Geneva Karr dishes on Drag Race Mexico connections & Mirage lip sync

Out: Let's get started with a more general question: How would you describe your Drag Race journey?

Geneva Karr: My Drag Race journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Getting to experience it, and getting to watch it, has kind of also been a rollercoaster. Even though I knew the outcome, I was still like, 'Oh my god, is she going to save me this lip sync?' [laughs] But also, it's been such a great experience. It's a dream come true. I'm just so happy with everything, honestly. I feel very blessed.

We obviously have had Latina queens on Drag Race before. But as a fellow Latino, I really appreciated how you came into the season really wanting to represent for our community. What response have you gotten from people in Mexico who watched you on the show?

Oh my god! There are a lot of people from Mexico who started to follow me on social media, and they're so happy with the representation that I am giving. They were rooting for me, showing me all the love, and saying that finally a Mexican-born queen made it on the show. It's a bunch of love from people who just show up for me.

We now have Drag Race Mexico in the franchise. It's been renewed for a second season, which is very exciting! Did you know any of the season 1 queens before they went on the show?

I didn't know any of them personally, but I did come across one or two of them. Like Margaret Y Ya, and also Cristian Peralta, which is the season 1 winner. It was through social media that I came across [both of] them. So, I knew of them, but I don't know them personally.

That would be a really exciting reunion for us to watch — you and the Drag Race Mexico queens!

Oh my god, for sure! Yeah, I would love that. A lot of the queens from season 1 followed me on Instagram and sent me a DM. We started DM-ing each other here and there, so we hopefully all get to meet soon.

I'm not DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] myself, but I have a lot of friends who are. I was so happy to see that conversation happen in the werk room between you and Xunami Muse. This was the first time we've ever had that conversation in the werk room, and it felt really important and powerful. Have you gotten responses from people who felt seen by that moment?

I knew that moment was going to come up, and I was like, 'I'll be fine. I already cried there and when it happened. I'll be fine.' But getting to experience it again on TV, I just couldn't hold back the tears. I was like, 'Oh my god, this is the representation I've always looked for and I was never able to find.' And it's me now being that person for somebody else.

All the messages from people saying, 'Thank you for representing us,' and, 'Now I know I can audition too,' and, 'The doors you and Xunami are opening…' Also people who are coming to my performances and just wanting to give me a hug and crying. They're like, 'You are our heroes, you and Tsunami, because this is so important.'

DACA is something that isn't really talked about as often as it was before, and with elections coming up, it's kind of like… We can't vote, so please [help] us. Give us a hand and help us to maintain our legal status here, and not take this away from us. This is how we work, this is how we exist. That's all we've known for a long time.

Your entire time on the show was either top two, winning a challenge, or lip syncing for your life. Like, every single episode, Geneva! What was going through your head while going through all the motions?

I was always taking risks, like 'go big or go home.' That's what my motto has always been, even for pageants. A lot of the time, my risk didn't really pay off. But, I mean, lip syncing is what I do back home. I did it three nights a week before I got on the show, so I'm not afraid of a lip sync. I can lip sync the house down.

But you just never know how it's going to go, or what RuPaul is going to decide. It was always nerve-racking, but I was very confident. I've been doing drag for almost 12 years now. It's not always the stunts and the tricks. Of course, I can also do that here and there, but a lot of lip syncs are just about emotion. So, I was like, 'You know what? I'm feeling the emotions. Let's channel it and tell the story with the lip syncs.' I wanted to show you the emotion of the song.

During Untucked, you would usually sit in the back and go through your feelings when you knew you were in the bottom. What was going through your mind in those moments?

Growing up in the U.S., being illegal until I got into the DACA program, I was raised to always just be strong… to just kind of push your feelings down in a way, or just deal with everything in your mind. I didn't want to portray myself as weak or emotional, which I should have, because sometimes it's good to let the emotions out. Now I know. But yeah, I was in my head, giving myself therapy, and reminding myself that I was sickening. I'm an entertainer and a sickening drag queen. Just because this week didn't go [well], it doesn't mean that I'm not. And also just mentally preparing [myself] to lip sync.

Every time that I had to lip sync, I already knew it in my heart. I know how to listen to critiques from the judges. I've done pageants, so I knew when I was going to be lip syncing. [During those times], I'd rather just be on my own, kind of make my little bubble. I wouldn't want to comfort anyone with all the emotions, or just attack someone like some other sisters do in Untucked.

You won the lip syncs against Hershii LiqCour Jeté and Mirage, but you lost the lip sync to Mhi'ya Iman LePaige. In hindsight, how do you see your lip syncing journey on the show?

So, first of all, I got really close to Hershii, but in that moment I was just like, 'I have to save myself. I love you sister, but it's me.' With Mirage, I broke down because it was such a heartbreaking elimination from someone who's also Latina. Like, that I was kind of the cause [of her elimination] so that I stayed. She also had the responsibility to do well, but it was just a person that I was getting close to — seeing her break down really broke me.

When it came to Mhi'ya… I've been a fan of Mhi'ya for such a long time on TikTok. She's the Queen of Flips! I would follow her. She's the only queen that I already knew from the cast. So, to me, it was an honor to challenge myself and try my hardest to take out such a lip sync assassin. And it was just an honor that Mhi'ya eliminated me. If it would've been any other girl, I would've lost my mind. But she's my bestie and I had a blast. I was just excited to see her flip while also giving it my all.

When you are up against Mirage and you win the Cher lip sync… I've always had this curiosity about queens who go through similar situations. Does it feel just as good as any other lip sync win, or does it feel sort of weird to win when your competitor didn't know the lyrics to the song? How do you interpret that?

Well, when it comes to Cher, it's not necessarily kicks and splits and turns and whatever she was doing. It is a lip sync. RuPaul loves the traditional way when it comes to Diana Ross and Cher. So even if she knew the words, I feel like I still channeled the emotion and the storytelling of what Cher embodies. I still feel like I won, not just because she didn't know the words, but because I know my homework and I know just what RuPaul loves as a person.

You're absolutely right. You do NOT mess up Cher or Diana Ross!

Exactly.

Now that you have this huge Drag Race platform, what's next for Geneva Karr?

You can all follow me on social media and check out when I post dates and performances. I might be in a city near you… come take a ride with Geneva Karr! It's always going to be a rollercoaster, and you're gonna get to know a little bit more of me. It'll be more of a one-on-one experience rather than sharing the attention with a bunch of loud b*tches! [laughs]

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 airs every Friday on MTV.