Over this strange summer, Loverboy has been speaking with our Mum on the daily. But every day for six months – that’s a lot of talking…and avoiding questions about exes! So instead we’ve been immersing her into the world of drag via all the queens’ digital shows this summer.

The latest we are particularly excited to share with her is The Smalls World Show, not only because it features the goddess that is Naomi Smalls slaying lips-syncs and lewks but also because we get to see her, as Davis, spending time with his own Mum…sorry, we mean, Mom!

The Smalls World Show is equally about Naomi’s performance as it is about Davis discussing growing up in a family of twelve kids with totally open-minded, liberal, loving parents…and it’s available to stream now.

Naomi! How are you? Set the scene for us…
I’m doing good. I am in Los Angeles, California, at home, sipping my much-needed morning coffee and I am staring at a dead plant that I definitely should water.

Congratulations on The Smalls World Show – I loved and I liiiiived for it! How are you feeling about it dropping?
I’m super excited but nervous too. I think every drag queen, every performer, is having a very unsure, uncertain time where it is easy to get in your head, so it feels good to have a project that I am super confident and excited about. I’m finally ready for everyone to see what we have been working so hard on.

How long has it been in the making?
When we began creating moodboards for The Smalls World Show, about a year and a half ago, I originally saw it as a stage show. It has definitely had a makeover – things have been axed and added but it’s been a long time in the making.

How was it filming the show without an audience? Was your Mum screaming you on?
Haha…I actually think that’s probably been the hardest part of Quarantine, I haven’t been able to see my Mom as regularly as I used to. She is always keeping me so inspired. Not having that energy around has definitely been sad but she’ll be the first one logged in to watch the show. She’s my biggest fan.

The Smalls World Show features an interview with your Mum and you both discuss you performing as a child on a tennis court at home. Is that the tennis court where you lip-sync in the show?
Oh my god, I wish it was the same tennis court. But it was super cool to have that fully realised childhood moment connected to my Mom, connected to the whole show. I’m really excited to give the gays everything they want and finally put out a video for ‘Dance in the Dark’.

How did you feel about showing yourself as both Naomi and Davis? 
Well, for any queen who is not wearing their battle armour, presenting yourself in your birthday suit, is a little bit vulnerable. Being able to work with all my own team and friends, really helped me open up a lot emotionally which was something I was never really comfortable doing in somebody else’s production or on television.

There was a really moving part of the interview with your Mom where says having a child who is able to just be a functioning part of society is more important than what job they have. How did having a parent who thought that way affect you growing up?
I love being a representation of what it’s like to be good to your children and not expect to push them into something they are not comfortable with. My Mom is such a progressive woman and I remember when I was at school she would come to the school meetings and if there was something that she didn’t agree with, she’d be the first person to stand up and say, ‘No, that’s not how we’re doing this.’

With twelve kids, that’s so amazing she had the time and energy(!) to go to all the parents’ meetings and everything. She’s a hero!
Honestly, going through all these family photos that I’ve been putting together for The Smalls World Show, I have to applaud her. Having six kids under the age of six and taking photos and making sure everyone was well-groomed, I honestly have no idea how she did it. She is a superwoman.

Growing up with eleven siblings must have affected Davis, but how has it affected Naomi?
I think Naomi is very….I don’t want to say shady but she’s a little bit of an instigator and she likes to test people’s patience. That only comes from having eleven brothers and sisters who are going to love me no matter what I do or say to them. So I definitely developed a very tough skin in drag. That’s definitely a pro to have in this industry because we are very quick to judge, to compare ourselves to others and tear each other apart. But if I call you my sister or my chosen family, then there’s going to be love behind that – at least from my end.

How was growing up with eleven siblings?
Oh I am so so so happy that I am child number eleven out of twelve. By the time their son was in high school putting duct tape over his nipples, drawing on eyebrows, my parents didn’t really bat an eyelash because they had already dealt with all my older siblings’ buffoonery.

So was ‘coming out’ even a thing for you?
I used to feel very reluctant to talk about my ‘coming out’ story, just because you hear so many negative experiences, and I had the complete opposite. I never had to say the words, ‘I’m gay’ to my family. They just knew from the moment I wore a towel as an up-do that I was going to be the flaming boy that I am today. I love speaking about it now because it shows future parents and other kids that just because you’re different, it doesn’t mean that you are ‘less than’. You can still like things that are not ‘the norm’ for a little boy and still be out there living your dream.

