Mar 13
'Drag Race' Champ Sasha Colby Springs a Surprise with the 'Hard Launch' of Her New BF
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Sasha Colby, the reigning queen of last season's "Drag Race," paused on the red carpet to chat about who might win this season... and to introduce her new man, Seattle entrepreneur and personal trainer Ben Koenigsberg.
When asked who she thought might go the distance on the current 16th season of the long-running competition reality show, the Season 15 winner offered her thoughts on the slate of competitors and admitted that she was happy not to be going up against them.
Then, a minute and 10 seconds into the interview, she dropped a charming bombshell: "Can I hard launch my boyfriend over here?"
When Koenigsberg stepped over and introduced himself, he was asked, "You won over Sasha Colby?"
"I think you won over me," Koenigsberg told Colby.
"And the prize package was amazing," Colby added without missing a beat.
That might not be an exaggeration. In addition to the plethora of tattoos peeking from under the collar and below the sleeve of his tuxedo shirt, Koenigsberg's muscles take pride of place in his photo on the website of his Seattle-based company, Rain City Fit.
Source: Rain City Fit
His handsome grin was another plus, matching Colby's for radiance as the two laughed and chatted, recalling how they met "four or five months" ago in Colby's home state of Hawaii when the "Drag Race" sovereign returned there for Pride. "He was there from Seattle and we kind of hooked up," Colby recounted.
Asked what it was like to be Colby's new man when "everyone in the world is obsessed with this woman," Koenigsberg brought some fish-out-of-water charm to the moment.
"It's crazy," he said, before adding, "It's just incredible; she's so good. She's bonkers, as, hopefully, everyone knows.... I'm just proud of her," Colby's swain added, "and I can't wait to see what she does next."
Colby's new beau might bear some watching, himself; the queen noted that "he's done a little dabble into drag" – though, Koenigsberg jumped in to say, "It's not good."
Asked if that meant his skills were not "Colby level," Koenigsberg admitted, "It's not brunch-in-Arkansas level."
Watch the cute intro in the video below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
