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Kerri Colby: “I Don’t Know if I’m Obsessed or Traumatized by ‘Euphoria’”

"I have been absolutely just on the edge of my seat," says the "Drag Race" queen.

After her time on RuPaul's Drag Race, one thing is for certain: Kerri Colby is our newest obsession.

The gorgeous glamazon of Season 14 has not only been serving looks since the minute she sashayed into the workroom, but proved that her heart matches her beauty, showing kindness to the other queens by being a role model and mother figure.

One example of this was during a moment on Untucked when Jasmine Kennedie came out as trans, expressing how seeing Kerri's confidence was one of the reasons that led her to finally reveal her truth to the world. When Season 14 started Kerri was one of two contestants who were publicly trans — the other being Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté — but as the season progressed, fellow cast members Jasmine and Bosco also came out as trans.

Even though she only landed in the bottom two once before and served stellar ensembles every week on the runway, Kerri once again found herself in the bottom after this week's '60s girl group challenge. After lip-syncing for her life against Jasmine, Kerri was asked to sashay away, but not before cementing her place as one of the most beautiful and gracious queens to ever grace the Drag Race mainstage.

Kerri spoke with Logo about her time on the show, who she was going to play for Snatch Game, and what message she has for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Hi Kerri!

Hello, my angel. How are you?

Oh, I'm great. I'm excited to talk to you.

Yes, I'm excited too. I love the opportunity to just hear, share, and dish, honey.

Speaking of dishing, I thought you were pretty consistent throughout this season, so were you surprised when you were in the bottom two this week?

I think my face when I was on the runway says a lot about it. I was definitely in shock, but at the same token, I was like, You know what? You don't really get the opportunity to play tennis back and forth on your opinion. When they see that's how it's going and that's the way the cookie crumbles, you just say, "How am I supposed to eat it?"

And it's such a strong cast, it's now like splitting hairs.

Oh, 100%. I've said it this whole time. I've been enjoying and watching our season, it's literally an All Stars take on a regular season. There are no bottom bitches really, besides Jorgeous when it comes to her preferences.[laughs]

So you're in the bottom two, what was that like lip-syncing against Jasmine?

It's funny because it was all about unbreaking my heart, and I felt like the whole time my heart was breaking. It was really emotional because you watch it on TV, but there's so much more that happens in real time. You see two hours of a very long day, and I was really feeling much closer, really deep sisterhood with Jasmine. It was just very unfortunate that it's right when we had our beautiful breakthrough moment, things took a turn. It was really tough.

Did you two get a moment to say goodbye?

We did. Right at the end of the lip-sync, she gives me a hug and the emotions started flowing. I am emotional, but sometimes I don't like crying when I have makeup on, so I'm just like, "It's okay." We were just blubbering and black mascara running all over the place. And a very special thing was before I left, I don't know if I'm supposed to share this, but we were able to have a quick moment because we were boarding [the van] next to each other and she just ran out and was, again, going through it with her emotions. She said, "I just have to say bye to you and that I'm so sorry," and we had a really intimate hugging moment before I left to go back home. And I think that was just so special that we got to share that.

Last week on Untucked, when Jasmine came out as trans, that was such an emotional moment, and you could feel the love and support in that room through the screen. What was it like on set?

It was so emotional and for me the trans mantle, if you will, I had seen it tiptoeing its way through our cast as we were there even. And so to just see her come into herself — at first she fought it and then she's, oh my God, I don't know if I have the strength. It felt like I was at a really beautiful woman's expo. It felt like such a come to Jesus moment and being able to plant those seeds in her to not only focus on the aesthetics of being a trans woman, but also the heart, the soul, the integrity, and the essence of what that is, and to feel empowered and emboldened. I was shocked at myself that we were able to just have such a beautiful moment, because a lot of time when you hear about trans women and media and all that, it's usually a little bit more traumatizing. And I was like, this is lovely, this is such a wonderful way to come into yourself. It was very much a blessing for me to even be a part of that.

It was such a nice moment. And Jasmine was saying how she was in awe of your confidence — were you always this confident, or was it something that happened in recent years?

Oh my gosh, no. My confidence has been a very long journey of me self doubting and self-hating and going through a lot of confusion because I feel like a majority of my life, especially my earlier life, was me feeling one way, knowing and understanding that I'm one way and then, at the same token, being told from my upbringing and being told from my surroundings that I was not correct, and I was not doing things right, and everything I was doing was wrong. And when you live your life in such a big limbo and perplexity, it becomes almost a survival instinct to find your confidence and your power because there literally is no other option for you. It's either be confident or be completely crumbled and demolished. It definitely has been a journey, but I would say that a year or two before going to Drag Race, I really noticed myself just learning to release. There's a beautiful song by Mariah Carey, it's called "The Art of Letting Go," and that really was how it was. I had to let go of so many things I held onto: my anxieties, my fears, my goals, my ambitions. And the more that I just let life flow and I just went with it is when I noticed all the confidence I craved just came to be.

You're from Dallas, right?

I am originally from Dallas, Texas. Yes.

What do you think about Gov. Abbott calling on citizens to report supportive parents of trans kids for child abuse?

I think he must have watched our season and watched our episode and he was such a big fan of it that he decided to just play a game with everyone and say, "Let me cause Armageddon," because it is just so crazy to me that we are still dealing with our community, especially the trans community, almost getting bullied a lot of times by our more conservative legislators. And to me personally, even where Dallas and Texas was before this piece of legislation was introduced, it is not a very easy place to be yourself, to be trans. It's not an easy place to be any type of minority a lot of times. I was a little bit taken aback — oh my gosh, are we really doing this? Who stepped on his hind legs, honey? Because it seemed like it came out of nowhere, and it really was unfortunate.

I know. I was like, what is his problem?

Literally, I'm like, why are you bullying us? Why are you picking on the girls?

Going back to Drag Race, you made it so far in the competition, but you didn't get to Snatch Game. Can you reveal who you would've played?

Funny enough, my Snatch Game would've absolutely been the elusive chanteuse herself, Mariah Carey. And I know I would've won, and that's why they sent me home because they didn't want me to slay it so bad.

That would've been really good.

Oh my God, you should have seen it. It was amazing.

And then my last question, speaking of Mariah and being obsessed, one of your lines is, "I'm your new obsession." What are you obsessed with these days? Is there a song you have on repeat, a TV show you're bingeing? What are you obsessed with?

I have actually been so obsessed with this new season of Euphoria. I don't know if I'm obsessed or traumatized by it, but regardless I have been absolutely just on the edge of my seat. Because it's funny, you have your Drag Race episode Friday, you process that on Saturday, and then you go all the way through it again on Sunday with Euphoria. And then you come right back around again to Drag Race on Friday.

It's a rollercoaster. It's been a crazy season for both Euphoria and Drag Race.

Literally that!

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 airs Fridays at 8/7c on VH1.

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