Anita Wigl'it featured on the first ever series of Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under. Photo / @anitawiglit
Anita Wigl'it featured on the first ever series of Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under. Photo / @anitawiglit
They won the hearts of fans around the world with their cheery disposition, but Drag Race Down Under star Anita Wigl'it – aka Nick Kennedy-Hall – hasn't always had a lot to smile about.
They joined Ganesh Raj on this week's episode of The Hit's podcast, The Humble Yum Yum Podcast, to talk about Kennedy-Hall's childhood to their experiences as one of the country's top drag queens.
He said that he has always been an extremely positive person and it has always been in his nature to see the good in people - however sometimes to a fault.
"I always was optimistic and looked at the bright side of things. The downside of that is that there are some people who don't want good for you and you kind of gloss over them."
He opened up to Raj about an incident in his early 20s when he was sexually abused, a situation that he said was because people would take advantage of his overly optimistic self.
"There were many predatory signs before it happened. You would think anybody would be like right I'm out... But for me being optimistic and thinking 'surely not'. It obviously progressed into something negative.
"I'm such a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. Even the bad things... In many ways, in a weird twisted way, I'm grateful because now I find it easier to talk about and hopefully that helps other people on their journeys."
Kennedy-Hall - who also co-hosts the NZME podcast Kita and Anita's Happy Hour - talked about how this situation made him stronger and helped him stand up for himself.
"Am I perfect at it? Not at all. Am I still learning? Absolutely. But it's given me the ability to say no."
As a child, he said he always knew who he was - "I was a drag queen but without being a drag queen" - but this didn't come without its challenges.
He talked about his time at an all-boys Catholic school and his first job at KFC, where he was severely bullied for being gay.
Upon reflection, Kennedy-Hall said that so many individuals like him are stronger because of going through those challenges.
"That journey through life, you go through those adversities. You'll see a lot of people in the rainbow community who are super successful and I think a lot of that is because they faced these difficulties, and are like I'm going to prove this person wrong!"
Now he uses his drag character as a sort of "shield" and chance to speak freely without fear of making mistakes.
"The beautiful thing about drag... Because I'm dressed as Anita, she's a drag queen, she's allowed to make mistakes. It's kind of like a shield almost.
"I've found so much power and honesty [as Anita]. I'm an open book, I'll talk about anything and everything to people... If I was just talking about myself and the good things, that's not really my life. I think it's important to talk about the bad things too."
The Humble Yum Yum is a The Hits podcast.
The Humble Yum Yum with Ganesh Raj is out every Saturday. Recipes available on Eat Well. You can listen to the podcast on iHeartRadio or where ever you get your podcasts.
