This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields (@itsbritneyshields) is joined by the radiant, relentless, and newly crowned champion of The Real It Girls of West Hollywood, Starra D’Show (@thee_starradshow). We break down her full hero’s journey: clawing her way up from the bottom two against her drag mother Iridessa Van Cartier (@wowiridessa), absolutely devouring the Celebrity It Girl Game, and sealing the deal with a final lip-sync victory against Mary Kate Lohan (@marykatelohan). A star was born, and her name is in the title.
Starra opens up about where her powerhouse work ethic comes from, the strength she draws from her tight-knit biological and drag families, and how being a self-proclaimed theatre kid shaped her worldview. She reflects on experiencing the pandemic while in college — and how that isolation deepened her hunger for community, connection, and collective joy.
Then the girls get into the cultural soup:
· The It Girl of the Week: the mysterious “Bubba”, who (allegedly! allegedly!) received oral favors from Donald Trump, and Putin supposedly has the pictures to prove it — courtesy of the Epstein estate’s emails.
· BravoCon and Andy Cohen suddenly giving Bowen Yang & Matt Rogers energy — is this a collaboration or a textbook case of “inspiration”?
· Speaking of: Matt Rogers going official with Fraser Olender (sorry babe, we blanked on your name mid-recording)
· Set It Off (one of Starra’s favorite bands!) has a new album out, and she is so obsessed she went to their concert by herself and fell in love with moshing culture even more
· A celebration of Amerie, Slayyyter, and all the It Girls who slipped through mainstream fingers but remain legendary in the queer hall of fame
· And yes, we even dip into the Oscars: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Stephanie Hsu’s breakout brilliance and Brendan Fraser’s emotional return with “The Whale”
It’s a full spectrum episode — drag duels, family bonds, chaotic pop culture, queer niche excellence, and scandal that feels too wild to be real (but somehow is).