Carson Kressley didn’t initially know what to think when RuPaul’s Drag Race announced that it would be switching up the show’s usual format for All Stars 10.
Ahead of the semifinals of the Emmy Award-winning series (airing on Paramount+), the longtime Drag Race judge opened up to PopCulture.com about the All Stars switch-up and the importance of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community while sharing some expert travel tips for people looking to get away this summer.
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“You know, when we started [All Stars 10] and they said we were gonna do a bracket system like March Madness or college basketball, I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy icon admitted.
After figuring out the ins and outs of the new bracket system, Kressley thinks it’s been a slam dunk for the judges, fans, and competing queens. “We get to know the queens a little bit better,” Kressley explained. “It’s very exciting to see who they’re gonna trade their badges with and who’s gonna make it to the semifinals.”
While this season has featured “the most amazing cast” to make it “one of the best All Stars” ever, Kressley admitted he’s loved to see one queen in particular back on Drag Race. “Ginger Minj has always been a favorite of mine since her first [season, Season 7] which was my first season,” he shared. “So we’re kindred spirits, and I just love watching her!”
Looking back more than two decades since he made his Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debut in 2003, Kressley said he feels “so lucky” to work on “two really groundbreaking shows for the LGBT community” in his career.
“I think the thing that they have in common is that they provide visibility to people that sometimes didn’t have a spotlight,” he reflected. “And those people are actually being celebrated for their differences, and their talents are just through the roof, and we get to see that.”
He continued, “I think drag has been a medium that was cloistered in clubs … not a lot of people got to enjoy it. And now, because we have this platform, it streams all over the world, and people from Milwaukee to Malaysia can see people like that being celebrated.”
“I think visibility is more important now than ever,” he added. “Seeing people living their best life and being celebrated for it and being more alike us than different is really important now.”
Kressley may be Drag Race‘s resident fashion expert, but he’s also an expert traveler and Travel Advisor Champion with ALG Vacations. Speaking with PopCulture from Aruba, Kressley said it was through his travel advisor that he was able to get some “inside intel” about where to go to get a great deal and an even greater vacation.
“The first thing I tell people is always use a travel advisor,” Kressley shared of his travel tips. “They have kind of emerged from the travel agent role, and they’re doing so much more than just booking hotel and air. They really are the experts on all different destinations, destination weddings, group trips, family trips. They’re really going to have the inside scoop on when to go certain places, when you can get the best deals, how you can bundle hotel, car, and air together to save some extra money.”
When a travel “glitch” does come along, Kressley said there’s nothing like having “an actual real-life human” to call and help you out.
Kressley also always recommends getting travel insurance, pointing out that an extra $20 or so can really “save your vacation” when something goes wrong. For more travel tips from Kressley, visit traveladvisorsgetyouthere.com.
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