Ep. 207 – BravoCon and California Driving in the Rain with Starra D’Show

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).