Bob the Drag Queen Isn’t Just a ‘Traitor’—Now He’s a Novelist, Too

When you’ve already conquered the world of drag, toured with Madonna, and made a memorable (if far too brief) run on the third season of The Traitors, all that’s left is to write a novel about Harriet Tubman coming back to life and recording a hip-hop album in Harlem. At least that’s what’s next for Caldwell Tidicue — a.k.a. Bob the Drag Queen — whose literary debut, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, is set for release from Simon & Schuster on March 25.

Following a run that’s included winning the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and co-hosting the popular Sibling Rivalry podcast with fellow Drag Race winner (and bestie) Monét X Change, Bob got a crash course in navigating reality television personalities when host Alan Cumming tapped him to be one of the titular back-stabbers on the latest season of The Traitors.

Though he was ousted early in a season where the game’s Faithful would ultimately triumph, Bob isn’t too pressed about the experience. Especially since he truly had no idea where most of his castmates had come from.

“I did not know who any of these people were before I came in the castle,” he explained. “I want to reiterate that I am not saying that they’re not famous. I’m just saying I did not know who they were.”

By contrast, he’s hoping Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert will both entertain and educate readers who may not be aware of the abolitionist’s full legacy. The audio edition of the book also brings to life two of the songs Tubman’s band creates within the narrative, resulting in one track that Bob now proudly calls “the best song I’ve ever written in my life.”

He’s an open book in more than one way. In this wide-ranging conversation, Bob touches on everything from his blood-drenched look at The Traitors reunion to tossing shade at Norman Rockwell in his new novel.

Despite Dorinda’s objections, your outfit for The Traitors reunion taping was clearly iconic. How did that look come together?

I give pretty loose descriptors to my stylist. I remember I said, “I want to be in a beautiful white gown. I want it to look like I’ve got blood on my hands, and I want the blood to be covered in glitter and sequins and stones.” That was the direction that I gave my stylist, Rob Bryant. Then he went to Diego Montoya’s studio, and they drew up some wonderful designs. We sent over some reference images, and that’s how we came up with that beautiful, stunning dress. My hair was done by a young woman named Trillion, and my makeup was done by Layla McQueen.

I’d say you ate that stage up, both with your fashion and with your fact-checks.

Thank you. One website put me as the number two best dressed, which I think is insane, considering how great I looked. But you know, not everyone has good taste.

On a recent episode of your Sibling Rivalry podcast, you lamented never getting to do a roast during your time on Drag Race. Did filming the reunion episode of The Traitors scratch that itch at all?

No, because I wasn’t roasting anyone. A roast and a reunion are very, very different experiences. I don’t think I roasted anyone. I took some people to task and held their feet to the fire, but I wasn’t, like, roasting anyone, you know?

In response to a viral comment you made during the season, Dylan Efron passed on a suggestion from his brother, Zac Efron, who encouraged you to watch him in the 2017 film Baywatch to properly assess his acting skills. Have you found time for a screening?

To be fair, I watched Baywatch before I went to the castle, and I still said what I said. I don’t have an ill-will towards Zac Efron’s acting. I just said it because I thought it was funny. And honestly, it is funny.

We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that somewhere down the line, we get to see Dylan in drag as “Miss Guided”—per your beautiful turn of phrase at an early round table debate.

I would love to do it, but our schedules are just so busy. Like, he’s on every TV show and every magazine cover right now. He’s working with Jeep or Toyota — he’s a very, very busy man.

You’re busy, too. Soon you’ll be welcoming your debut novel, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, into the world.

Yes! It’s about Harriet Tubman coming back to life and writing a hip-hop album to continue her work as an abolitionist. I’m so incredibly proud of this book. When you hear about a celebrity writing a book, a lot of people think it’s going to be a memoir or something. But I’m not in this book and it’s not about drag at all. It’s a book that I would want to read.

How did it feel to write in Harriet Tubman’s voice, and more recently, to inhabit it in song for the music in the audiobook version of your novel?

It honestly felt like a different iteration of my own voice. In this book, each character is some version of me. I’ve been writing songs as Harriet Tubman for, probably, seven years, so I’m excited that the audiobook version includes two original songs. One of them is available now. It’s called “Queen of the Underground,” which is the name of Harriet Tubman’s album in the book. The other song—”Now I See”—is on the way, and it’s a bit more emotional because it’s about a particular experience in Harriet’s life. I’m obviously imagining what Harriet Tubman would have rapped like, as I literally have nothing to pull from. We don’t even know what her voice sounded like, so I was pulling on my own experiences and my own voice to create this one.

