Drag Me to Dinner pits older queens against younger
Jinkx Monsoon. Nina West. Alaska Thunderfuck. Jackie Beat. If you think we’re listing the contestants on an upcoming RuPaul show or event, you’d be wrong.
Just in time for Pride month, Hulu has debuted a new show, Drag Me to Dinner, in which these queens, among dozens of others, compete in teams to create the most fabulous dinner party as decided by judges David Burtka, Bianca Del Rio and Hannefah Wood. Adding to the fun are hosts Neil Parick Harris and Murray Hill as each of the 10 episodes pits pairs of queens in a battle royale.
Perhaps they saved the best for last as the final episode of the season, Big Bottom, Big Top, features San Francisco drag legends Peaches Christ and the late Heklina.
Had a nice chit-chat with Peaches about the show and how bittersweet it is to have such a success with her dear friend Heklina, who was set to perform with Peaches when she passed away in London on April 3, 2023.
“Little did I know when we filmed this that it would be the last filmed event for Heklina,” Peaches says. Adding that she’s so grateful to have this show as it’s a recorded memory of them working together. “I also really want to thank the producers and Bianca for such a wonderful introduction to the show” respectfully acknowledging Heklina’s passing and importance to the drag community.
About the show, each pair of queens must compete with another set of drag queens in creating, in 90 minutes, a dinner party that not only includes a meal, but cocktails, decor and entertainment.
Peaches said when she was first asked to be on the show, she didn’t know who her partner would be but in chatting with Heklina vaguely without spilling the secret beams, she guessed that Heklina also might also be on the show.
The producers did a good job at pairing the queens as many of them have worked together before so they were able to rely on the strengths of their game partners and able “to feed off of each other” with humor and wisecracks as “nothing was off limits.”
Peaches explained they had a strategy for competing with Heklina. Peaches admits that she is absolutely not a culinary expert and Heklina “had hosted private dinner parties so the food was kind of in her wheelhouse,” Peaches also said that Heklina was in charge of cocktails because she has been a bartender and once co-owner of SF Oasis, a San Francisco night club.
But don’t think Peaches just rest on her laurels. For those not familiar with Peaches Christ, she has a long-standing career of doing parody shows of movies, paying homage to many classic films among the gay community. These productions involved elaborate sets and costumes, which is a trait that really helped the PeachLina team (just made up “PeachLina”… like it?)
In looking at the contestants, it seems the show pits older queens vs. younger queens and Peaches felt the older queens had an advantage because back in the day, drag queens “had to do all of our own shit” in putting together a look or a show.
To find out if PeachLina wins, you have to go to Hulu and catch all 10 episodes.
