- Hello family, it's Michelle Visage and welcome back
to another episode of Whatcha Packin'.
(electronic music)
And joining me today all the way from Acworth, Georgia
is Miss Aiden Zhane, hey Aiden!
- Hi, Michelle.
- [Michelle] How are you?
- I'm good, I'm excited to be back.
- Acworth, Georgia.
- [Aiden] Acworth, Georgia.
- So when you are in a small town trying to find your tribe,
(Aiden laughs)
how does one go about doing that?
- I've always lived in small towns.
I've grown up in small towns my whole life.
So, yeah, that's definitely a struggle, I don't know.
I have me and my one drag sister, and that is it. (laughs)
- Really? - Yes.
- How far is Acworth from Atlanta?
- It's like an hour away from Atlanta.
- So that's not terrible.
- It's not terrible, but yeah.
- So, do you take part in the Atlanta drag scene?
- I definitely got my start in Atlanta.
I got my start at a club named Le Buzz,
which was actually in Marietta.
But, several of the clubs that did give me my shot,
and did give me that chance
to kind of find my footing on stage
and all of that, all closed down.
- Really! - Yeah, I didn't feel
like I was really gonna be getting anywhere
with what I was able to do.
If that makes sense. - Yeah, makes total sense.
- [Aide] I mean, working a full time job as well.
- And what did you do?
- I was a prep cook, I've always worked in restaurants.
- Really! - Yeah.
- Are you happy to let it go?
- More than happy. (Michelle laughing)
- I can say, watching your drag,
I instantly became enamored with you.
I think there's something really special to what you do.
- Thank you. - And it is
small town in a way, but that's what's so refreshing.
You know, I'm a big city girl,
and, I'm used to big city girls and big city drag.
And they're special, and glamorous and glitzy.
But when you see what kids can do from small towns,
when they're desperate to do what they wanna do,
it kind of tells a story, you know.
It's got all the threads that make a quilt.
How do you think you came to your aesthetic?
'Cause your aesthetic is kind of part retro, part weird.
(Aiden laughs) Part,
you know what I mean? - Yeah,
I definitely just,
I don't try to overthink it, if that makes sense.
I know what I like, and I don't, you know, think like okay,
I like vintage, or I like, I just do what I like.
- Same.
- And I love horror, I love vintage, I love weird.
Like, that's just me as a person.
So, if I like it, I do it.
- What are your hopes with doing Drag Race,
besides the money.
Listen, you know, we all start from something.
Some are more blessed than others in the money department.
I did not grow up with a lot of money.
You grew up in a small town,
you know, never make assumptions.
But, we all want more as far as that's concerned.
But what else would you like to do with your time here?
- I mean, ever since I was a little kid I have been
the child, you know, telling my parents,
"I'm gonna be on TV one day,
I'm gonna be that person."
I have so much that I would love to push to do, you know.
Drag Race was the top of the top for me.
That was the high goal, but now that I'm here--
- But all goes downhill from here, Aiden.
- Now that I'm here I've gotta set new high goals, you know.
And I would love to like, you know one thing
I always say is I would love to do a drag horror film.
- Oh, how fun!
- 'Cause I just think that would be something super cool,
super me, and--
- [Michelle] I love horror, so I would totally watch that.
- There's just a lot of things that I have hopes
to be able to do and to show that haven't been shown yet.
- I feel like you and Tammie Brown need to collaborate.
- I love Tammie Brown. - I mean, so do I!
You know, for all the obvious reasons
but, you two together could be really, really fun,
funny, weird, all the things that I'd love.
Let's talk about the Snatch Game for a minute?
I thought that you had the right intentions. (Aiden laughs)
Aiden, you had the right intentions 'cause
when I saw you I was like, "oh this could be funny."
And then I thought you started talking
and it was like, "uh-uh-oh."
You don't have an accent here. (Aiden laughs)
Houston, we have a problem.
Acworth, we have a problem, Acworth!
What happened?
- The same thing happened, that was my main struggle
through the whole competition.
You hear girls all the time say it, you know, every season.
When you start getting in your head,
it becomes sort of a downhill spiral and you just,
it's hard to break free from that.