Your book’s conceit allows for a lot of overlapping pop culture references as Harriet and her kin attempt to navigate the modern world. At one point, you describe her brother, Moses, as looking like a Norman Rockwell painting, “if Norman Rockwell had ever painted black people.” Did you enjoy getting to imagine a modern world filled with historical figures?

Specifically, as it relates to Norman Rockwell, I had to Google that to make sure he had never drawn any Black people. I remembered seeing a bunch of Norman Rockwell paintings and never seeing a Black person in any of them. There’s a chance that he may have painted someone Black in his private time, but to my knowledge, none of those images have been published or printed anywhere. I was trying to blend the past with the present while making it camp, but not ridiculous. I like to remind people that while my book is quite absurd, it’s not an SNL sketch. There’s a genuine sincerity in my book while also acknowledging how ridiculous it is for Harriet Tubman to come back to life and record a hip-hop album in Harlem. That’s why I threw in things like Cleopatra being an Instagram influencer and Frederick Douglass living in Bed-Stuy [in Brooklyn].

Your novel is both entertaining and informative about Tubman and figures like William Dorsey Swann. Was that one of your major goals?

Definitely. I wanted to shine a huge light on William Dorsey Swan because a lot of people don’t even know that he existed, and a lot of people don’t know what Harriet Tubman accomplished. People say that she freed 1000 slaves — the number is somewhere between 600 and 800 — but how many people know that she freed most of those slaves in one day? How many people know that she was the only woman in the history of the U.S. military to ever lead a military mission? Like, the only one to this day.

I want people to know the depth of the work that she did. It was not just walking people back and forth — which is not a “just,” obviously. She did so much more than that too. She continued on as an abolitionist, as a suffragette, and in her civil rights work. She had so many skills that she developed later in her life, and she applied them all to building community and helping others.

I saw you play Belize in Berkeley Rep’s production of Angels in America back in 2018. Your novel is set largely in a studio, and in some ways seems tailor-mode to be adapted as a musical. Did your history with the stage inform how you structured this story?

Yes. The first iteration of Harriet was a stage play that I started working on in Berkeley, California, as I was working on Angels in America, actually. The truth is that I then got a book deal, and they were like, “Do you want to write a memoir or some short stories?” And I thought to myself: I wouldn’t read my memoir. I don’t think my memoir would be interesting enough to read, if I’m being perfectly honest with you. People think my life is more exciting than it is. I don’t drink. I don’t party. I don’t like to leave my house. I don’t even like going to restaurants, so what a boring book that would be for me to write. I write jokes, I tell them, and I go home and play Fortnite. Pretty boring. But I already had this other IP in my head, so I thought: this could make a pretty good book. I would read this book.

Can you envision ever taking on another role like that?

I went to school for theater, and then took a big break from it. So Angels in America was my return to the stage, outside of a short run here and there and some drag parodies. And what a return! Angels in America is basically two plays, and each one is three-and-a-half hours long. So I really got in deep following a 10-year-break from theater. Plus, Broadway schedules are grueling. I did eight shows a week. It’s crazy.

But I would love to do another. I would love to get myself up on the Broadway stage and up on screen more. I mean, I am an actor. I prefer the stage over film, because there’s something about it being one take that one time for a live audience that means so much. I am, at my core, an actor. I think the issue is that because my name is Bob the Drag Queen, and I’m a stand-up comedian and I’m a drag queen, I get pigeonholed into the roles of the hairdresser and the funny gay neighbor. The truth is, I am someone’s funny gay neighbor, but behind that door, I’m living quite a complex and interesting life that’s full of emotions and feelings as well.

Have you given Madonna a copy of your novel yet?

I’ll be sending her one. I haven’t seen her since I got the actual books in my hands, but Madonna will be getting a copy of the book, for sure. I just gave Lizzo a copy the other day.

The second song you recorded in conjunction with the novel’s release, “Now I See,” is seriously stunning. Are you excited for the world to hear it?

Thank you. I teamed up with this brilliant producer named Kevin Antunes, who’s worked with just about everyone. He’s Madonna’s musical director, and I met him on the Madonna tour. But he’s also worked with Shakira, Alicia Keys, N’Sync —he’s a really talented guy. Ocean Kelly [who raps on the song] is my drag daughter as well as an amazing rapper in his own right. We all got together in Orlando and banged out these songs. I’m telling you: “Now I See” is the best song I’ve ever written in my life. This is not up for debate for me. I can’t even tell you how proud I am of this song. I really put my heart and soul into it. I cried the first couple of times I heard it.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.