So who are the Sydney queens starring on RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under S2?

Age: 30 Instagram: @hannahcondaofficial

Hannah Conda is not only beautiful and bubbly but also genuinely kind. What a bitch, right?! She is a big presence (with a bigger laugh) in the Sydney drag scene, and she co-founded Drag Storytime in 2016.

Who is Hannah Conda in a nutshell?

I am the self-professed fairy godmother of drag. I like to be the spark of magic in a room, and I like to just make people laugh and smile and have a great time.

What are you bringing to this season?

I hope to make you laugh. I made myself laugh! I got separated from a couple of the girls for laughing all the time... I'm really excited and proud of being able to bring a lot of heart and a lot of warmth to the season. Just like I do at a club, I like to make sure everyone is having a good time. So that was my role on set, I was making sure everyone was having a good old time and we were all laughing.

What influences your drag?

I’ve always gravitated to powerful, strong women who are just unapologetically themselves, and that really sort of channels where I like to go in drag. And in terms of style, I really love playing in the period. So I like to take something from the ’60s and flip it a little bit and make it modern. I really liked exploring different silhouettes from different periods. One of my favourite costumes is a '60s cape dress made from a shower curtain with Nicolas Cage as a cat printed on it. Ha! 

Where are the best places to see drag in Sydney and around Australia?

Oh my gosh, if so many wonderful places. Oxford Street is an incredible gay icon in itself in Sydney, where you can go to see drag shows at Universal, who have done some incredible stuff over the last couple of years through the pandemic, Stonewall Hotel, the Oxford Hotel – they're sort of the three main pillars of our Oxford Street circuit, but then there's tonnes of little bars in between where you can catch drag. The Imperial, the iconic Imperial from Priscilla, that's an incredible place to catch drag in the Inner West. But then around Australia, there are so many incredible venues. I've had the privilege of performing at the Court and at Connections, they are my home bars in Perth. Then I've just actually been to Darwin, and Darwin has an incredible place called Discovery. I loved it, it was wild. 

What’s so special about Australian drag? 

It's got a very different history to drag anywhere else in the world in the way that we base ourselves around that big production sort of style of performing. So we're very much working in teams all the time. There's been a lot of growing and changing that has happened in the drag community over the last few years, which I'm so proud of. Because we are at the forefront of a lot of issues and we are the mouthpieces of our community, and we are also the glue of that community. A lot of people will try to find solace in drag, and I think we provide that really well Down Under. 

Who are the local queens that you think people should have an eye on?

OK, this is a tough one. Charisma Belle and Carmen Geddit, they're my beautiful sisters and I'm so honoured to be able to work with them so frequently. Then you've got Vybe, who's incredible, and Sia Tequila. There's a whole host of new girls that are coming in, Victoria Mami, Karna Ford, Logan, King, Spacehorse, Tina Bikki, Amyl Clooney. Oh my God, the list goes on!  

What is the most fierce thing you’ve ever done in drag? 

I'm gonna apply this to myself and to anybody that dares don drag in any of its forms: just doing drag. We're putting ourselves out there to be judged, to be critiqued, to be enjoyed, to be loved, to be hated. And I think that is fearless. So I take my hat off to anybody that does the art of drag, because they're my heroes.

Age: 30 Instagram: @mollypoppinzz

You can find this good time gal from Newcastle, NSW, getting it poppin’ in the Sydney drag scene on the regular. 

Who is Molly Poppinz in a nutshell?

She’s just a fun time party girl, a bit of a clown. I like to be very versatile with my drag, but everything I do is always 100 per cent Molly Poppinz. If I was a Pokemon, I'd be like the Ditto of drag, I can shape shift. 

What are you bringing to this season?

I'm gonna show what Newcastle drag is all about. Like, you don't have to be from a big city to have amazing drag. 

What influences your drag?

I take a lot of inspiration from popular culture and strong women in my life, including my mother, who is no longer with us. I like to channel that feminine energy. 

Tell me about the birth of your drag career?

I was kind of dabbling in drag, then I moved to Canada on a whim. That's where I decided to really kick it into full gear and become a drag queen. Two weeks into making it to Vancouver I entered a drag competition, I’d never performed before. I made it to the finale, and then it just kind of skyrocketed from there. I was there for just under three years, and I kind of became an icon. I moved back to Australia six months before Covid. I had to work my way from the bottom again, which was, you know, hard to navigate. I didn’t want to step on any toes, but I also knew my worth. 

Where do you think people should be going out to see drag?

I think anywhere holding a drag show, go to the closest one you can see, because that is supporting your local drag. We don't have a lot of drag shows in Newcastle, but the ones that we do put on are majorly supported. Newcastle Pride is doing amazing things, and up-and-coming production company Queer and Now is putting on some amazing events. And I love the support that I get when I go to Sydney.

What’s so special about Australian drag? 

Australian drag, especially compared to Canadian drag, is just so camp! It can be a bit, you know, rough as guts, but it's a fun time. We care about the art form, and it is its own breed Down Under. 

