Courtney Act Talks Gender with India Willoughby During ‘Celebrity Big Brother’

Courtney Act has long won over reality TV audiences. From debuting on Australian Idol to making it to the top three on season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race and recently appearing on MTV’s Single AF, they’ve become reality TV’s sweetheart. That’s why it’s no surprise how beloved the drag queen has become on Celebrity Big Brother.

Getting off to a rocky start, they had a wardrobe malfunction twice. During the introduction, their skirt fell off, revealing a tuck in great detail. It might not be that TV appropriate, but it’s about time people understand the hard work drag queens put in to look so flawless.

Hey @courtneyact sis.. let me teach you the ways of thy TUCK! ❤️ rioting for you on your new show gig!! pic.twitter.com/FbBrPyTAwz

— Trinity Taylor (@TrinityTheTuck) January 10, 2018

Since being in the house, Act has made it a point to educate the other housemates on gender issues. She even gave fellow housemate, Andrew Brady a drag makeover.

But she’s encountered an adversary in trans housemate, India Willoughby. Willoughby compared drag to blackface and claimed she developed a phobia of drag queens after seeing Act perform. She also stated that genderfluid people “cheapen” the trans struggle.

Laying the cards on the table, she and Act (AKA Shane Jenek) had a heart to heart about gender in sexuality. Out of drag, Jenek explained their enlightening perspective on gender identity, likening it to the Kinsey scale.

“We know that a lot of people just see us the same, and we both know that that’s completely incorrect,” Act said. “My feeling is that gender does exist on a spectrum. And I would say like the Kinsey scale, with sexuality from 0-6, where one is exclusively heterosexual and six is exclusively homosexual I’d be like a four. I’ve had attractions to women, I’ve had sex with women. Most of my attraction. Most of my attraction is for men. And I think that gender’s similar, where if one is female and six is male, I’m probably the same. I’m probably a four I’m close to the middle, but I’m on the male side of the middle. Whereas you’d be a one. You’re a woman. And probably most people in this house are closer to the one or the six. So, I think that when people start to understand that gender can exist on a spectrum, and that your story is different to my story, is different to someone else’s story. It is more complex cause there are more than two answers, and people aren’t used to that.”

Watch the conversation below:

.@IndiaWilloughby and Shane J @courtneyact get to the bottom of the gender debate.

Don’t miss tonight’s #CBB, 9pm on @channel5_tv pic.twitter.com/RZjVfeSi02

— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) January 7, 2018