In every season of Drag Race there are one or two eliminations that truly hurt our hearts. Perhaps it’s a shock elimination that comes out of the blue, or a fan favorite who you just aren’t ready to see sashay away and off of our screens. This season that queen was the instantly lovable Kate Butch — who’s elimination this week actually fit both criteria. As the season’s narrator, her wit and gentle reads will be sorely missed — and her exit following a makeover challenge that many would argue (and have on social media and Reddit) should’ve landed her in the safe category, left the audience shook.
While the fandom may be bumming out this week, there’s one person is taking it all in stride with a huge smile on her face and plenty of self-effacing humor, and that’s Kate herself. PRIDE sat down with Kate to talk about her fantastic and endearing run on season five of Drag Race UK, her beautiful friendship with Ginger Johnson, how she never expected to become a fan favorite, and why she still doesn’t have any regrets about her runway looks.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
PRIDE: Congratulations on having an incredible run on Drag Race UK and becoming an absolute fan favorite. The fans are gutted today. Gutted! How are you feeling about your time on the show?
KATE BUTCH: Incredibly, people have been so lovely and so kind. To be honest, when I went on, I thought that people would absolutely hate me because I’m not like a traditional Drag Race queen. I’m a silly little idiot who tells horrible jokes. I didn’t know if that would click with the Drag Race viewers. It seems like it has and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The whole run has been phenomenal
Everyone is screaming “Rigga Morris” today.
Well, I think it was my time to go. Let’s be honest. Always leave them wanting more, that’s what I think.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
You know what, that’s actually true! I know the audience feels robbed of seeing more Kate Butch but do you feel like you were able to do what you came to do?
Absolutely. I think I showed what I do best and what I’m good at. I challenged myself and excelled in things that I didn’t think I would necessarily be good at. Like, who knew I could rap? Even in the elimination, it wasn’t that I completely flopped or completely bombed. I was the least good of the five of us, which was kind of like how it was for a lot of the challenges. Such a strong cast. I am just in awe of all of them and thrilled I made it as far as I did.
Yeah, this cast is crazy! Speaking of which, your friendship with Ginger Johnson has been one of my favorite things that has come out of this season. Can you talk a little bit about your connection?
When she first walked in, you know when you instantly know that someone is ‘your people’? She does very similar stuff to what I do. She’s a theater girl. She’s very funny. She wears a lot of ginger hair. I think she’s kind of like a big sister. She’s just so incredibly talented, and generous, and kind with her time and her skills. She filmed and edited a music video for me that I’ve just released. She did it in like a day and free of charge. She’s such a lovely person. I’m gonna cry. [Chokes up] She’s incredible. One of the best things that come out of this show is my friendship with her. Hopefully, we’ll do some little double-act business in the future.
That’s literally what I was going to ask next! After the acting challenge, Ru suggested that the two of you should be a comedy duo. Any chance we might see a tour or something of that kind?
We’re both quite busy separately now, which is very nice and very lovely. So it’s kind of putting the schedules together to make some kind of theater magic or maybe televisual magic. I’m just praying that she makes it to the final and that she wins and gets a web series and just puts me in it. That’d be ideal. I will ride her coattails into the sunset.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
It was so exciting to see you get your badge for that acting challenge after getting close so many times. What were you feeling in that moment?
It was mainly relief. I had been so close and every time that Ginger got a badge, and I didn’t it was absolutely deserved that she should have it. I know sometimes didn’t look like that on the TV but in the room it was Ginger steamrolling the whole thing. This challenge and the runway perfectly combined in a stroke of luck for me. When they said that Ginger was safe before they said anything to me. I was like, ‘Oh! Oh, it could be! It could be my time!’ I was thrilled!
Have you seen the comparisons of your track record to Canada’s Drag Race star Vivian Vanderpuss’ track record? They’re identical. Have you heard from Vivian?
I haven’t. I should reach out. We should do a little little show together. Safe, safe safe, safe, safe, win, gone!
Courtesy of World of Wonder
Let’s talk about the girl group challenge. When the teams split up the way they did, were you in your feelings about it a bit?
For a brief millisecond. I don’t think anyone likes to be rejected by the popular girls. It felt very high school. It was like, ‘Oh, God, oh, they all hate us again. Okay, we are the outcasts of the outcasts. Great lovely time. Hunchback of Notre Dame over her. God help them.’ But actually looking at the group that we ended up in it was right. We were the fun little misfits. We were all different, like the Spice Girls. And I think we have the better song. I’ll say it. I know we were on the sofa and they did the splits but lyrically, you can’t tell us nothing.
And we’ll never forget that foot moment, so there’s that, too.
I didn’t even see it, I was behind the sofa! I thought she was just like tootin’ away near it. I did not know until the episode came out that she put her foot in her mouth.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
It was inspired. I will say that. So let’s talk Snatch Game. I’m curious if you know if Kate Bush has seen your performance and if you’ve heard from her.
In my mind, Kate lives in the woods. She’s doing crafts. She’s summoning witches. But, no she hasn’t reached out. I think she’s actually got a very good sense of humor from interviews that she’s done. I think she’d quite enjoy it. Personally, I think she would enjoy it. The big-brained of us know that Snatch Game isn’t about doing the most perfect impersonation it’s about creating a character from a celebrity and putting them in a game show format. I think Kate Bush would understand.
Yeah, and believing that allows you to sleep with both eyes closed.
Exactly. Exactly.
Courtesy of World of Wonder
Did you learn anything surprising about yourself watching the season back?
Oh, I do waffle on, don’t I? I say a lot of stupid words. I’m a silly little idiot. I kind of knew that already. But seeing me in my little talking head confessional interviews — did they lose everyone else’s interviews? That’s my question. Why am I the only one that’s narrating the season?
I saw someone who was completely unburdened by the desire to win and the expectation of winning, who was just there to have fun and be silly and make friends and make memories and make good TV. I’m quite proud of that. That’s something that I certainly will take into my life is to have fun, and enjoy the moment as it comes because you don’t know what’s happening next episode next week in your life. So just just be fun and silly and enjoy it.
So, now that you’ve done Drag Race, if you were to go back and do it again, would you do anything differently?
I think I probably would have spent a bit more money on my runways. [Laughs] I don’t know whether I took the runways incredibly seriously. I mean, there’s no cash prize. We’re in a cost-of-living crisis here in the UK. I am the only one not in debt. Who’s laughing now?
If you go back and watch the series, the only negative critiques that I ever really got were visual and aesthetic and that is the most easily fixable I think. You can buy nice outfits but you can’t buy what I’ve got. IBS. I’ve got IBS.
