Drag Race’s Anetra ‘stepping away’ from drag as UK tour cancelled at the last minute
Drag Race star Anetra has cancelled an upcoming tour and says she is “stepping away” from drag. (Getty/Chelsea Guglielmino)
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Anetra has cancelled her upcoming UK tour and announced that she will be “stepping away” from drag.
Anetra became a firm fan favourite on season 15 of Drag Race earlier this year following her much-memed “walk that f**king duck” talent show performance.
She made it all the way to the grand finale, finishing in the runner-up spot after being pipped to the post by trans drag superstar Sasha Colby.
Las Vegas-based Anetra was set to begin a tour of the UK and Ireland on 20 October, starting in Dublin, and ending in London on 7 November.
Earlier this week, a fan shared an email seemingly sent by the tour’s promoter, Klub Kids, which suggested that they had been “trying to contact Anetra” but hadn’t been able to get “any kind of response”.
As such, the promoter made the decision to cancel the tour.
Now, the drag star has released a statement on the tour’s cancellation and updated her fans on the “very difficult” time she is having.
“This year has been very difficult for me in a lot of areas and there is a lot happening behind the scenes – that I’m not ready to speak on at this time,” Andetra wrote.
“I know this will disappoint a lot of people but I am a human being and just need a moment to heal properly and return to [you] 100 per cent.”
She added that while she is still in “love” with drag and wishes she was in a position to carry out the tour, she admitted that she had “reached the point of necessity”.
“This isn’t me quitting, just stepping away for a moment to give my body what it needs. Please understand and stop the hate messages.”
She ended the statement with RuPaul’s most notable quote, “If you can’t love yourself, how In the hell can you love somebody else?”, and signed it off with her given name, Isaiah.
Fans have voiced concerns for Anetra since season 15 ended as the queen has been notably absent from social media, and has cancelled other gigs throughout the year.
In June, she shared an update telling her fans that she is “not healthy right now” following surgery.
Anetra’s fans have jumped to her defence following her plea for “hate messages” to stop.
“Anetra has been non stop performing since her season of Drag Race ended, and she’s not doing mediocre performances either, she is pushing her body to limits everytime, clearly she has problems with management and needs rest and don’t deserve hate,” one wrote.
“It doesn’t cost ANYTHING to have a little empathy before sending hate messages to a person, please remember that queens are also humans,” said a second.
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