orjust in terms of visibility that we re drawn to. because often, those stories are fascinating and compelling and need to be heard. you and your company have been at the forefront of what s really been a tv revolution. kind of almost unseen or unacknowledged, tv has totally transformed our lives. and ifound that, actually, it s the least respected genres in what i think is a pretty unexpected medium, television, that have had the most impact like commercials and infomercials and televangelism and home shopping and public access tv, which is basically do it yourself television. and we re going to come back to all of that, but i wanted to talk to you first about rupaul s drag race, because you re probably best known for that. it s a hugely successful show that s become, you know, a franchise, an empire. just for people who might not have watched it, just sum it up, how it works. it s a competition show to find
just very sort of flamboyant and camp, and i think really profoundly important artists. and so, having that, i always wanted drag race to be here in the uk. and i tell you no lie, i went to every network repeatedly until they were like, please, don t come round here trying to sell that show again . so, it did take a long time? oh, yes. everyone said no many, many times. and. 0ver how many years? 0ver about six years. and as we started collecting emmys and awards, i would say, now look at the show. what about this, what about that? yeah, but. , you know? but i always, i always believed, and i know michelle visage who s co host with ru she always believed in the show too because, you know, there s nothing. there s nothing so great as british drag. is it something about britain that we have this tradition of pantomime that means we respond to it in a different way from the americans? we do.
the clock back and to go back to a simpler time. you know, men should be men and women should be women, and the wife should stay in the home. and, you know, all this sort of gender hysteria, it all comes from a desire to turn the clock back and not recognise the fundamental diversity of life itself. and within the context of that, though, you have this hugely successful programme, award winning across the world, do you see it as a barometer for changing attitudes? i do. i don t think drag race is a political show, ostensibly, but i do think as a show that represents inclusion and diversity and that believes that you can be the fantasy of your imagination and be yourself and express yourself, i do think that in a way, it becomes the sharp end of the resistance. i mean, it s fairly obvious to say, without rupaul, there wouldn t be rupaul s drag race. but i mean, i think you and your
and i think there s room for. well, it s good to see that they re on tv, and also having hit records, and in plays and in movies, and i would like to see a drag race in every country. do you feel you have brought about cultural change, change to society, through that programme? i think the queens have brought about great cultural change, because they have shown that you can be yourself, you can be. you can create this image of yourself and you can do great things, you can inspire other people. and i think that that message is a great one for kids to hear growing up, knowing that they don t have to be this or be that, that really, they can be themselves. and that hopefully, we are just learning to be more. i hate the word tolerate , because nobody wants to be tolerated. we should be able to embrace
and of course, rupaul is a huge, you know, without rupaul, there would be no drag race. randy and i knew rupaulfor. we ve known him for a long time, and we managed him early on in his career. and we sat down with him once and said, you know, we really should do a show with you . and it was tom campbell, our chief creative officer, who said, you know you should really do what about a reality competition show? , and ru was like, no, i will do anything but a reality competition show . so off we went and followed up lots of different ideas and pitched them to him, and he said, you know what? we should do a reality competition show . and that s rupaul s drag race. there it is. and it debuted pretty quietly in 2009. it did. ..on the lgbtq+ focused logo tv network. mm. now the original us show has produced versions in europe, asia, australia i think ten countries, in total. and you even have a las vegas residency. did you always know it