What is the most fierce thing you’ve ever done in drag? 

Probably the time the Veronicas pulled me out of the audience to perform with them at a concert in Newie! I’ll also never forget performing with Charli XCX at Laneway Festival in Sydney. Performing on stage at a music festival in front of thousands of people was really cool. 

Age: 28 Instagram: @pomara.fifth

Pomara is bringing the thunder from Western Sydney. She has performed all around NSW, and she’s a regular at Universal nightclub.

Who is Pomara Fifth in a nutshell?

Pomara is a very camp, eccentric kind of character. I like to think of  Pomara as beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, like a dirty old truck driver. She’s very loud, very boisterous, and very colourful, in every sense of the word.

What influences your drag?

I was raised by a single mum and have been surrounded by strong, independent women my whole life. So that was definitely a big factor. As well as performing and just making people happy and having a fun time. 

What was it like working with the other queens on set? 

We all got on like a house on fire, so it was amazing to be surrounded by that dynamic sisterhood. And I mean, don't get me wrong, in a sisterhood or in a family there are going to be some quarrels. So it's not all it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

What does it mean to you to be representing your First Nations and Maori heritage on the show?

It was such an amazing thing to be able to represent not one, but both countries that I come from, and being Indigenous from both countries. I feel very honoured to be able to represent my Aboriginal community as well as my Maori community and hopefully bring some light to those cultures. I will always say that it doesn't matter how much milk you add, it’s still tea. 

Tell me about the bingo nights you started in a small rural town?

I do bingo out in a small suburb called Bargo, which is like another 40 minutes away from Camden [where I grew up]. You try walking down to a small working town with a population of predominantly middle-aged men, and they've all got mullets. You try and walk in there in full drag! I think it has a population of like 200. But it absolutely goes off, all 200 of them come to the pub. What I love about growing up in such a small town like that is being able to bring my drag down here and expose it to the people here. Because growing up, especially as a flamboyant little kid, I didn't have any of that sort of representation to turn to, it was always in the city.

What is the most fierce thing you’ve ever done in drag? 

I would probably say being on the Channel Nine News with Drew Barrymore.

Age: 27 Instagram: @fauxfur_official

Faux is a regular face (and the loudest voice) on the Sydney drag scene for the last seven years.

Who is Faux Fur in a nutshell?

Faux Fur is a crazy loud Asian who just is like a Tasmanian devil that whirls around everywhere. I’m a whirlwind crazy animal. Like, grrr! But she’s fun, she’s a glamazon, she loves to eat, but most of all she loves to sleep. 

What influences your drag?

I didn't really see much Asian representation when I started drag, I had to outsource. Like, for example, Asian culture celebrities like Thuy Anh and Minh Tuyet, who are Vietnamese icons around the world. My inspiration for drag started when RuPaul’s Drag Race came out. But I had to create this character because I didn't really get to see it in the Australian scene of drag, so I thought it was time for an Asian queen to come into this world.

What are you bringing to this season?

A lot of loudness! You might want to turn your volume down, because even if it's on two, I’m on a hundred. Now can you imagine ten queens in one room? It’s just chaos, but the fun type of chaos. 

What’s so special about Australian drag? 

We're very laid back and chill. I think a lot of people don't get it when we're very cunty to each other, but it's just how it is. It's a different kind of drag.

What is the most fierce thing you’ve ever done in drag? 

Jumping off a DJ booth and landing into a split while Alyssa Edwards was in the crowd and she was like “Alriiight!”. Everyone was gooped, gagged and shocked. 

Age: 49 Instagram: @theminniecooper

You might have seen this true matriarch of Australia's drag scene on the telly in 2016 when she was semi-finalist on Australia’s Got Talent.

Who is Minnie Cooper in a nutshell?

She's got the looks of Cate Blanchett and the voice of Chris Hemsworth.

How did your drag career become what it is today?

In my twenties I used to work in professional musical theatre, shows like Chicago and Hot Shoe Shuffle. And in 2003 I used to choreograph drag shows, and they offered me a job just to fill in, and I've been filling in ever since.

What is your drag influenced by?

Hollywood glamour! I grew up watching all those Hollywood films and I just love technicolour and the fantasy. I always wanted to be in those movies. 

What are we going to see from you on the show?

A lot of honesty. I'm very honest, and it gets me in trouble. I think being older, you have a tendency not to hold your opinion. And I don't ever intend to upset someone, but it does.

What changes have you seen in Sydney's drag scene in the time that you've been working in it?

I call it The Golden Girls generation and the Kardashian generation. The Golden Girls,  they're more willing to be helpful and they're less entitled, and I find that to slip with the queens who are a bit younger. Queens back in the day used to do drag to be in a drag show, but nowadays queens do drag to be on a reality television show.

Who are the local queens that you think people should be looking out for?

Oh, how long have you got? Fran Giapanni, Mynx Moscato, and Krystal Kleer.

What is the most fierce thing you’ve ever done in drag? 

Performing for Cher, that was pretty amazing.