Drag Race winner Willow Pill might ‘phase out of drag’
Willow Pill (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty for VH1)
Drag Race season 14 winner Willow Pill says they may “phase a little bit out” of drag and get into acting.
Willow won hearts throughout the season for their unique approach to drag and for opening up about their experience living with cystinosis – a rare genetic disorder that affects just about every system in the body, starting with the kidneys.
She went down in history as the first openly trans queen to win a non-All Stars edition of the American Drag Race series.
Willow opened up about their history-making win in an open interview with Entertainment Weekly. They didn’t quite know what they planned to do after the show, but they had some rough plans for the future.
“I would love to phase a little bit out of drag, I’d love to get more into acting and into absurd sketches and music,” Willow said. “I kind of want my art to get more disgusting and dirty and more fun.”
But in the next year, Willow said she wanted to “travel all over the world” and meet those that “made me have the career that I have now”.
Willow told the outlet that it felt “amazing” to win Drag Race season 14 as the series “broke so many boundaries and had so many firsts”.
“What’s important to me is that I’m representing people who are disabled and chronically ill,” they said.
“That’s not something we see on television — especially not on reality television, because people who are ill and disabled are amazing, fun, nasty, and catty, and they’re everything anyone else can be, times 25.”
She added that it was also wonderful to hear from fans about “how much my drag means to them”, but she admitted that sometimes she might “need a big ego check”.
Willow Pill previously opened up to fans about their trans identity in a heartfelt post on social media. They said it had taken a “long time” for them to “come to terms with my transness” because “so much space has been taken up by illness”.
“My condition has caused me so much physical and emotional pain that my body became something I always wanted out of,” Willow wrote.
“Eventually, hating my body for failing me and hating myself for not being a girl was so constant and intertwined that it felt totally normal. I know it’s not my fault, just the way I’ve learned to survive.”
Willow Pill explained that she wanted to share her journey with others because “I have felt so lonely keeping this to myself”. She said she was “so tired of holding my pain in” and has been “starting to finally feel bits of happiness with my face and body”.
