The season 14 star spilled the tea on her new series, Kerri Kares, during an interview with Out.
Bernardo SimKerri Colby has become a viral sensation and global superstar since appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14. A year after her big break, she is getting to watch her own drag mother, the legendary Sasha Colby, compete in season 15.
In 2023, Colby is getting her own digital series on WOW Presents Plus, Kerri Kares, where she will “share her top tips and secrets to staying sane and practicing self-care, whilst also revealing stories from her past.” Special guests featured on the show include Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Ongina, Mayhem Miller, and Arisce Wanzer.
During an interview with Out, Colby talked about her inspirations and intentions behind Kerri Kares, the importance of her fans, the KerBears, to crafting this brand-new series, and what’s been her experience watching Sasha Colby as a contestant on Drag Race.
Kerri Kares premieres January 25 on WOW Presents Plus.
Out: You are a very knowledgeable person and someone who’s extremely entertaining to watch. What was your experience doing a show like Kerri Kares?
Kerri Colby: Oh my gosh! Well, for me, this is a fever dream, right? I think even going into Drag Race, my goal was to make a splash and cause a good little tidal wave and create something that I could continue to connect with my people, my tribe, and the world, honestly. I want to continue to make a difference out there through humor, through education, and through learned and shared experiences… both mine and other people’s.
I don’t think it’s any surprise that when my time on season 14 ended, I think I wanted to see more of myself. And I think a lot of people out there also felt the same way. So I was approached by World of Wonder and they were like, ‘Hey, what can we do? What is your plan? Have you ever thought about what your next steps are?’ And I’m a very planned person, so I was like, ‘Baby, I got a roster for you.’ So we started talking about the idea of coming out with a fun TV show idea, a talk show. We were kind of throwing out concepts and things, and I wanted to do something different and unique that combines some of my favorite platforms: a very Oprah meets SNL meets Ziwe kind of hybrid.
Instead of me being just like, ‘I’m going to give you a bunch of my ideas and what I think and what I want,’ I wanted to build a show where I am able to communicate with my fans, the KerBears. They’re so fun, they have so many questions, and I had been getting so many DMs of people asking me things from fashion to home-related issues to relationship advice. So I was like, ‘Okay, why don’t we use this and be constructive here and use our KerBears to really build the platform and foundation of this show.
From the show’s concepts to the questions to the interviews to the guests, it really did come and was born from the KerBear fanbase, and I think that that’s what’s going to keep it interesting. It’s our people asking the questions they want to know. It’s all very engaging because I’m answering somebody’s actual question versus made-up dilemmas.
You love to talk to and about your KerBears and I think it’s so cute and awesome that you can now speak directly to them on Kerri Kares. But I’m also wondering, how would you describe this show to people who may not be KerBears yet but might be interested in watching it?
I feel like whether or not you are aware of me prior to watching Kerri Kares, this show is going to be relatable and educational and inspiring to you. I really wanted this entire thing that we made here to be truly unique. I don’t want you to come in and leave in the same mood. I don’t want you to come in and leave in the same tone. And I don’t want you to come in and leave with the same awareness of anything. So it’s a very hyper-chaotic love bomb. It’s a love fest.
My biggest thing is that it’s always good to feel good, but you need to feel good and know how to continue to feel better. We have a lot of those elements throughout the show and I think that you can’t leave without feeling like you got some good advice. And it’s also timeless. I think all of these topics are things that have racked my brain, or at least my fans’ brains for a long time. These are so many episodes where you can come back and watch repeatedly and always leave with a different nugget or a different vibe or a different approach to something. We made this a very intimate and real experience.
You do ASMR on the show. Are you a fan of ASMR? What kinds of videos do you like the most?
I am obsessed with ASMR. I think I really started to get into it during the lockdown. I became addicted. I could not live without ASMR during that period of time. It would help me sleep. I’m someone that needs that white noise in the background of just little sensations crackling in my ear to make me feel like just relaxed enough to sleep. I know a big wave of when I was like, ‘Ooh, I like that’ was when Cardi B did her Vanity Fair interview and she did her ASMR thing. And I was like, ‘This is genius.’
You can spot an ASMR fan instantly when you watched them do ASMR because you know how to give what you receive. I feel like that applies to everything in life. But when I saw how engaged Cardi B was, I was like, ‘This is amazing. And this is just like all the other amazing ASMR artists.’ So I told myself, ‘I want to do at least a moment in my career where I just really give you guys the full ASMR fantasy.’ It’s just everything to me.
The first episode opens and closes with ASMR, and I thought that was really funny and entertaining.
We wake you up and we send you to bed! [Laughs]
What can we expect from the special guests who’ll be featured on Kerri Kares?
You can expect to see a panel of guests that are just as broad and diverse as me and my topics. For me, especially being a newer Drag Race person, I’ve always loved and have received so much love from the alumni, and I was able to really become an avid listener with my guests.
On the show, we have Silky [Nutmeg Ganache], and I always have such a good time with her. She is so fun, and we had really engaging and just crazy conversations. We also had an overall buffoonery time with Mayhem [Miller]… which, Mayhem has always been that person. And we have Ongina, which, it was so amazing to get a Drag Race OG to give you life advice on… not just drag, but also on having a lasting career in general. OGs like her literally built the thing from the ground up, and created it what it is today. I felt very blessed to receive such good feedback and such good advice from her. Oh, and she’s also my next-door neighbor, so it was fun to get to know her a little more intimately on set. We literally share a wall!
We also had a guest that wasn’t a Drag Race alum, but who was very personal to me: Arisce Wanzer. I think that’s my most intimate episode on Kerri Kares, where we talk about just transness, trans identity, and our trans stories. Having Arisce on was a really full circle moment for me. She met me when I was new to LA, a long time ago, and I was definitely not anything I am now. And she was like, ‘Look, you don’t see it yet, but I see all these things for you.’ So it was so funny to get into a chair and have her be like, ‘You see?’
She’s so amazing, and I’m just so happy that her career has also taken off. She has an amazing platform for trans women of color and spaces that we’re welcome in.
Speaking of legends and OGs, I have to ask: What has been your experience watching your drag mother, Sasha Colby, on season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and receiving such a massive outpouring of love?
It’s everything to me. I feel like this is in my fever dream of Kerri Colby becoming something. This has always been a very big part of it. I think that Sasha [Colby] has been more than deserving, so well-equipped, and so prepared to slay on a platform like Drag Race. And I’m also such a believer in divine timing. It’s so gorgeous that people now have the ability to truly give her the attention, the love, and the care that she deserves. And watching it all happen for her on season 15 for her… she literally, single-handedly, within the second episode, turned the entire thing into Sasha Colby’s Drag Race. It’s so fun to see, and I also think it’s such a fresh heartbeat to bring back the pulse to Drag Race.
She’s name-dropped you a few times on the show, too. What has been your reaction to hearing Sasha talking about you?
It’s not that I forget that I’m her daughter, but obviously she doesn’t owe me anything. So to have these little nuggets or little clips make it in there… I didn’t know those were going to happen. So I’m always, ‘Ahh, she mentioned me!’
Even our engagements on social media. I love the fact that people are now truly becoming aware of her. We’re able to go back and forth like a mother and daughter on our social media platforms and it’s just so fun to watch. It’s almost like a trans fabulous version of the Kardashians. Like Kris interacting with Kim or Kylie. It’s just so much fun and I think it makes people get really engaged. It shows you this really is like a real family, and we are really big parts of each other’s lives.
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0Kerri Colby Talks Watching Sasha Colby on Drag Race & Her New Show
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