Drag Race fans, get ready to snuggle up. Pillow Talk with ButtKing, the brand-new WOW Presents Plus series starring Season 17’s beloved showmance, Lydia B. Collins and Kori King, premieres Wednesday, September 10.
The trailer teases an intimate, playful look at life beyond the runway as Lydia and Kori invite viewers under the covers for weekly heart-to-hearts. From dating and fashion to untold love stories and fan-fueled tea, the couple brings their signature charm and chemistry to a new kind of late-night talk show: part romance, part confessional, and all sass.
We had a chance to chat with Lydia and Kori about the camp and chaos of the new show, juggling performance and romance and lots more in our exclusive interview.
Congratulations on the new show! What inspired you to bring this relationship to the screen in this way?
Kori: Oh, it feels as though it kind of started this way, so I feel like the only continuation would to be in the same format. You know what I mean? I feel like we fell in love on TV and online. So, I feel like the only way to show our love flourish is through the same way, you know?
Lydia: Yeah. It was by chance. It just kind of happened. A fairy snapped her little fingers and here we are.
The show has such a cozy, intimate vibe. What do you hope that fans will take away from seeing you two in such a personal space?
Kori: Hmm. I hope that they don’t zoom in on my wigs because week after week they do get worse. So, other than that, I hope they kind of just get our chemistry with each other in a different way that’s more intimate and cozy.
Lydia: Likewise, and I hope they do zoom in on her wigs.
Speaking of wigs, I was going to ask you, in the trailer there’s a lot of different outfits. Did you put together those outfits specifically for the episodes, or are they all kind of just random?
Lydia: Ooh, it’s a mixture. We knew what kind of show we were going into and we wanted to get looks that would be appropriate to just lay in bed with. So, it was a lot of things that we had lying around and also things that we wanted to buy specifically for the show, so a mixture of both.
Are we going to see any more tributes to your fellow queens, Kori?
Kori: On the show? No. But in the future. Absolutely. I feel like I’ll never stop making fun of each and every Ru girl until the end of time. I have to.
How did it feel filming in a more relaxed and unscripted format as opposed to like the high stakes of Drag Race?
Lydia: It was probably one of the easiest things I’ve done in terms of working in drag and working with someone in general. Working with Kori is so easy and it was just very chill and it felt natural. It was great.
Kori: Yeah. Super, super easy. And also, it’s one of those things where it’s like you’re just having a real conversation. The only caveat though was I will say, I was starting to forget that I was even on camera, so I was just getting messier and messier and the episodes go on because I totally forgot I was even on a TV thing recording, I thought I just talking to my partner. You know what I mean?
How do you keep the spark alive while you’re juggling performances and now a TV show together?
Lydia: I mean, I feel like that’s part of it, juggling the performances – and we’re both separately booked so often that we do get to reconvene and it’s very nice. It’s like, what’s the saying? Distance makes your heart grow fonder.
Kori: I was going to say like when your husband’s back from the war, you know what I mean? It’s like, oh my God, finally, you know?
Lydia: Yeah. I don’t like being apart, so I love getting back together and that has a lot of passion to it.
If you could describe the show in three words, what would they be?
Kori: Loud. Problematic. Messy.
Lydia: Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I know that you’re going on tour with Suzie Toot. What can fans expect from that tour?
Kori: My happiness destroyed. Could you imagine? Production and theatrics for sure. Camp.
Lydia: Imagine The Powerpuff Girls if they were like pushing 30.
What other kinds of projects would you like to collaborate on together in the future?
Lydia: I want to do a movie.
Kori: What movie? Freaky Friday?
Lydia: Yeah. We could swap bodies. That would be crazy. That would be sickening.
Kori: Can we do White Chicks?
Lydia: We can do White Chicks. Oh my God.
What was the most unexpected question that you got during your fan question segments, if you can disclose that?
Kori: Ooh, you’re going to have to tune in. It’s real juicy, I can’t say, dare say we had to physically reenact it. It was such a good question.
Pillow Talk with ButtKing premieres on Wednesday, September 10 on WOW Presents Plus. Get tickets to the ButtTootKing tour here. Keep up with the queens on social media. Follow Kori on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Follow Lydia on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
