Drag Race’s Willam to host male stripper reality contest with famous porn star
Willam is set to host a new reality contest for male strippers. (Credit: Getty / BBC)
Legendary RuPaul’s Drag Race troublemaker Willam is set to host a new reality TV show for male strippers.
Willam’s Dark Room Duel will involve the A Star Is Born actor setting challenges for the strippers with an “amazing” prize for the winner.
Each week, competitors will face off in a variety of themed challenges and risqué performances as they try to navigate a “bracket-based elimination system” which could get them sent home ahead of the finale.
The winner of the new OUTtv show, which is set to start filming in October, will receive a “prize package” including a gig performing at one of Willam’s live drag shows.
Joining Willam as judges will be Dragula’s Meatball and adult star Rhyheim Shabazz.
Earlier this year, legendary porn star Shabazz was named performer of the year at the GayVN Awards.
While Willam’s new gig sounds like a whole load of fun, there’s another more pertinent reason she’s taking it on: when it comes to stripping, she’s something of an expert.
“I used to book and manage strippers back in the day, and still some of my best friends are strippers. Trust me, when it comes to taking off clothes, I know what I’m talking about,” she said. “Plus, I love making stuff with OUTtv. I think they really get what people want from a queer show: me at the top of the call sheet!”
Working with Willam was “a joy”, OUTtv’s chief operating officer Philip Webb said, because she knows how to “bring the perfect balance of wit, know-how and pure charisma”.
The Drag Race season four star became one of the franchise’s most famous contestants of all time after becoming the first and only queen asked by RuPaul to leave the show while filming, for breaking the rules.
Years after her appearance, she confirmed that her rule-breaking included smoking weed, stealing props and getting her hair stylist to come to her hotel room and give her a blow dry.
To this day, she has a fractured relationship with RuPaul and Drag Race production company World of Wonder. In July, she claimed she was escorted from RuPaul’s DragCon LA and treated “like a criminal” in the process.
Casting for Willam’s Dark Room Duel is open now and the show is due to air some time next year.
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