to compete on a global season of Drag Race. The doors you have opened! What was that experience like?
Hannah: It's been interesting, because a lot of people in the online space really do, excuse my French, but they shit on Down Under. They do shit on the franchise. And my goal going in was to showcase what we do at a heightened level in a different space. I kept it very authentically myself, but very much authentically what Down Under drag is all about. My goal was to showcase that, and represent every single one of the artists that have been on the show Down Under. It’s as much as it is for me as it's for all of us. I really do believe people sleep on what we do down here, because we've got some of the best drag in the world.
Alannah: I mean Australian drag does have a particular flavour. Just look at the legacy of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!
Hannah: A hundred per cent! That's our guidebook, we grew up with Priscilla. And even before that the drag scene was thriving, like we have Connections Nightclub back in Perth, it’s one of the oldest queer nightclubs in the Southern Hemisphere. They've been doing drag shows there forever. And you know, controversial as they may be, Dame Edna being one of our figures that is so iconically Australian and recognised around the world, is a drag character.
Alannah: You’ve mentioned Perth, where you grew up and started your drag career. Can you tell me a bit about what drew you to Sydney and to pursue drag here?
Hannah: In Perth, I'd been doing drag for about four or five years, and got to a point where nothing was challenging me. I like a challenge. I’d been visiting Sydney for a few years, I used to come here on my birthday, and then come to the DIVAs (Drag Industry Variety Awards), so I got to mix and mingle and make friends here.
As we know, Sydney is such a doorway to the world, that it just felt like the right thing to do. I loved the scene, I loved the stories here. I love the history of Le Girls and Kings Cross, and the dark and gritty parts of Sydney. That really drew me in, because I think that's the most fascinating thing about Sydney… You've got to have the darkness and the grit, and a great nightlife to support a wonderful, thriving daytime economy as well. And we're starting to see that thriving nightlife happen again around Oxford Street, which is amazing.
Alannah: Do you feel like there's ways Oxford Street might be growing in positive ways as well? I can see ways the dynamics have changed even since I first ventured out. It’s still very centred on gay men, but do you feel like our scenes are becoming less siloed?
Hannah: Yeah, I think that Oxford Street is becoming more of a melting pot again, which I think it was at one point. In the ’90s and 2000s it really got dominated by just gay men, whereas now we're starting to see more variety of queer people and trans people, especially at venues like Universal. When I was a young 18-year-old, that's what I loved about going to the club. Everyone was there, all of the people that didn't feel like they fit in into the heteronormative space. We had this place where we could thrive in all of our quirkiness, our weirdness and our fabulousness. I'm starting to see that happen again, not only at Universal, but now all up and down the street. We've got Ching-a-lings, which does incredible nights celebrating different styles of art and drag; we've got the Oxford Art Factory doing all different things. You’ve got Palms now doing shows – Palms has never done shows, as far as I know! You've got Kinselas, you've got Poof Doof [at Arq]... It just feels like there's so much more for us to choose from and be a part of.
I do have to say though, I would love to see something more for our lesbian community on Oxford Street. I think that's the one market we could really step up and help find a place for. I miss our lesbians! Drag queens and lesbians, I feel that we have this unspoken relationship, always protective of each other. I miss going out and seeing a room where there's a tonne of lesbians living their best lives with us, because that's special to me. That said, it’s great to see Birdcage still doing great stuff after the SlyFox closed.
Alannah: What are you looking forward to getting up to over Sydney Mardi Gras this year?
Hannah: This Mardi Gras season for me is a little bit different, because I'm going to be away for a bit at Adelaide Fringe with the gorgeous Kween Kong. So I’ll only get snippets again, kind of like last year, but the thing that I'm really excited about is actually just being on Oxford Street for the Mardi Gras Parade. I'm getting back on the night of the parade, and my plan is to do a pub crawl. Whether I’ll be in drag or out of drag, I'm not sure yet, but I'm gonna crawl up and down these streets and have a drink in every venue – every one! I want to just celebrate the joy of Oxford Street, and what we do here outside of Mardi Gras time, because we're here every single day of the year. I think sometimes, you know, we forget that we are so lucky that we have this, so I just want to relish in that.
Alannah: Beyond the glitter and the parties, what do you think is important to keep in mind during Sydney Mardi Gras?
Hannah: Sydney Mardi Gras is and always will be a political statement. We do get caught up in the celebration of it all, which I also do believe can be political in itself – especially under a 2024 lens, with the previous few years that we've had. Everything has been so, I don’t want to say depressing, but it has been hard. You can and should do the work, but enjoying yourself is also actually a political statement, because we are so incredibly lucky.
I feel that we forget that sometimes in different parts of the world experiencing war, genocide, hurt, poverty, the list goes on – there are people who can't freely love who they are, or walk down the street holding their partner's hand in fear of being murdered… Fundamentally, we have that privilege here – even though we have problems, I understand that. But being able to experience that joy and let that be a political statement in itself, I think is really important. It also is good for the soul, and good for community morale. Because if we get stuck in that darkness, only darkness comes. Whereas if you can find the light, it starts to spread and you start welcoming people in, they start understanding things a little bit more. It's also a reprieve, so when we go back in to do the really hard work, we know that we've got something to look forward to.
I always remind myself of why we are at Mardi Gras. It's about being together, and strong, because there are still ways to go – especially for trans people, and for First Nations people. We walk for them. We walk for the 78ers that started this journey, and we walk for making this world a better place.
[*The only other contestant from RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under to compete on a global season of the franchise has been Anita Wigl’it from New Zealand, who was in the cast of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World in 2022. Courtney Act also technically doesn’t count, as she competed on the original American franchise when she was living and working in the States. This all goes to say, yes, we have reached peak saturation of Drag Race – RuPaul cannot be stopped, and we cannot resist watching.]