Canada vs the world: Anita Wigl’it’s humble balancing act in international drag race

Anita Wigl’it is about to make her international debut on Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World, and while she’s the first Kiwi queen to do so, she said the hardest part of the competition was feeling like she didn’t fit in.

Speaking to the Herald, the beloved RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star said, “I think the hardest part was being with these amazing performers and trying to adjust your brain to think that you’re one of them.”

Referring to herself as “little old Anita Wigl’it from New Zealand,” the drag performer – aka Nick Kennedy-Hall – went on to say, “It was kinda just a way of getting my brain to think that I’m one of these [queens] on the same level and it’s hard cause you want to be humble and you want to be nice, but you also want to be confident. It’s hard to find the balance sometimes between the two.”

Now 33, the fan favourite - who made her drag debut at the tender age of 21 - is starring on the show, which promises to bring a “saucy serving of international all-stars”. It was a surreal experience for the star, who admits Ra’Jah O’Hara and Silky Nutmeg Ganache, are her own personal icons.

“Being around these people from around the world that I’ve watched and people on the cast, like big celebrities that I followed for years and I dreamed of being like, ‘Oh, one day I’d love to meet this person,” she says adding, “I’d buy a meet and greet ticket to meet them and now I find myself onset amongst them. I was like, Oh gosh, like this is my life now,” she laughs.

“It was so amazing, also quite intimidating, though.”

Wigl’it goes on to discuss the filming experience and says other than being a little star-struck by the other queen’s, filming in Canada was quite different to her time on RuPaul Down Under.

The show - dubbed “the Olympics of drag,” was filmed earlier this year when Covid protocols were still in place, meaning there was a mandatory isolation period enforced by the production company and Wigl’it says throughout filming, the queens were encouraged to keep a low profile.

While she stayed off the grid for the majority of the five weeks spent filming, all her efforts of keeping a low profile dissipated on the final few days of the trip.

With 80,000 Instagram followers, the majority of them based in Canada and America, it was almost inevitable that the beloved star would be seen, and she says on the last few days of filming, she was spotted at a restaurant.

Staying true to her positive character, Wigl’it always looks on the bright side and says she didn’t mind, “I’m very lucky to have fans around the world,” she gushes.

Despite the challenges both on and off camera, the K-Road local says the experience was “the most amazing honour” and admits it’s hard to believe drag is her career now.

Having made her debut 12 years ago at Family Bar, a K-Road institution, Wigl’it says at the time, someone “rightfully” told her to keep drag as her side hustle but if she could speak to her younger self, she would give a different piece of advice.

“I would tell myself to believe in myself and take people’s advice with a grain of salt,” she laughs, saying it’s not just her make-up skills but also the drag world that has come a long way.

At the time of her debut, Wigl’it chose to pursue her music career in the navy but admits, “I wish I had realised from an earlier age that that drag could be my life and my career, and it would lead me to so many amazing things.”

Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World is available from November 18 on Wow Presents Plus.