Quotes from Trixie Mattel

I used to make everything myself. I used to do my own hair, make my own costumes, write my own jokes, and write my own songs. There were definitely some days where I had to choose between having tights that didn't have holes in them or having to buy makeup or something I needed for a show.

Bad things can happen to you, but it doesn't mean you have to have regrets. It's all about what you do with it.

I'm an optimistic realist. I kind of expect the worst but prepare for the best.

That's something I like about drag - I get to do everything. Collaborative arts are hard for me because I don't really like to relinquish control.

'Drag Race' doesn't claim to represent drag as a whole. 'Drag Race' is a reality show. If you see real drag shows, we just do drag and respect each other's art and who your real identity is - name, gender, hair color, anything.

When you unbox a My Little Pony or a Strawberry Shortcake doll, you were hit with a sweet, impossibly perfect fragrance of fresh, machine-made plastic oftentimes infused with floral and fruity notes to bring the toy to life. That third dimension of sensory experience made the toy so real to me.

Drag queens always base their personas on their favorite female icons. Mine was Barbie, who's not necessarily a human but is as iconic and beautiful as any woman. I started really pushing it because I hit a crossroads of, 'I don't want to look like a woman or a man. I want to look like a wind-up toy, a plaything manufactured in a factory.'

As a kid, I wasn't allowed to have girl toys, but I would take my cousin's My Little Pony and smell it. That weird, synthetic, fruity-sweet smell - that's how I wanted to look. I wanted to look like this fabricated toy. I wanted to look like you could pull a string on my back, and I would say, like, six catchphrases.

My look and my character come from my experiences as a child. I wasn't allowed to have girl toys, and I grew up poor. I also had a rough relationship with my stepdad.

Trixie is like a hyper-feminine child's toy who has it all. I love looking like I'm from Toys 'R Us but serving off-color comedy.

I'm very proud of my career. A lot of people get their career from the judges of 'Drag Race' saying they're great. I had to go and build that reputation from the ground up.

If I have a show at night, I like to spend the whole day alone in silence. I know that might be crazy.

I don't think gay guys are in touch with how many fabulous divas we have that actually play their own instruments and write their own music, too.

I listened to a lot of what my grandparents listened to: George Jones, Johnny Cash - a lot of old country singers. Patsy Cline.

I looooove Jason Isbell.

Katya and I, as a yin and a yang, we pretty much represent the entire, full gambit of talent, you know? Together, there's not really much we can't do.

June Carter Cash is probably my all-time favorite member of the Carter Family.

I'm like the Justin Bieber of the drag world.

My grandpa was a country singer, and I started learning guitar from him, just at the kitchen table when I was younger, and I got really into it.

One of my trophies of 'Drag Race' is getting to meet Katya.

Shangela and I are both the type of queens who will taffy-pull 15 minutes of fame into something solid.

I like Aimee Mann. Her album 'Mental Illness' is so good.

I've always been obsessed with Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, Melissa Etheridge.

I didn't start drag because I thought it would be a ticket to anything. I did it for my own narcissistic fulfilment. When I started selling records, going on tour, doing TV... I never expected any of it.