The House Of Love, With Bumpa Love

Bumpa Love wears many hats — she is a trailblazer in Melbourne’s drag scene, an activist queen, a “businesswomen queen”, and now a contestant on Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. 

When not running Vau d’vile Drag Cabaret Restaurant — a unique, drag queen-run venue in Melbourne, where queens produce, choreograph, and mix their own shows, Bumpa is looking to get drag performers to unionise. 

In an interview over the phone, ahead of the season premiere, Bumpa talks about her lifelong passion for the art of drag, a phone call that changed her life, the challenges faced by the drag and Queer community today and the different personas that she wears with Pride. 

‘Melbourne Has All Of My Favourite Things’

Of New Zealand Maori descent, Bumpa comes from a musical family.  “But I was really interested in dance and acting,” says Bumpa. While she had set her sights on a career as an actor and dancer, it was drag that beckoned. 

“I was studying Performing Arts and working in a bar when one night I was asked if I wanted to go up on stage. I had been taught makeup at the Performing Arts school and I was a performer, so I grabbed the opportunity. People loved it and it took off from there and I have been doing it ever since,” recalls Bumpa. 

Bumpa soon arrived in Australia and moved to Melbourne. “I just found a really deep connection with Melbourne mainly because it had all my favourite things – art, fashion, sports – and I love the weather. We have four distinct seasons in Melbourne and I love dressing up, I love having different wardrobes,” she chuckles.

The Sparkelettes 

Early in her drag career, Bumpa was part of the Sparklettes, a drag trio that included Season 2 winner and fellow New Zealander Spankie Jackzon and drag performer Polly Filla. 

“We performed in clubs and events around Australia,” says Bumpa. “It was amazing to see Spankie win. I knew she was going to win, she is so talented.”

For Bumpa, being on the international Drag Race franchise had always been a dream, but she did not expect to get the call to join Season 3. 

Bumpa recalls that when she first received the call to be on Drag Race Down Under, she was overwhelmed. “I was shitting bricks,” she admits, as the reality of joining the “Drag Olympics” sunk in.

However, shock quickly turned into excitement, and she embarked on a whirlwind journey revealing the preparation for the show was nothing short of “manic”. With limited time and resources, Bumpa meticulously crafted her looks, staying up late into the night with the help of friends and a few glasses of wine.

‘Meeting Ru Was Surreal’

Years ago, Bumpa had run into RuPaul at a bar in New Zealand, where the drag legend was performing. “I remember Ru, she was wearing Versace and had taken off her shoes. I was like. ‘Wow, a drag queen who takes off her shoes on stage’. She was so tall and a superstar. For all of my life she was very much an inspiration and meeting her was like a full circle.”

Bumpa describes meeting RuPaul and the other queens — she had worked with some in the local drag circuit — on Drag Race Down Under as “surreal” and being on the show as an “amazing eye-opening experience… the best and the worst.”

The veteran drag performer, who sees herself as a “hard task master” and a strong-willed and determined person, was amused that the trailer portrayed a much softer side of hers. 

When informed that there was a whole Reddit thread titled “Enter the House of Love with Bumpa Love!” dedicated to her “kindness and warm-heartedness”, Bumpa was surprised and then expressed gratitude to her fans and fellow drag performers that her love and warmth had resonated with them. 

Right-Wing Attacks On Drag Performers

Bumpa Love reflected on how drag has evolved over the years but is troubled by the recent resurgence of discrimination and intolerance, largely influenced by right-wing narratives and misinformation. 

“We seem to have gone back in time with regard to acceptance of drag queens. It has been really led by what’s been happening with MAGA (supporters of former US President Donald Trump) and the infiltration of online right-wing American views into the psyche of New Zealanders and Australians,” says Bumpa. 

“We’re regressing, which is so disappointing because I experienced that when I was growing up years ago. Now we’re having it happen again. Our work has never been more important,” she affirms, asking parents to learn about LGBTQI history and the community and think about their kids, before going down the conspiracy and hate-filled path 

Unionise

As an outspoken community advocate, Bumpa Love believes that policymakers must prioritise community engagement and inclusivity while increasing funding for the arts, especially for drag performers who often lack formal training and support.

On Bumpa Love’s agenda next is to bring drag performers together and form a Union to represent their interests.

 “I tried forming a Drag Queen Union a few years ago when I set up my venue. My suggestion was to add a drag Queen category to one of the Actors’ Union,” reveals Bumpa. 

With the larger profile and reach that has now come her way thanks to her appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, she hopes people will support a Drag Queens Union. 

Her message to young LGBTQI people is ‘Be Yourself’. And she has some words of advice for Baby Queens: “Learn your craft. Don’t copy anyone. Have the confidence to be your own unique individual.”