Eureka O’Hara, or David Huggard as they (pronouns: they/them) are known out of drag has competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race twice (season nine & season ten) and have years of touring the world in her bagage. The first season they stepped into the workroom of drag race, they had to leave the competition because Eureka suffered from an injury during a maxi challenge on that season but get a open invitation to return the next season (Season 10) where she landed a spot in the top three.
Besides from being a fierce queen, Eureka has released some really good music like the singles The Big Girl, Pretty Hot and Tasty and they were also a featured artist on Lardi B's song Lardi Pop.
Today they are starring in the Emmy nominated HBO-series We're Here, filmed together with two other superstars drag queens - Bob The Drag Queen and Shangela Laquifa Wadley. Each week, these three will go on the road to visit different conservative small town - serving Lewks and staging a One-night Drag Show for the people to helping them express themselves.
It's very specially for me to get the opportunity to introduce the fierce Eureka O'Hara here on my blog as a special guest for this times Friday-interviews. I'm a big fan and support all of their work and statements and to get the opportunity to have a talk to Eureka on the phone about them, their lives and experience and thoughts about mental illness.
When I asked who David is as person he answer me that they are a little more introvert, a bit afraid, more sensitive and a big romantic. . .
- David is a big huge teddy bear!
David is the opposite from Eureka’s personality, which they describe as more extrovert and all over the place. Eureka seems to be a character that taught them how to be an adult, how to be a queer person and a responsible human being. Eureka helped David through their years and made them realize that Eureka’s personality was the personality they wanted to have as David too. They wanted to be happier and have the ability to love themselves.
- Today I'm more confidence as a queen and as a person. I feel more powerful and loved. Drag has really been a very beneficial road for me.
When I called Eureka - aka David Huggard they were getting ready for the nights Drag Show but seems to be just as excited and happy like me to have this opportunity to talk to me about mental illness - a subject that stands close to their hearts.
- In my family this subject has been something that followed us through the years, and I have some personal experiences too.
As a plus-sized person you unfortunately don’t get accepted by everyone in the world and in my younger years I have had a lot of terror and torture by others – something I’ve been dealing with my whole life growing up. I was bullied and it resulted in me losing my confident and starting to doubt myself.
I started to have these negative thoughts of how I wasn’t going to be a success in life – all based on all the bullying, terror and torture by others.
Even if the torture, terror and bullying affected their life then - they feel more stronger today and don't let those things affected who they are today and their self-confidence.
- Something you really have to work on is your own self-care.
People can say whatever they want to break you down, but the only thing that matters is what you think about yourself - the only thing that should affected us is what we think about ourselves. Not what others think about you!
They continue to talk about how we have to learn to stop saying things that push ourselves down to the ground - things which is self-deprecating.
- We have to stop saying things like; "I can't do that, "I will never be that" or other negative things like; "I'm not a good friend". Negative words that only want to destroy us.
To have a more positive and kinder attitude to ourselves we get the opportunity to overcome the bad thoughts and give ourselves a better and healthier lifestyle.
This is not easy and nothing that will fix itself overnight, we have to practice and turn all negative thoughts to more positive like; "Maybe I did not win but I did the best I could. I did a really good job - even if it did not turn out the way I planned".
Eureka is a woman about size, sexiness and glamour, who seems to be very comfortable with themselves and it's so inspiring how they embrace their own body and feel so free talk about themselves to give others the knowledge about how important it is to love yourself.
- The most attractive people in my world is those who love themselves no matter what size or shape they have.
We have to stop being so hard and hateful on ourselves and start be nicer and more accepting - because it's not what other people think and feel about us that defines us, it is what we think and feel about ourselves that matters and defines us.
- When we learn to love ourselves, we will be happier and gets lots of positivity in our life that will help us live healthy with more love. But even if Eureka, aka David Huggard inspires others today with openness when speaking about loving yourself and body positivity, they also have a past where they did not like their own reflection.
- It took me a long time to be okay with my own body.
Through the years I have lived in relationships that wasn't good for me and many others couldn't find me sexually attractive - only a fun person to be around. Things like those can really mess with our minds and it make us feel uncomfortable in our own body.
Over time I got to a place where we realized it didn't have anything to do with us and our body. I started working on our self-awareness and learned to appreciate our own psychical appearance, and stopped caring of what others may be thinking of me and that’s why it is important to work on our own self-awareness.
- We can’t be every one’s cup of tea but everyone it’s not our cup of tea either and there are plenty of people who are attracted to people like us.
Eureka as character and drag overall has really helped David. Both made them feel sexy and gave them more self-confidence, but Eureka is really something.
- Eureka has definitely given me more self-confidence – even as David today comparing the life before Eureka entered it.
Eureka helped to figure out which platform I want to be in and which one of those that made me happy. Eureka has also given me more perspective when it comes to my life and what I want to do with it and the drag has given me some new perspectives of the power I have to be a part of the world of tomorrow.
- Overall, she has helped us as David a lot through the years.
Eureka is an unstoppable queen but even if Eureka has helped us through the year and made us feel better than before Eureka entered, Eureka can also affect us in ways that is not good. I think it is a balance between good and not good, this balance is something you have to learn by living and explore. - It comes with age and experience.
I mean I have done drag for over ten years now and from the beginning I was not aware about the suffering or the pain life and this world can come with. When you are about eighteen/nineteen years old life flows in general without any big struggles and you don’t think so much about other people besides yourself. And sometimes you do things before you think about the consequences.
I think you are a little more “free spirit” in younger years and when you get older you learn more about how the world really works and so on.
- It’s hard to explain. I hope you understand a bit.
I am so inspired by you and your work, David. Especially the way you talk about embracing your body. Why is it so important for you to talk about body positivity?
- For me it’s important because it needs to be talked about more and I hope that people maybe will be influence and feel belonging and loved.
By talking about our bodies and body positivity I hope we can make a change and make people stop being ashamed of who they really are – regardless of body shape or size and conquer mental illness like eating disorders and other diseases with a connection to weight and body issues.
- That’s why it is so important for me to talk about this subject.
We have to remember that's okay to be different. It's okay to have body issues, be gay/trans/queer or have any kind of mental issues. Stuff like that does not defined you and make you bad, unattractive or wrong or whatever you may think.
- It's made us unique!
Before we ended the interview and our conversation, I asked David if there was anything else, they would like to say and their last few words were;
- If you want to fix something or change yourself visually and mentally make sure you do it for yourself and your personal health, not because other people tells you to do it or should!
All people should also know that everyone can have problem with their own body. It’s doesn’t matter if you are big, normal or small. Every single person in this world can have any kind of body issues.
- Check out and follow Eureka O'Hara on Instagram & Facebook.