- It is. - And everyday I tell myself
like, "you knew coming into this,
just take a deep breath.
You're just here to have fun, do what you do," but yeah.
- The idea of Patricia Quinn, Magenta, was brilliant.
Especially for you.
Like I said, maybe if you done it as Magenta,
or realized she did have a British accent
even though she's in northern of Ireland. (Aiden laughs)
Accent, whatever it is? - I think I started off
without the accent on accident
and then when I realized I was doing it.
I was like, "why, I don't want to switch now mid thing."
Maybe I should have, but I just kind of stuck
with what I was doing.
- You got trapped, and it happens.
I think you did a fantastic job.
And one of the things I loved most about you
was your interpretation of your fashions
and your drag looks.
'Cause they really were left of center, which is fun.
And speaking of which, like, this kind of crochet bondage,
did you do that, did you make it, or did you have it made?
- [Aiden] This one I had made by a cousin of mine, actually,
before I left I told her I need this in like four days.
Get it done, so--
- [Michelle] And she was able to do that?
- [Aiden] Yap, so she whipped all that up real quick for me.
And I was sad I didn't get to wear it
'cause that's like totally me right there.
- [Michelle] What would you wear under that?
- [Aiden] It was a all-black catsuit,
but the boots go all the way up to the crotch.
- This is kinda beautiful, this is glamorous.
- [Aiden] Yeah, this was intended to be my,
if I had made it top four.
My drag does have generally
a less-is-more kind of appeal to it.
So I wanted to stick to that,
instead of trying to go like super above and beyond.
But I had planned on doing more of a softer face,
less of that like crazy sort of Aiden face.
- And what about this one behind me?
The little tufts of red.
- [Aiden] She's just very, very classic sort of Aiden Zhane.
For the people who do know me, they're go to,
the thing when they think of me
is the cropped black hair, that short black hair.
So I planned on wearing that with that, and it's just.
it sort of brings in that sort of just cartoony,
zany vibe of Aiden.
- Is your out of drag name Aiden?
- My out of drag name is Devin.
- So you're Devin, and how'd you come up with Aiden Zhane?
- I wanted something that sort of fit the character's,
fit that sort of like dark but zany kind of vibe,
and, so Zhane just was an easy choice.
I chose the male spelling of Aiden,
and the female spelling of Zhane.
And then again, Aiden is A and Zhane is Z,
so, both ends of the spectrum.
- Love that, but I also love that Devin could be all genders
and so could Aiden.
Isn't that special? - Yep.
- I love that, I think you're a really special queen.
I really enjoyed your time on our stage.
- Thank you. - I loved being able
to critique you, and judge you,
and just see what you brought
to the main stage. - I was
so excited to meet you today
because you're like one of my favorite judges.
- Aww! - And you have,
I mean, you have that Michelle face.
But for me I was lucky, because every time I was in drag,
I was completely blind.
(Michelle laughing)
- So you couldn't see my face. - I didn't have any contacts
or anything, I could not see any of you guys up there.
- That's hilarious!
- One of the first things you said to me was,
"are you okay?" (laughs)
And I did, and then I was like, "yes."
And I didn't know maybe if it was
because of the expression on my face,
'cause I'm kind of staring through you guys.
- It was a look of kind of like fear.
And I just wanted to make sure you were okay.
You know, sometimes that happens where I can see the girls
like, oh God, and I just wanted to make sure.
- Yeah, it wasn't just that it was also,
I mean, it was that but-- - And you couldn't see.
- It was also the, I can't see anything right now.
- Yeah, and I totally understand that.
And now that time goes on, when the runway comes now
I have to put my glasses on
because I don't want to miss a thing.
But you are such a fantastic queen,
I enjoyed so much having you.
And, although you went home, you had a great run.
You're going to be out there taking over the world.
Social media, Aiden Zhane.
A-Y-D-E-N, or A-I?
- It's A-I-D-E-N_Zhane on Instagram.
- Thank you so much, Aiden Zhane
- Thank you. - Thank you guys
for watching another episode of Whatcha Packin'.
I'll see you next time, bye, ciao.
- Bye. - Au revior.
(electronic music)