Pride, Drag & Spiritual Coincidence with Kyne Santos - S3E8

23 June 2023

It’s the grand finale of Series 3, and last (but certainly not least) to grace our guest’s chair is the monolithic master of maths and drag alike, Kyne Santos!

An iconic figure featured on the first season of Canada’s Drag Race, Kyne takes us on his enlightening journey of self-discovery, the STEM field’s acceptance of queer people, and maths’ unlikely link with drag.

While Trey sadly can’t join us to wrap up the series, Jaz is accompanied by a lovely, familiar voice - episode 1’s fantastic guest, Gemma Oaten! Join us to wrap up Series 3 in style…

This episode covers:

The Drag Race experience, and lessons learned from going home second
A link between the worlds of mathematics & makeup
RuPaul’s role in bringing drag to the forefront
The healing power of the sea
Kyne’s coming out story and relationship with his parents

Episode highlights

“I think that’s the delusion that drag queens have is that we just put on a wig, and then we think we’re the local celebrity. It starts to get into your head and you start to believe some of those things about yourself. Even if it starts off as irony, you start to really have that confidence.” - 3:40 - Kyne Santos

“When you look at people like Alan Turing, you realise that the world and the STEM community hasn’t always been so friendly and accepting to queer people.” - 8:20 - Kyne Santos

“My parents wanted me to be a ‘normal, masculine gay man’, but as I started diving into makeup and drag they started seeing it as more of a creative pursuit that meant a lot to me.” - 14:50 - Kyne Santos

“I went home second, and as Trixie Mattel would say, I had to spin straw into gold. That taught me that you don’t need to put your fate in others’ hands to tell your story, you can open a platform and tell it yourself.” - 17:40 - Kyne Santos

“By the time I came out, dad and I didn’t have the best relationship. By the time he was diagnosed with cancer though, he changed and supported me. In the end he was my biggest fan.” - 24:15 - Kyne Santos

“Joyce, who looked after me when I was admitted for anorexia, was the one who snuck me into the office, and I got to say goodnight to mum and dad. I wouldn’t be here without it. I never got to thank her - until I saw her two weeks ago on holiday and I got to thank her there.” - 30:10 - Gemma Oaten