I went from ‘underbelly of society’ drag shows to being among the first trans models in magazines and at Swim Week
IT’S 2024, and it seems like everyone and their mother is obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race — but it wasn’t that long ago that drag was more of an underground enterprise.
Season 3 star Carmen Carrera’s TV turn took her from drag famous to actually famous, and it wasn’t long before the trans superstar was breaking down barriers in the fashion world and on the runway.
Carmen‘s reality television success led to a contract with Elite Model Management, two features in W Magazine — one shot by the legendary Steven Meisel — and a slew of runway gigs.
“If we had never had a trans model before, I was the first one, and that’s really the direction that I wanted to go in,” she told The U.S. Sun.
She strutted catwalks for designers like Chromat and Willfredo Gerardo and has sat front row at NYFW shows for The Blonds, Christian Siriano, Prabal Gurung, and Tadashi Shoji.
She also appeared at Miami Swim Week several times since 2016, including Art Hearts Fashion shows for the risqué Black Tape Project and Lila Nikole.
“When I started walking Miami Swim Week, there weren’t any out trans models at the time,” said that star, who’s also modeled in the Paraiso tent at Swim Week for Draw on Swimwear and Hunting Hue.
“I’ve been able to build that respect, whereas so many girls before me had to hide it,” she said.
“People are thinking to be more inclusive now. Not only do we need size diversity, we need women from all different walks of life. We also need to include a trans person.”
PLEASANTVILLE PROBLEMS
It’s been a long time coming to this point.
As early as kindergarten, Carmen remembers her teachers and other kids in her New Jersey hometown telling her what boys should and should not do.
Still, Carmen, born Christopher, said she is “so grateful for her childhood” and grew up with her mom, grandmother, and sister who supported her.
“It was kind of like a Pleasantville sort of situation but with a Latin flavor,” she said.
We were still in the underbelly of society. We were not at the forefront of creating major change or having an impact.
Carmen Carrera
Yet the “outside world” indicated to her that some of her preferences were “not right,” a tough thing for a kid to understand.
This included the toys she wanted to play with and how she would express herself.
“I was a little bit confused because I was doing what was natural to me,” she said.
“My young adult life was about hiding who I was.”
FINDING HER NICHE
Upon moving to New York City after graduation, Carmen explored the local drag scene and found people who were just like her.
“That’s when I learned about being trans. It was through performing and drag, and just being a member of the community,” she said.
“Going into the queer community, I always wanted to have a sense of family, and a sense of safety. I created the Carrera family with my two best friends and our drag mother, Angela Carrera.
Drag queens usually all share the same last name of the drag house or drag family they belong to, and even may live together.
Carmen called herself a “hustler” back in those days, traveling up and down the Northeast.
“We’re going to go to every single gay bar that has an amateur drag show, and we’re going to perform,” she recalled.
“We were going to entertain, and we were going to make a name for ourselves.
I never set out to be on reality TV. Not at all. It just happened that way.
Carmen Carrera
“We were still in the underbelly of society. We were not at the forefront of creating major change or having an impact,” she said.
She added that there was “a lot of unresolved trauma” within the queer communities that would “manifest” in different ways.
The experience allowed her to stand her ground and affirm her creativity.
She knew there were bigger opportunities out there for her, and that is what exactly led her to RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 3, which aired in 2011.
“I never set out to be on reality TV. Not at all. It just happened that way,” she said.
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE SEASON 3
Carmen was already pretty well known in drag circles when she found herself on reality television.
“I was really popular in the community, so my friends at the time pushed me to do Drag Race because it was still only two seasons in,” Carmen said.
She wasn’t looking for fame, but rather to celebrate that she found a community and could “be free” in her personal expression.
“My first experience on reality TV was definitely exciting. I was eager to wake up every day and put in those hours. It was a bit of a surreal experience for me,” Carmen said.
“It wasn’t necessarily tough until we were getting eliminated, and then that was like, ‘OK, it’s real.'”
One of the biggest challenges each week was figuring out where to get her “creative juice” flowing.
“Drag Race is not just your personality. You have to also make things,” she explained.
“You have to also think on your toes, be creative, and embody this character that you just made up five minutes ago, and it’s going to be on television, where your whole community is going to watch.”
“There was a lot of pressure toward the end.”
BEHIND THE SCENES
There were a few unseen and “vulnerable” moments that she wished the producers aired.
“I talked about my father, who unfortunately passed away when I was a baby from drug use, which led to him contracting AIDS and just dealing with that, the emotions navigating that,” she revealed.
“They had it in the interview, but they never showed it, so that was something that I wish they would have touched upon more.
“But everything else I felt I was okay with.”
TIME TO TRANSITION
By the time she was on the show, she had “already come to terms” with the fact that she was transgender but had yet to medically transition.
“Doing Drag Race was my way to create a time capsule in my life. After Drag Race, I was in transition literally the next day,” she admitted.
She was already a full year into the process by the time her season aired.
THE TYRA BANKS SHOW THAT NEVER AIRED
Following her appearance, she was approached by Tyra Banks about a reality television show about trans people in Chicago that was to be similar to Sex and the City.
Although they filmed the potential VH1 program, it was ultimately scrapped.
You should love yourself so much that you still want to see yourself. You just want to see yourself looking your best, and that should be the intention.
Carmen Carrera
“They wanted the smoke. They wanted the drama, and they wanted the fighting,” she explained.
That still led her to another on-camera opportunity.
She and her future husband appeared on Couples Therapy in 2015, with their wedding airing in the season finale.
They’ve since split and Carmen has been in another relationship for two years.
PLASTIC SURGERY
Carmen is an avid supporter of cosmetic enhancements but also encourages others to make choices that still make them “look like them.”
“I never want to look other than who I am. I want to look like a better version of myself,” she said.
Carmen even has pictures of herself before her transition in her home, which friends are confused about when they come over.
“I can’t just block out one part of my life. Even now, going through my transition, I want to look like someone from my family,” she said.
“You should love yourself so much that you still want to see yourself. You just want to see yourself looking your best, and that should be the intention,” she said.
“I think it’s important to hold on to that on the inside so that you can draw from a place of real confidence.”