By Mikkel Hyldebrandt
This upcoming weekend, the winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 and the best tuck in the business, Trinity the Tuck, will be in Atlanta for one of the few live shows she has done during the pandemic. Peach caught up with Trinity to talk about safety measures, social media habits, and hopes for a brighter 2021.
We’re now a year into this pandemic – how has life under a pandemic been like for you?
It has definitely been a change dramatically for me. Financially, I’m really not working hardly at all. Most of the drag that I do is digital, and financially it’s just completely different.
Like so many other entertainers, you have struggled with working versus not working during the pandemic. How have you navigated through it all?
Being a drag artist, I have always been resilient. I believe you have to be as an underground artist. I had done drag for 13 years before I got on drag race, so I was very familiar with making things work. Right now, we are all just doing what we have to do to survive.
The Face! The Body! The Clothes! We are so happy to see you come to Atlanta to do a show – can you tell us more about it?
I am very excited to be doing the show as well. It’s one of the very few live shows I have done since the pandemic started. What you can expect is a true Trinity show. I’m going to be entertaining and have some fabulous costumes, all while wearing a clear mask with the new meaning of mask for mask (laughs).
… and for those who worry about in-person events: what safety measures are you taking to keep yourself and others safe?
For myself, I am not doing a meet and greet as I would normally do under regular circumstances. I will definitely be staying away from people and wearing my mask at all times. If I talk on the mic, I will be expressing my desire for people to also social distance as much as possible and wear their masks. Though I am not their mother, I can’t make adults do things they don’t want to do. Hopefully, the promoter and then you follow the state guidelines, which I’m sure they will!
You’ve used social media to voice your opinion, open up about personal issues, and even get into it with other queens. Has social media taken on a new meaning for you during this pandemic?
Social media has some amazing pros and also some big cons. I have always tried to use whatever platform I had, even before Drag Race, to advocate for people who aren’t treated equally. No difference in the pandemic. Though we have had a massive BLM movement in this pandemic, we have had a crazy election in this pandemic, and we are also going through a huge wave of change in our society with LGBT rights! I continue to use my voice for these issues.
Again, scrolling through your social media feeds makes it evident that you have a close bond with many of your fellow queens – who has been a support through all of this?
Yes, I definitely have several really good friends that I still keep in contact with from the Drag Race alumni. I talk to Peppermint on the regular and Manila on the regular as well as many others. Going through what we particularly go through, only these queens, that have been on the show, understand each other.
Apart from the occasional gig, you have so much else going on, like a successful podcast and YouTube channel – tell us about it all!
I have tried to dive into projects this past year because I’ve had so much time. I did a winners tribute series, which was a lot of work; definitely a labor of love. I try to put out a lot of content on my YouTube channel for the fans to view that doesn’t cost them anything. I have created a digital competition called Love for The Arts, which was very successful on twitch. My podcast has had over 500,000 streams, and we will start season two with Ginger Minj becoming a cohost with me very soon! Just keep a lookout.
With a vaccine being rolled out and hopefully some semblance of normalcy soon, what are your hopes for 2021?
My hope is that people are coming out of this pandemic better than when they went into it mentally. Mental health is a huge issue. I suffer from crippling anxiety, and this pandemic has been awful for that. I am grateful that this has been a huge lesson learned on the things that I need to work on for myself as well as saving even more money for times like this. It’s also shown me what really matters, and that is my friends and my family.
Any exciting plans you can share with us?
I am working on a new album which is going to be amazing, but it’s still in the works, and I can’t give too much information about it yet. Keep a lookout.
We want more Trinity the Tuck! Where can find/like/follow you?
Trinitythetuck on all socials: Insta, Twitter, YouTube, Cameo, and Patreon!
Anything else you’d like to share?
There’s so much negativity in the world right now I just want to send out love to everyone. I hope that it finds you!
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Trinity the Tuck will perform at the Identity event with DJ Drew G and Jalen Jackson at District Atlanta on Friday, February 26. Showtimes at 10 pm and 3 am. Tickets ($30) available via Eventbrite.