Wikipedia

Kerri Colby

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, and season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[1] Kerri Colby is based in Los Angeles, California.[2]

Kerri Colby
Kerri Colby at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2024
Born (1996-07-30) July 30, 1996 (age 29)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Other namesElyse Alessandra Anderson
Kerri Elyse Colby
OccupationDrag performer
Years active2016–present
Known forDrag Performer
TelevisionRuPaul's Drag Race (season 14) and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 10)
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Websitekerricolby.com
Signature

Early life

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Anderson was born in Dallas, Texas[3] to a woman named Pamela (not to be confused with Pamela Anderson).[4] She was raised in a Pentecostal household[5] and has stated that, although those beliefs are at odds with her identity, they instilled in her a desire to "question everything."[6]

Colby learned about drag after watching the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She left home at 15, citing the toxic environment created by her family as her reason for leaving. She couch-surfed, mostly in Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood (the city's gayborhood)[7] and made a number of friends that took care of her after leaving home. Colby has stated that many of the people who took care of her were much older, and it led to abusive relationships.[8]

On Monét X Change's podcast, Monét Talks, Colby recounted her experience with a particularly important figure in her life. While resting at a train station after being kicked out, a stranger of El Salvadorian descent named Manuel recognized her from her social media posts and offered to help her.[7] Colby states this person took her in until she was eighteen and was pivotal in helping her finish school and find work. In an interview with Michelle Visage, she stated "[he was] completely my angel... I would not have made it."[9]

Colby moved to Los Angeles at 18 after being messaged by a Sugar Daddy. She lived with him in West Hollywood for approximately one year.[7]

Career

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Kerri Colby at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2023

Colby competed on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race. On episode 4, she ranked in the bottom and lip-synced against Alyssa Hunter to Jennifer Lopez's song, "Play".[10] Colby won the lip sync and remained in the competition. On episode 8, however, she was once again placed in the bottom and lost her lip-sync to Jasmine Kennedie, performing to "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton.[11]

In March 2022, she was one of several drag queens to be featured in Jennifer Lopez's performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.[12] In May, her nomination for Best Viral Moment (The America's Next Top Meme Award) was announced at the 2022 WOWIE Awards, a part of RuPaul's DragCon in Los Angeles. She shared the nomination with drag queens Daya Betty and Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté.[13] In June of that same year, 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.[14] During press for the Cann campaign, Colby shared that she worked at a dispensary before appearing on Drag Race.[15]

In 2023, she appeared in a cameo during an episode of season 15's Untucked to give a video message to her drag mother (and eventual season 15 winner) Sasha Colby.[16]

On April 23, 2025, Kerri Colby was announced as one of eighteen former Drag Race contestants participating in the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[1] She was ultimately eliminated at the conclusion of the second bracket but returned as the judge's Wild Card pick for the finale. She was eliminated in the finale's episode's first round.

In September 2025, Colby performed at Northern Nevada Pride.[17]

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 transition.[18][19] She has also helped inspire Jasmine Kennedie to come out as a trans woman in an episode of season 14's Untucked. Bosco has also cited Kerri Colby as a source of "clarity" in her transition, which she announced after season 14 wrapped filming.[20]

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)
2024 Slaycation TV Herself Main cast [21]
2025 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 10) TV Contestant 5th place (4 episodes)

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 [22]
2023 Queerties Awards Future All-Star Herself Nominated [23]

References

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  1. 1 2 Nolfi, Joey (April 23, 2025). "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 cast announced with major format change: See 18 returning queens on largest cast ever". Deadline. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "Why I Backstabbed Kerri Colby... (EXPOSING THE TRUTH!)". YouTube.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Maddy Morphosis (2023-10-28). KERRI COLBY | Give It To Me Straight | Ep23. Retrieved 2026-05-22 – via YouTube.
  7. 1 2 3 Monét X Change (2024-10-03). Kerri Colby Talks Being A Baddie in STEM | Monét Talks. Retrieved 2024-11-15 – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "Whatcha Packin' S14 E08 Rupaul's Drag Race". Youtube. 2022-02-25.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "'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.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Ramos, Eli (2025-09-04). "Lake Tahoe Pride will march at Northern Nevada Pride for first time". Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ 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)
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ Erik Pedersen (June 12, 2022). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' & 'Top Chef' Lead Critics Choice Real TV Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Future All-Star Nominees". The Queerties. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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