This week, Britney Shields is joined by ballroom royalty, Calypso Jeté Balmain, the Season 1 winner of Legendary. Mother, pioneer, and cultural architect, Calypso brings history, honesty, and hard-earned wisdom to the mic.

We unpack the vital distinctions between the ballroom scene and the drag scene — where they intersect, where they fundamentally differ, and why conflating them erases lineage. Calypso speaks candidly about the ongoing fight for safe, intentional spaces for the trans community and the emotional labor of building environments where people can exist without fear.

She reflects on her wins for Drag Parent and Drag Pioneer at the It Girl Awards, paying tribute to the queens and mentors who sharpened her technique and helped shape her identity. We talk about her upbringing in the church, discovering a love of performance at an early age, and the discipline that drove her to graduate high school and college simultaneously.

The conversation turns to ballroom’s evolving relationship with mainstream culture now that Pose and Legendary are off the air — what visibility gave the scene, what it complicated, and what happens when the cameras leave.

We also get into:

• Bad Bunny’s continued cultural dominance
• The America's Next Top Model documentary revisiting the early-2000s reality TV machine and its controversies
• Pam Bondi and the suppression surrounding the Epstein files
• Calypso’s perspective from working as a dominatrix in Hollywood, and why recent revelations feel unsurprising
• Beyoncé’s new bob and whether it signals the arrival of Renaissance Act III
• Cultural pleas for Fefe Dobson, Keke Palmer, and Teyana Taylor to receive their overdue flowers

It’s a conversation about legacy, labor, discipline, and knowing exactly where you come from — so you can decide where you’re going.

It’s season three baby!!!! Britney Shields is joined by the queen of it all, Lauren Banall, fresh off her viral Erika Kirk impression that birthed the internet’s newest anti-hero: Erika Qwerk.

And because subtlety is dead, Britney shows up to the studio dressed as Melania Trump, giving you a historic summit between Erika Qwerk and Melania C*nt. Diplomacy has never been this glamorous.

We start by unpacking the power and parameters of satire. Why drag has always critiqued those in power. Why punching up is sacred. And what responsibility white performers have when operating inside an art form rooted in Black and Brown resistance.

Lauren and Britney get candid about:

· Weaponizing white privilege to actively dismantle white supremacy

· How to take feedback from POC and marginalized communities without ego

· The difference between intention and impact

· Why correction is growth, not cancellation

Then we pivot to the It Girls of the Week:

· Bad Bunny, fresh off a Grammy win and a culture-shifting Super Bowl performance

· The ongoing chaos of the Epstein files

· Melania Trump’s documentary flopping at the box office and a revisit of her infamous “Be Best” speech as we question what she may have known while preaching about protecting children’s innocence

From there, we descend into our Niche Girls — the hyper-specific internet content getting us through the rise of fascism:

· Pediatricians shaving calicos and carving out corns in oddly satisfying foot-care videos

· Nate the Hoof Guy, bravely treating infected cow hooves for millions of captivated viewers

Because sometimes survival looks like dissociation via oddly specific grooming content.

We close with our It Girls Who Got Away:

· A plea for Swedish pop deity Robyn to reclaim her throne and a rallying cry ahead of her new album drop

· Cirie from The Traitors, and the anticipation surrounding her upcoming appearance on Survivor 50

It’s absurd. It’s political. It’s deeply online. It’s counterculture grit and pop culture glitter now with higher stakes and better wigs.

Season three has arrived.

This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields is joined by the original It Girl in her life: Mother Shields. In a rare and deeply personal episode, the two sit down to reflect on what it was like to grow up alongside a kid who was always performing, producing, experimenting, and dreaming — sometimes loudly, sometimes awkwardly, always creatively.

They reminisce about years of projects, shows, and schemes, and about all those unforgettable nights shutting down West Hollywood clubs, dancing through history, and celebrating the passing of marriage equality.

Mother Shields shares her wisdom for moms of gay children and drag artists, offering reassurance, encouragement, and hard-earned perspective for families navigating unfamiliar terrain. She also speaks to her broader philosophy on life — why strangers are always drawn to open up to her and Britney, and how listening can be one of the most radical acts of care.

The conversation turns to her vocation as a theatre teacher:

· What it means to feel called to teach

· The rewards and challenges of guiding young people through creativity

· Advice for new teachers just starting out

· How society can better support educators in meaningful, material ways

She also reflects on teaching through the pandemic, the toll it took on students’ mental health, and the lasting effects educators are still grappling with today.

It’s a warm, grounding, and honest episode about creativity, parenting, education, and showing up — for your kids, your students, and your community.

