Yahoo Lifestyle “Drag Race ”star Lexi Love hails 'Sasha motherf---ing Colby' as trans inspiration: 'Vision of what a successful queen is'
Lexi tells EW that season 15 winner Sasha Colby represents an "iconic vision" and is overwhelmed by "walking in her footsteps" on season 17.
Sashaying into the RuPaul's Drag Race family, Lexi Love knows she has some big neck braces, nude fantasies, and — of course — heels to fill, as the season 17 queen walks into the Werk Room in season 15 winner and trans icon Sasha Colby's footsteps. Or, actually, rolls in on a pair of skates, thank you very much.
Just as she does for her exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly (above), Lexi entered the Drag Race competition on a rotation of excellence, speeding up to our interview in head-to-toe silver body glitter (which took a team of four people almost four hours to apply) the same effortless way she says she'll apply her roller-skating skills to the competition.
“When I first started to skate, that was back in middle school. We used to get locked in the roller rink until 5 a.m. Our parents were like, hell yeah, we don’t have to do anything with them! I’d go from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. So, being able to pull it back into my drag at some point, I absolutely have to," Lexi tells EW of her sporty talent.
The art form itself, however, has appeared on the show in the past — particularly on season 8, when controversial alum Robbie Turner famously broke a lightbulb during a Main Stage lip-sync. While she doesn't plan to break any lighting fixtures on Drag Race, the PLAY Louisville playmate does plan to smash barriers like one of her all-time drag idols.
When asked how she feels about carrying the legacy of trans queens (alongside Hormona Lisa) on the show this year, Lexi calls the thought "nerve-racking, because Sasha motherf---ing Colby was the last representation," she says.
EW; Sarah Morris/Getty
Lexi Love; Sasha Colby of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'"[She's] been my iconic vision of what a successful queen is, since I started drag, and that was six months before RuPaul’s Drag Race’s first episode ever aired, and I was watching Sasha Colby then," she continues. "To be here and walking in her footsteps, I’m like, I’m not worthy. I’m too green in my transition to be worthy of those shoes."
But, excellence is in Lexi's drag lineage, and it's gotten her places before.
For starters, her drag dad is Mykul Jay Valentine, a Mr. Continental pageant winner, while Lexi also recalls RuPaul's Drag Race UK champ Krystal Versace naming her as the official American ambassador to the House of Versace. Now, she stands proud as a 14-year veteran of the industry with the finely tuned skills to show for it.
“A Lexi Love show is like watching a music video movie," she says. "It feels like a beginning, middle, climax, and end... It tells a story, and I like to captivate people. Like we’re the only two people in the room. I like to pull everybody in and feel special and feel the love. That’s what it’s all about for me."
Well, break a leg — or snap a neck, like Sasha — in the competition ahead, doll!
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RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV. Watch EW's full interview with Lexi at the top of this post.
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