Kitty Scott-Claus may not have won the crown on RuPaul’s Drag Race S3 but she definitely pranced away as the people’s drag princess. So when the RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars line up dropped, it felt correct seeing one Kitty Scott-Claus repping the the nation. Are you ready, UK?

Launching today on WOW Presents Plus, this very special season, inspired by The Olympic Games themselves, sees Kitty compete against twelve other international queens hand-picked by Muma Ru, including some Drag Race legends. Loverboy caught up with Kitty to talk Page Three shoots, iconic pop culture moments, fitness journeys and of course her BFF, Cheryl.

Kitty, last time we met, you were getting ready to pop your DragCon cherry. How’s life changed since?
Oh my God! So much! I mean I bloody love Drag Con. I’ve done three of them now, we’re getting ready for the fourth. Life has been non-stop, in fact, life has been life-ing, darling!

And now, look at you! Doing Global All Stars!
You know this little old thing?? I am so happy we’re allowed to talk about it now. I’m basically Miss United Kingdom! I need to do a Page Three shoot in a little pair of Union Jack knickers.

In what ways has the Global All Stars build up been different to a Drag Race UK one?
Completely different! It feels like a step up. On Drag Race UK  there were twelve incredible queens from all over the United Kingdom. Now it’s like twelve finalists because basically everyone was a finalist in their season. The stakes are so high.

Before you went, were you following any of the international franchises?
I’d watched the US obviously and I watched Canada. I think I’d seen a bit of France and the first season of Spain. But you do see these queens on Instagram, Tik Tok and at DragCon. In fact I had met Eva and Kween Kong at DragCon so it was like ‘Oh my God. I’m going from hanging at DragCon to competing against them on Drag Race.’ It was wild.

Did you have any suspicions about who was going to be there before you arrived? Did you do any homework?
I mean, I love a little stalk online. I love going around asking designers, ‘Are you making anything for anyone else at the moment, any other girls?’ Because all my designers are British designers. But there was no walking in and being fully like ‘You’re here!’

So you were a bit of a Coleen Rooney? Being a Wagatha Christie?
Oh yeah, there was no, ‘Gasp! It’s….Alyssa Edwards! I’m….shocked!’

Was there anybody that you were surprised to see?
I mean US S5 was the first season of Drag Race I ever watched! So to be competing against Alyssa was just insane. Getting ready for this I was trying to think who it was going to be. I was like, ‘Oh it could be Jasmine Kennedie! It could be Bosco!’ Alyssa was just never on my radar.

Was that the first time you had seen Ru since your season?
Yeah, it was! I’d done events with Michelle obviously but that was the first time seeing Ru since filming UK. Everyone thought, ‘You must have had an advantage because they’ve judged you before.’ But I’m like, ‘No, because they know my weaknesses. They know what to look out for. They could be like, ‘You’ve not stepped this up.”

Was the dynamic different with the judging second time around?
I think the British sense of humor gets you everywhere in life and they love it! So I’ve got an ‘in’ on the panel.

Speaking of British sense of humour, you are a Brit Pop Culture machine! A lot of your humour is based on those iconic moments. Were you worried it was going to fall flat on its face on an international stage?
Oh my God, totally! I think as well, because a lot of the girls had learned English from watching American TV or watching US Drag Race they weren’t aware of the references. So when I come in being like, *best Lahndon accent* ‘Can I have a bottle of of waaaater?’, they all had their ‘WTF?’ faces. But darling, English pop culture is my first language! I forgot about how often I use britishsims like, ‘Oh stop it!’ and they were like ‘Stop what?”

Let’s talk about former bandmates. Cheryl is also currently on an international stage. Had you told each other you were both competing again?
Hmmm I wonder! Haha…well, you get a text from World of Wonder like, ‘We’d like to have a chat with you.’ So I screenshot it and sent it to Cheryl because I thought it was a scam. She said ‘Girl! Call them back!’ I did and the first thing they said was ‘Don’t tell Cheryl!’

Haha…why did you think it was a scam?
This is so mean. I pretended to be a casting director and called my friend, with no caller ID saying, ‘This is World of Wonder, we want you on the show.’ She went crazy, running around. I had to confess ‘Actually, that was me.’ I felt terrible.

Oh God and so what happened with Cheryl?
I love that girl so much and she’s doing so so well on Canada Vs The World. Her runways though. Honestly! We were talking about upcoming projects and I said ‘Whatever we do, you need to include that blue dress because it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life! So ugly that it’s brilliant, you need to wear it.’ Then she wore it in Episode 2. But you know what? Cheryl could wear a bin bag and style it out!

It’s that British charm right?
Totally!

We have been seeing a very different Kitty recently. I wanted to talk about your fitness journey! I’ve seen the Tik Toks, girl you are not playing! What kicked everything off?
I’ve lost seven stone in the space of a year, which is wild! I started because Ella Vaday had this trainer she said I would love because we had the same sense of humour. I put it off for ages but met him at a party. We went for a session and it was fun, easy and I started seeing results straight away. I’m a very ‘all or nothing’ person so now I’ve stopped drinking and I’m training for a marathon.

Did you start this while filming?
No, I’d started before. I was very mysterious with the trainer when I went away. I told him I was going off the grid and wouldn’t have my phone. He told me to enjoy myself and ‘Do what you need to do.’

Did any international queens give you weight loss tips from their countries? Some kind of new super fruit?
No! I wish they had though. I’m going to message them and be like ‘Oi! Why didn’t you give me any fitness tips?!’

Nowadays you have to have a full photoshoot to accompany every runway look. Has the weight lost affected that?
Yes! I’m trying to shoot all my Drag Race stuff now. Everything I’ve got has bulldog clips at the back to make it fit.

Finally we are named after the biggest selling single of 2001 and we know your favourite Mariah moment was her mic cutting out in Times Square.
Iconic.

But do you have any other favourite Mariah moments?
The one that just makes me piss myself everytime is in the lead up to Christmas when she tweets, ‘Not yet, not yet!’ Then at Thanksgiving or December 1st or something she’ll post ‘It’s time!!!’ 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars airs its two first episodes in the UK on WOW Presents Plus on August 16.
Interview: Ed Westbrook