For the season finale, The It Girl Podcast transforms into a full-blown awards show with a special episode celebrating the inaugural It Girl Awards — a chaotic, heartfelt, and highly opinionated tribute to the people, moments, and cultural obsessions that shaped the year.

Every category was born organically from conversations on the podcast, evolving into a sprawling awards universe that spans pop culture, drag, politics, media, music, and the local LA nightlife ecosystem. These aren’t industry awards — they’re It Girl canon.

Across the episode, we honor:

✨ The figures who dominated discourse — from undeniable It Girls to Niche Girls, ones who slipped away too soon, and those who found themselves… controversially discussed
✨ Drag artists across every lane — queens, kings, parents, pioneers, producers, and rising stars who carried the scene night after night
✨ Cultural moments in film, television, comedy, and performance that made us feel something — whether that was joy, obsession, or full-body cringe
✨ Political figures, public scandals, and media moments that seeped into our timelines whether we asked for them or not
✨ The music that defined the year — from pop supremacy and viral anthems to albums and performances that lived rent-free in our heads
✨ And the local heroes — venues, parties, photographers, gogo dancers, and nightlife staples that keep the culture alive on the ground

Nominees range from global icons to deeply niche favorites, from household names to community legends — all without revealing who takes home the titles. The joy is in the celebration, the recognition, and the shared language built over a season of listening together.

This finale is less about winners and more about witnessing the culture as it actually exists — messy, interconnected, and shaped by conversation.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in, debated, voted, screenshotted, and cared this season. The It Girl Awards are the capstone, not the conclusion.

Big announcements coming soon. Same delusion. Next season.

This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields is joined by the luminous Gia Giselle for a powerful, wide-ranging conversation about visibility, survival, and stepping fully into your era. Gia opens up about traveling across America on the Taylor Swift Eras Drag Brunch Tour as a trans woman of color — what it meant to take up space in unfamiliar cities, the joy of performing for new audiences, and the realities of safety on the road.

We talk about Gia’s transformative year, including accessing gender-affirming care that has profoundly increased her sense of safety and confidence in public spaces. She shares how she found her political voice, built an online platform, and learned to speak with clarity and conviction in a moment when visibility truly matters.

Gia also reflects on her path before drag — earning her master’s degree, becoming a teacher, dabbling in marketing and digital media, and eventually finding drag as the place where all her skills, passions, and purpose finally aligned.

Then we get into the It Girls of the week:

· Heated Rivalry reaching a new temperature with its “All the Things She Said” needle drop — an instant gay canon moment — and Jordan Firstman calling out the show’s authenticity, creating the perfect storm of controversy that only makes an It Girl stronger

· The state of the U.S. economy and the very real struggle so many people are facing just to get by

· Tyra Banks’ off-the-rails Sydney club appearance, sending the gays into a collective spiral

· The endless entertainment of Smize & Dream Ice Cream and Tyra’s lasting cultural contribution, from business ventures to Life-Size

· The tragic loss of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, and the disturbing response from the president that has even longtime allies recoiling

· Tinashe and her pursuit to break ground and create opportunities in the music industry that seems intent on shutting her out

· Taylor Swift, and the important distinction between calling her a MAGA Barbie versus a capitalist queen

· Zohran Mamdani’s epic year, and the hope he represents for progressives and democratic socialists

Finally, we close with something special: the announcement of the It Girl nominations for the LA drag community. Gia joins Britney to reveal the nominees for:

✨ It Girl Categories (Cultural):

· It Girl of the Year

· Niche Girl of the Year

· It Girl Who Got Away

· Cancelled Queen

✨ Niche Girl Categories (Local Awards):

· Drag Queen of the Year

· Drag King of the Year

· Drag Parent of the Year

· Pioneer of the Year

· Rising Star of the Year

· Ingenue of the Year

It’s a conversation about movement — across cities, identities, careers, and culture — and what it means to claim your space unapologetically.

This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields is joined by her drag sister, her confidante, and one of the hardest-working, kindest queens in the Los Angeles scene — the one and only Icon Lewis.

We get into the audacity, delusion, and manifestation required to name yourself Icon, and how she more than lives up to it. Icon opens up about her beginnings as a songwriter and singer, and her early days gogo dancing at Precinct, before she became a drag queen that would live up to her name.

