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Kerri Colby

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Kerri Colby
Kerri Colby at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2024
Born (1996-07-30) July 30, 1996 (age 28)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Other namesElyse Alessandra Anderson
Kerri Elyse Colby
OccupationDrag performer
Years active2016–present
Known forRuPaul's Drag Race (season 14) and Drag Performer
TelevisionRuPaul's Drag Race (season 14)
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Websitekerricolby.com
Signature

Kerri Colby is the stage name of Elyse Alessandra Anderson (born July 30, 1996), an American drag performer best known for competing on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race, where she placed ninth overall. Kerri Colby is based in Los Angeles, California.[1]

Early life

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Anderson was born in Dallas, Texas.[2] She was raised in a Pentecostal household.[3] She stated that she has never fit in with those beliefs, and after watching the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, she learned about drag. She left home at 15, and she has stated the reasoning for leaving is the toxic environment that her family created for her. She couch-surfed, mostly in Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood, which is the city's gayborhood,[4] and found friends to take care of her after leaving home. She has stated that many of the people taking care of her were much older, and it led to abusive situations.[5]

One day when Kerri was resting at a train station, a stranger named Manuel who was of El Salvadorian[4] descent recognized her from her posts on both Instagram and online and offered to help. Kerri told them that unless they helped with her homelessness, they could not help. This person then took Kerri in until she was eighteen. Kerri has stated in an interview, "[My friend was] completely my angel... I would not have made it."[6]

She moved to Los Angeles at 18 after someone hit her up on an app, ending up living in West Hollywood, California with a man who flew her to the city.[4]

Career

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Kerri Colby at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2023

She competed on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race. On episode 4, she landed in the bottom and lip-synced against Alyssa Hunter to Jennifer Lopez's song, "Play".[7] On episode 8, she landed in the bottom again with Jasmine Kennedie, and lost the lip-sync to "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton.[8]

She was a featured performer during Jennifer Lopez's performance at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards.[9] In May, her nomination was announced at the 2022 WOWIE Awards as part of RuPaul's DragCon in Los Angeles in the category Best Viral Moment (The America's Next Top Meme Award), shared with drag queens Daya Betty and Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté.[10]

In 2022, Colby appeared in an advertising campaign for cannabis beverage brand Cann, alongside fellow season 14 contestants Willow Pill, Jorgeous, and Kornbread, as well as other LGBTQ+ celebrities including Hayley Kiyoko and Gus Kenworthy.[11] During press for the Cann campaign, Colby shared that she worked at a dispensary before appearing on Drag Race.[12]

In 2023, she appeared in a cameo during season 15 Untucked episode to give a video message to her drag mother and season 15 winner Sasha Colby.[13]

Personal life

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Kerri Colby is a trans woman. Fellow Drag Race contestant and trans woman Kornbread Jeté credits Kerri Colby with helping her in her own transition.[14][15] She has also helped inspire Jasmine Kennedie to come out as a trans woman on an episode of Untucked on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race. Bosco has also cited Kerri Colby as a source of "clarity" in her transition, which she announced after season 14 wrapped filming.[16]

Filmography

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Year Title Genre Role Notes
2022 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 14) TV Contestant 9th place (11 episodes, including Queen Ruveal special)
2022-2023 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked TV Herself Season 13, 7 episodes
Cameo (Season 14, 1 episode)
2022 Whatcha Packin' Web series Herself Guest (Season 15, episode 6: Kerri Colby)
2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards Red Carpet Web show Herself Co-host
2023 Kerri Kares TV Herself Host (8 episodes)
2023 Photo Fashion RuView Web series Herself Co-host (12 episodes)
2023 Look at Huh Web series Herself Guest (Season 1, episode 7)
2023 Bring Back My Girls Web series Herself Guest (Season 2, episode 1: Season 14)
2024 Hey Qween Web series Herself (Voice only) Cameo (Season 10, episode 2: Mirage)
TBA Slaycation TV Herself Main cast [17]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2022 Critics' Choice Real TV Awards Best Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series
(Shared with the Season 14 cast) 		RuPaul's Drag Race Won [18]
2023 Queerties Awards Future All-Star Herself Nominated [19]

References

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  1. ^ Nolfi, Joey (2022-03-25). "Drag Race star Kerri Colby just wore Jennifer Lopez's dress to perform with Jennifer Lopez". Yahoo! Money. Archived from the original on 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  2. ^ Guerra, Joey. "Q&A: 'Drag Race' queen Kerri Colby talks trans representation in Texas as rights are challenged". Preview | Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  3. ^ Nolfi, Joey. "Kerri Colby won't be silenced after 'Drag Race' exit". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  4. ^ a b c Monét X Change (2024-10-03). Kerri Colby Talks Being A Baddie in STEM | Monét Talks. Retrieved 2024-11-15 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Kerri Colby's Difficult Past and how Cannabis is Helping the HIV+". LATV. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  6. ^ "Whatcha Packin' S14 E08 Rupaul's Drag Race". Youtube. 2022-02-25.
  7. ^ McCallion, Paul (January 28, 2022). "RuPaul's Drag Race Recap: All Tease, All Shade". Vulture. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  8. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 14, Episode 8 recap: There goes my baby". 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-04-15. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  9. ^ Ermac, Raffy (March 23, 2022). "Drag Race Queens Paid Tribute To Jennifer Lopez At Her iHeartRadio Music Awards Performance". Out.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  10. ^ Nguyen, Nikki (2 May 2022). "World of Wonder's 2022 WOWIE Awards at DragCon: Cast Your Votes Now!". World of Wonder. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Yoshiko, Lauren (23 June 2022). "Cann's New Pride Campaign Signals Cannabis Cultural Progress". Thrillist. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  12. ^ Hasse, Javier. "RuPaul Drag Icons Kerri Colby, Jorgeous, Willow Pill Talk Weed, LGBTQIA+ Community: 'It's Hard Being Fabulous… Smoking Helps Keep Anxiety Down'". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  13. ^ Gregory, Drew Burnett (2023-03-25). ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Episode 1513 Recap: Class In Session". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  14. ^ "Kerri Colby Was One of the First People Kornbread Came Out To". www.out.com. 2022-01-14. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  15. ^ "Kornbread says Kerri Colby was "one of the first" people she came out to as trans". GAY TIMES. 2022-01-16. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  16. ^ February 17, Joey Nolfi; EST, 2022 at 01:00 PM. "Bosco says Kerri Colby and Kornbread gave her 'clarity' on trans journey". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Joey Nolfi, "See the 6 returning Drag Race queens set to be dropped into the wilderness on new Slaycation series". Entertainment Weekly, June 6, 2024.
  18. ^ Erik Pedersen (June 12, 2022). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' & 'Top Chef' Lead Critics Choice Real TV Awards". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  19. ^ "Future All-Star Nominees". The Queerties. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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