Your Mum says she can see herself turning into her mother. Do you think there are qualities about your Mum that you will inherit as you get older?
I’m realising as I get older that she is just so much stronger than I have ever been in my life. I’m hoping that that is something that will just come with age because I mean, how many times do I need to say it – she is such a boss!

My Dad passed away when I was nine and as I get older it’s strange only being able to see my Mum in my face and not knowing what my Dad would have looked like. For you, being adopted, do you ever have questions like that?
Yeah, when I turned eighteen, my parents gave me my adoption folder and I was a little curious about looking them up on Facebook and getting to see the genetics. I did have a little bit of contact but there definitely was a huge part of me that just wasn’t super connected to it. I don’t know if that’s something that will just come with time. I’m always going back and forth on the debate over nature versus nurture. I would like to think that I am a product of nurture with my parents just preaching to love everybody, love yourself and that this world is yours. Maybe that’s a place that’s going to open up in my heart later.

Nature Vs Nurture is a popular debate in the LGBT community about what made us who we are. What do you believe?
I believe we are born the way we are supposed to be. It’s just up to the way that we grow up to hone in on those feelings and come into touch with ourselves in that way. I definitely know that I was having ‘homosexual feeeeelings’ when I was in kindergarten. I remember on the first day of school, hiding under my Mom’s skirt from this boy because I thought he was so cute. I think it’s so nice to grow up in an environment that does accept it. I think a Mom, Dad or a parent always has some sort of inkling. But I’m also speaking from my own experience.

To me what makes a drag queen is the range of cultural references they have. When you came out and slayed the lip-sync to Judy Garland, people were not ready for that.
I was always prepared to lip-sync every single week on Drag Race. Even though all the genres were different, that’s not going to scare me from tackling something new and I’m absolutely never scared to send somebody home!  The power of transformation is the most fun part about drag. You really can be anything. If you have a reference of something then you can always apply it to your art. My favourite place to be, when I am in drag, is onstage and having that full concept realised.

You seemed to stand out as a fashion queen from the beginning and then we got to see more layers of you as the show progressed.
I’ve never really understood the whole need to say ‘I am a look queen’ or ‘I am a model’ because my first love with this whole career choice is drag and I think that drag embodies so much more than just looks. Maybe I’m not going to necessarily do the best at a comedy challenge but that’s not going to stop me being funny and writing a joke. I think as a drag queen, you need so many skills and I think that has kind of been overlooked. I’m always impressed when someone can just put their vulnerable self onstage. Drag is honestly so uncomfortable and such an outer-body experience. I do respect anyone who has the balls to do it, for sure. 

The negative side of the Drag Race fandom seems to have shifted up a gear during Canada’s Drag Race. I wondered if you felt a similar shift from when you arrived on Season 8 to when you returned for All Stars 4?
I had a moment after Season 8 on social media where I really snapped into reality and realised that not every single thought you have needs to be on social media. You don’t need to really chime in on the negativity. I’m honestly only interested in what my mentors, peers and fans, my actual fans think of me.

With the Manila elimination, was there any online negativity that you had to deal with?
I think with something so “controversial” from the show, I definitely did deal with some hate from that but I didn’t really let it get to me so much, that it affected my art but I wasn’t used to my friends and family being able to see so many negative comments about me. But I will say it was kind of cool just to be able to make people feel something, regardless! I hope it encourages people to look out for themselves when they are in a competition setting instead of what these anonymous nine year-olds are thinking.

We are named after the biggest selling single of 2001, so we always ask everyone, what is your favourite Mariah song? Being twenty-six you may have a narrower knowledge of her oeuvre….sorry!
Now that you have said that ‘twenty-six’ comment I want to say something really really obscure and shove it in your face but honestly I am just so proud of Caution – I thought it was such a great comeback album and really underrated.
I got to see Mariah perform in Vegas with Derrick (Barry). We did the whole meet and greet. I am a huge huge fan of Mariah. She was so skinny I could barely see her! She was wearing straight hair with a sequined-gown and as any drag queen knows that is just a recipe for disaster. So I respect her devotion to the glam!

Stream The Smalls’ World Show now at www.naomismallsduh.com
All images by Sarah Crump and Martin June