Sisterhood, drag excellence and bed sheets: Art Simone talks Down Under vs the World

We loved seeing Art Simone get her well-deserved flowers on Drag Race Down Under vs the World. She shares with QNews what surprised her about returning to the franchise, wearing bed sheets on the runway and, of course, THAT Snatch Game!

The definition of down-under excellence in drag and entertainment, while Art Simone may not have taken the crown, she is a winner in so many of our hearts; especially after returning to the series.

Art has often shared how her last run almost broke her, and to see her step into her power in the franchise was everything and more.

It wasn’t just about the wins or badges. From iconic looks on the runway, a tribute to Maxi Shield in episode two, her Kath impression and seeing her beam with joy in the Werk Room, she truly got her ru-demption.

But with so much detail and thought into her looks and gameplay, when exactly did she start planning?

Drag Race Down Under vs the World
Source: STAN

“A return to Drag Race had always been on the radar,” Art said, “And if I did go back, what would I do?”

“So, with things like your finale outfit, your snatch game or entrance look, they are, kind of, cooking in you behind the scenes for a very long time.”

“As I started to hear the whispers that I was in the running to come back, I started to put a lot of things into play to try and get ahead of the curve in case I did get cast.

“I really did start planning early on, and that made it a little bit easier to put things into action. But then they throw you all the other runways at you, and you go, ‘What am I gonna do? Oh my god, what’s this?'”

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We heard about an interesting story of how **your final runway came about at Kick Ons last week. What made you want to bring Australian artist Ken Done to Drag Race?**

“Well, because I knew I was maybe in the running to come back, I knew I wanted a Ken Done outfit. I had seen that Ken Done had commissioned fabric for different designers and things.”

“So I reached out to Ken Done via Instagram, and I said, ‘Hey, I really want to make a dress. I have a very exciting international television opportunity coming out.’ And they said, ‘Oh yes, just email the foundation’, and then they never replied to me ever again.”

“So I had to put matters into my own hands, and I thought, ‘Well, you know what, Ken Done has done bed sheets and bedding since the 80s. Originally, I was going to try and find vintage Ken Done bed sheets, but I was struggling because they’re all in different conditions.

“Some are faded, some are old. Trying to get two that matched the same was a nightmare. Then I found out that they still make them, and this bedding was absolutely perfect.”

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“It was white with all different colours all over it. So we bought lots of bed sheets. But the issue then was, I went to Pashion Couture and said, ‘Can we make this dress out of bed sheets?’ She said, ‘I’m not doing that.

“I’m not working with cotton. Why would I do that? That looks ugly. It’s going to be so dull and so boring. Absolutely not happening. ‘So I went to Tamara Kane Costumes, and she worked very well to fuse the fabric and brighten it up, and then we bedazzled the hell out of it.

“But yes, in true drag fashion, I walked down the main stage of Drag Race Down Under vs the World wearing bed sheets, and I think that’s beautiful.”

After all this preparing and all of this planning, what was something that surprised you during this journey?

“You know, the thing that surprised me outside of all of the challenges and the wins and everything was… I’m going to get emotional.”

“It was the sisterhood between the down under girls.”

“Because we’ve been pitted against each other for so many years, and our scene is so small. I was 100% walking in expecting all of the daggers to be on me. Especially from within my own down under group because I was a threat or whatever. I was just fully expecting that.

“But to walk in and get the absolute opposite thing happen, where they had so much love and respect, and we all looked out for each other, and we all cared so much.

“Walking away with even more sisters and being united with my fellow down under queens was honestly one of the biggest gifts, and biggest surprise during filming.”

“I just am so proud of these girls and so proud of what we did, and I just still can’t believe it. That was the biggest shock to me, and something that I just wasn’t even on the table going in.

“I was like, ‘All right, we’re going to have to go battle it out. We’re going to have to cut each other’s heads off. The last one will win.’ But that didn’t happen. Especially when the opportunity was there with the lipsticks and all the tools to allow us to do that, and none of them took the bait. And I just think that was incredible.”

Watching this series has given new life to what international viewers understand down under drag to be. It must have been so much work for the producers to try and edit drama cuts because there was so much joy on set. The appreciation you had for one another was beautiful.

“I completely agree. I’m so proud of everyone for focusing on the queer joy, the art of what we were doing. We were all there in the same mindset that we wanted to make something good because we were already starting on the back foot from previous seasons.”

“I think that was kind of a united mission between us all that we were going to make something f**king incredible. Pardon my French, and I think we did that.”

We need to talk about Snatch Game. You have been playing the character of Kim and touring the world with Fountain Lakes, and you’re about to do it again. You’ve gone from portraying the character in drag numbers to an award-winning comedy parody. But we’ve all heard the stories about how hard it is to film Snatch Game. How did you keep your energy up?

“That’s right, for the next three months, I’m going on tour. But yes, doing it on the Snatch Game, that’s a completely different environment. I thought I’d bombed it when it finished. I was like, oh god, it’s happened again. Because performing into a vacuum is the most awful thing in the world.”

“You’re just screaming constant stuff out of your mouth in the hope that something sticks.”

“But I actually spoke with Vybe; this is the sisterhood. I spoke with Vybe before I went back in because she obviously understood that I was worried about it, and she said, ‘Just don’t stop talking. Don’t wait for your turn. Just keep talking the entire time. They will cut around you’ she said.

‘They can pick what jokes are funny, turn your mic on and off. Don’t stop talking.’ And that was actually the best thing.”

“Whenever I had something funny to say, I would just say it regardless of whether anyone’s listening or not, and keep delivering it. And I think keeping up that energy was what helped me go through because you weren’t just waiting for your chance. You’ve just gotta go, go, go.”

What is one look you’re most proud of delivering on that runway? Is it one of the DIY ones?

“No, I hate design challenges. Yes, I’m happy I won one, and I put a lot of work into it. But absolutely not. Can you imagine, travelling to your second time on Drag Race, and two of the weeks you have to wear stuff that you’ve hot glued together with ugly bloody fabric? Absolutely not.”

“Anyway, my favourite, I think Kylie is right up there. Kylie felt really special, and it felt like I was bringing a lot of my drag family with me, especially with Philma Bocks working so closely on it, and the stories behind it.

“My mum hand-beaded the entire corset. It felt like a big warm hug from home. When I put that on, I felt so special in it.”

“But I think also my final gown. I was so excited I got to wear that because it was meant to be the final chapter. And it was. I began in my paint spider look on season one, the first queen in the workroom, and then I’m going to close out with this Ken Done tribute in full beauty.”