We talk drag, destiny, and doing the work…

And then—

🚨 SPOILER ALERT: The rest of this description discusses topics from the episode that are even more chaotic and delightful when discovered in real time. Proceed with caution! 🚨

From here, we dive into the It Girls of the moment:

· Sarah Paulson in All’s Fair and her beautiful tribute to her late friend Diane Keaton

· Spotify Wrapped, and why everyone still needs to switch to Apple Music until Spotify stops running ICE ads

· Britney’s top artist of the year: Rose Gray, and Icon’s top: Lady Gaga, returning triumphantly to form

· The cast announcement of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, including the sole LA queen Darlene Mitchell, who once gifted Icon some of her old wigs

· Miss Maamshe’s Mall Drag at Precinct — and why recession-era Mall Drag is the culture reset we needed

· The viral thirst traps infiltrating our feeds at alarming (and appreciated) rates

· The impossibly steamy Actors on Actors interview between Jonathan Bailey and David Corenswet, brimming with homoerotic tension

· The continued rise of Heated Rivalry, whose backlash is only solidifying its status as an It Girl

· A call to resurrect lost pop icon Natalia Kills (Teddi Sinclair)

· A lamentation over Survivor losing the ruthless competitive edge that once made it legendary

It’s an episode full of sisterhood, storytelling, industry tea, cultural obsession, and the kind of laughter that only happens when you sit down with the girls who know you best.

This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields sits down with the ever-evolving, ever-elevating Suadé, a queen who refuses to stay in one lane. From her early days as a performer to becoming a sought-after host and now a full-fledged producer, Suadé is crafting the future of LA drag one show at a time. Whether it’s Spotlight Competition, her Drag Race viewing parties, the beloved Hot Chocolate revue, or her upcoming Hairspray Drag Show at Precinct on 12/13, Suadé is a one-woman innovation engine.

We talk about her experience in Project Drag, and how she learned to pivot after that loss — a skill she honed long before drag, when her pre-pandemic esthetician training became unusable overnight and she had to reinvent herself. Suadé opens up about drawing inspiration from her mother, and how her drag is grounded in her roots: beauty, dance, and the vibrant musical scene of New York.

We reminisce on the post-pandemic West Hollywood era — Stache, the nights that defined a community, and how Kisoand Precinct continue to hold it down for DTLA culture.

Then it’s time for the IT GIRLS of the week:

· The Madame Morrible Wicked Witch memes, celebrating Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar-winning commitment to the bit

· Megan Thee Stallion spending Thanksgiving with new man Klay Thompson, all while securing her win against that foolish blogger

· Rehashing Cardi B’s court case from earlier this year

· The tragic, spiraling descent of Nicki Minaj into MAGA-land and away from reality

We also dive into the niche girls:

· HBO & Crave’s new series Heated Rivalry — the gay sports drama that has queer men and women downright feral

· Brownwyn Newport (RHOSLC) and Stacey Rusch (RHOP) thriving in their sophomore seasons now that they fully understand the game

· Shaiie Food (@shaiie_food), whose chaotic food reviews have us screaming

· Elton John attempting to trick Donald Trump into funding AIDS research — and Trump refusing to even acknowledge World AIDS Day for the first time in 40 years

· We honor those lost to the AIDS epidemic and stress the importance of being loud, organized, and unrelenting in the fight to protect queer life

· Robert Irwin following in his sister’s footsteps and winning Dancing with the Stars

· Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Dream Girls and all the musicals that we can’t get out of our heads

· And finally — a plea for our listeners to run for office. If we want a future, we have to help build one.

It’s reinvention and real talk — Suadé brings all of it.

This week on The It Girl Podcast, Britney Shields welcomes back one of our most beloved guests — the unstoppable Seven, returning for her second appearance after snatching victory at the Henny Games: Victors Quarter Quell. Since then, she’s been everywhere, serving as the host and producer of her own hit pre-show at Micky’s: Seven’s Heaven.

We break down her winning strategy, her growth since season one, and the art of doing drag right — from respecting your elders to honoring the steps of the ladder before taking the crown. Seven gives us a masterclass on the many corners of the drag universe:

· The bar scene

· The ballroom scene

· The dance and competition scenes

· The pageant scene

…and all the microcultures that make LA drag a sprawling, interconnected ecosystem and how Seven has her fingers in so many of the pots.

Then we enter full It Girl Mode:

· Miss Mexico’s Miss Universe 2025 win and the controversy shaking the global pageant world

· Wicked 2, which is already rewriting the culture before it even drops

· Morgan McMichaels, fresh off being crowned Entertainer of the Year — we honor her legacy, her influence, and the blueprint she created for all of us to follow

· Aaron Parnas, the young independent progressive journalist keeping us informed (and occasionally unwell) with the real-time scoop on social media

Seven also takes a victory lap for predicting the rise of the K-Pop Demon Hunters trend earlier this summer — just another reminder that drag queens are the true cultural forecasters of our generation.

We close with impassioned pleas for “Wheel of Time” and “Pushing Daisies” — two shows that deserve their Renaissance now.

It’s a reunion, a revelation, and a reminder that Seven is always seven steps ahead of the culture.