Hold everything because WOW Presents Plus is bringing us the perfect way to see out 2024…officially! Slaycation unites six queens in snowy Canada as they bond Big Brother-style living together and prepare to put on a snow…er, show!

It is a clear a time was had making Slaycation because the chemistry between this set of queens is so fun. They read each other for filth, kiki, cause chaos and that’s before we even talk about the drama, mawma. There are challenges, confessions and did we mention it was cold?

All six episodes of Slaycation premiere on WOW Presents Plus this New Year’s Eve, 31st December. Watch as Lawrence Chaney, Kerri Colby, Boa, Luxx Noir London, Jada Shada Hudson and Kandy Muse.

To get fully acclimatised to the colder climate, Loverboy caught up with Drag Race UK S2 winner Lawrence Chaney to find out more about their slaycation, their upcoming standup tour and their New Year’s Resolutions…for the other queens!

Lawrence, I am very much enjoying Slaycation. It has quite the concept. I imagined they pitched it to you as time away in Canada, in the snow, with five other drag queens, doing challenges…at what point in that pitch did you say, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.’
When I was told how much they were going to pay me! No! I’m obviously joking! But what sold it to me was ‘OK filming you guys as a vacation.’ The part that made me go, ‘Ding!’ was that we were only required to be in drag for such a small amount of time. I think we were only to bring two outfits. For drag queens that’s packing light! I was like, ‘Whaaaat?! Two outfits?!’ We were just so excited to have a vacation. I don’t know about you, but I’m a workaholic. I don’t mean that in a good way. I think this show taught me a bit more about, ‘Ok you can take your foot off the gas a little bit.’ I think we’re seeing drag queens do that in general a little bit. Trixie Mattel took a whole break recently. It’s really needed.

We’re also seeing more drag queens do reality TV out of drag too. An important moment too…
Slaycation is like imagining if Big Brother had drag queens in it and they all had to live together. Thank God we weren’t sharing tights. The show is a lot of fun. What I think I like about it most is that it is not a competitive environment. Yes, we are drag queens so there is a little bit of scoping each other out but it’s playful. It’s not like, ‘You have to sew a dress and walk the runway in three hours! Then Michelle Visage is going to read you down!’ It was really relaxed and I loved it.

What expectations did you have going in that were broken during the filming process?
I thought we’d all get a bit more annoyed with each other. Any of the drama that is in the show is very playful. It really harkens back to Paris Is Burning, reading and just being silly with each other. I was really worried it might have been a clusterfuck living that closely with each other, these big personalities, but it really wasn’t.

I’ve just watched you all having afternoon tea and we need to unpack that because that was definitely not an afternoon tea for me!
I see it a lot in America, but it’s very funny seeing what people think British people do. I always think of a café we used to go to in Glasgow called The Willow Tea Room which was inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this Scottish designer. I went there a few times with my Mum so I had some kind of idea of how you drink soup with a spoon. But who the fuck cares? Get it down your throat! I did slay that slaycation challenge though.

All the episodes are going out New Year’s Eve so I wanted to know, if you were giving each of the queens a New Year’s Resolution, what would it be? Let’s start with Kerri…
To stop being gorgeous. She really is flawless. I really mean that. She is beautiful with or without makeup. She’s so sweet as well. Every night we’d watch a movie or something and she’d always get us popcorn. She is really sweet.

OK, what about Jada?
Ooh, Jada. To stop saying the phrase, ‘Not too much’ Because if you took a shot everytime she said that, you’d be wasted half-way into episode one. So on New Year’s Eve that is perfect viewing for a drinking game.

What about Boa?
She needs to get that club-foot looked at! She has this clubbed foot thing where her foot was oozing juice. We were sharing a room as well so I was like, ‘Is this going to be like Covid times where I am now in a bubble with a clubbed foot?’ So I hope she is much better now.

OK, and Kandy?
Shave off that moustache!

I like that one. And Luxx?
For Luxx it’s a very simple one. Stop wearing sunglasses indoors. We’ll be in the party bus and she’ll still have her sunglasses on. It is pitch black in there with strobe party lights above us and she has sunglasses on.

I really enjoy the balance of you as a Brit amongst all these North Americans. How have you remained resilient to adapting all the drag race lingo?
It doesn’t sound good when I use it. I remember when I was handed the script for RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! like, ‘Hey hunty!’ I wasn’t walking out there saying that. So I said, ‘Hey hey!’ instead.
I think the only thing that’s changed is that I speak a little slower and I try, instead of having bowel movements, to have vowel movements. My Mum says to me, ‘Oh Lawrence, you sound very different!’ because now I sound like Lorraine Kelly. I just try to enunciate all my words. Imagine if I was full Glaswegian Scottish in Las Vegas. They would have been like, ‘What is Mrs. Doubtfire saying?’

Would you like less competition elements moving forward in life?
I think competition elements are spicier but they are not always needed. I’m not a big fan of television with heightened drama, like shouting and screaming. I hate that. But I understand that I am a drag queen and that is totally against what people expect of us. Drag queens are truly loud but it’s shade, not drama. For future TV endeavours, I love unscripted, scripted, movies, television, podcasts. I’m very fluid….and I’m sitting in fluid right now talking to you actually.

Earlier this year there was a lot of talk of Jimbo hanging out at RuPauls’ house watching movies. As another of Ru’s favourites, I wondered if you had been doing the same?
Ummm…….imagine just a red dot suddenly appearing on my forehead. I have spent a lot of time with RuPaul since my season, I’m very fortunate. I’ve done TV shows with him like, Celebrity Lingo. I’ve bumped into him a lot and he’s said some really supportive things to me and about me behind the scenes. We’ve never ‘hung out’ but I also…please word this correctly, because I don’t want to be murdered, but I don’t want to hang out with RuPaul because I idolise him far too much. If RuPaul showed up at my door, I’d curtsy. I also don’t trust myself. If I was at RuPaul’s house, I’d steal a wig. So, do not invite me over, RuPaul. I was even surprised I made it on Drag Race itself because I had a cardboard cutout of him and I thought I was already crossing the line.

You’ve got your tour coming up next year too. How are the preparations going?
Amazing. I love stand up comedy and this is a full stand up show. I went to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 and did my first stand up show called Overweight and Over It. I got great reviews, it sold out. I did comedy numbers, stand up and I lip-synced. too. I had only included the lip-syncing as a crutch, a precaution. Then when it sold out and I saw the reviews I just realised, ‘Fuuuuuck the lip syncing.’ So it’s going to be full on standup and it’s called Memoirs from My Shagpipes. It’s going to be personal. My goal as a drag queen is to be Live At The Apollo. I want to be that drag queen that breaks through like Lily Savage or Stanley Baxter. These are people that had done drag but do comedy as well.

Lastly we are named after the biggest-selling single of 2001. So we always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey song?
Oh my God. Y’all are going to hate me but my favourite song is ‘Obsessed.’ It’s dramatic as hell. Of course her being in male drag refers to her shading Eminem, dressing up as him in the music video. And she’s doing drag! Oh and as my second choice I love ‘Fantasy’ as well.

“Slaycation” premieres exclusively on WOW Presents Plus on Tuesday, December 31st.