Orlando drag performer Dollya Black leaves ‘Dragula,’ and drag, behind

Credit: courtesy image

Dollya Black is no more. But it wasn’t an Extermination Challenge at the end of a Dragula episode that did her in; it was an act of self-preservation.

This might seem counterintuitive for a performer seemingly at the height of her powers and notoriety. But after a strong showing on the second season of buzzy Shudder/AMC reality competition The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Dollya Black walked away from the show and then from drag. And that’s only part of a pivotal year for this Orlando performer.

In the midst of this maelstrom year of tremendous personal change, she found that the armor of being Dollya “kind of wasn’t necessary anymore, and it was time to put it to rest,” Black tells Orlando Weekly in a rare interview.

At first though, this seemed like an auspicious and long-overdue comeback. It would be the Orlando drag performer’s return to the wildly popular dark drag underworld of the Boulet Brothers-helmed reality competition for the all-star Dragula: Titans competition. Black, a longtime local performer renowned for horror-inspired looks and dizzying performances, came up in the drag scene as part of Black Haüs and had previously been a contestant on Season 3 of Dragula back in 2019, where she won runner-up. Aside from Black, 13 other horror- and alt-drag notables were competing to win the crown of “Queen of the Underworld” from Orlando’s Victoria Elizabeth Black. Things didn’t work out.

As this very dramatic season of Titans unfolded, Black became weary of the conflicts and putting her “art on the chopping block” of reality television. She walked off the set during the particularly heated “Last Supper Reunion.”.

But that wouldn’t be all she was leaving behind. Toward the end of a weekly run of co-hosting viewing parties of Titans at Savoy with erstwhile Black Haüs sisters Victoria Elizabeth and Opulence Black, she let slip on stage that she would be quitting drag. For Black, it was about reclaiming her persona and keeping it for herself, and a realization that Dollya Black’s story, for now, was finished.

Black says, “Doing that last show … I had performed ‘Everybody Dies’ when the finale happened for Season 3, and it was an incredibly emotional moment for me. I remember I got off stage and I fell into my partner at the time’s arms, and I was just so distraught about losing. And the juxtaposition to now, performing that same song as my final number was so cathartic. I looked at the audience and I was like, ‘Wow, I love Orlando. What a beautiful story, from start to finish.’ It felt complete, like it felt like I did what I needed to do.”

But a stint on reality television and leaving drag were not even close to the biggest leaps for Black this year. She also began her transition journey. Black started hormone therapy in January after months of careful consideration. Then she came out publicly as a trans woman in June, Pride month.

“When we filmed Dragula, I had the most beautiful conversations — I’m sure that some people reading this are going to be like, ‘What beautiful conversations?’ — with Priscilla Chambers and Jade Jolie just about existing. Being perceived feminine and what it feels like. When I was out in California filming, I started using the women’s restroom. That was a huge step for me. That opened the door for me to just be like, ‘I think this is how I want to exist.’ When I made it back from Dragula, I was like, ‘I think I’m ready to be Dakota,’” says Black. “It just felt really important to be visible during Pride Month this year, and also fuck Trump and fuck Ron DeSantis. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not gonna just stop being
trans.”

Reactions from friends and the community at large were roundly positive, if not exactly surprised.

“All of my dolls in Orlando were like, ‘Girl, gag. We were just waiting for you to realize it,’” says Black. “My friends have been so supportive. It’s just crazy how blessed I am in that regard. And you know, my trans-masc and trans-femme [friends] and the cis women in my life have built me up in a way that, when I started transitioning, it was like I didn’t have to build up this confidence. It was already there.”

Though there are positive memories and truly memorable looks — like the stunning “Halloween House Party” and “Gothic Wedding” attire — Black says if she knew then what she knows now, she would never have returned to Dragula.

“I just don’t think that I really identify with the brand anymore,” says Black. “Going back and doing it again, I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is not your vibe at all. Girl, this is not you.’”

Which makes it all the more surprising that for several weeks in the autumn, Black co-hosted viewing parties at Savoy with Victoria and Opulence Black. Seeing the reality-television version of yourself on a big screen in front of a crowd had to be tough. But not only was it an emotional reunion for the three members of the Black Haüs family, it was a way for Black to “reclaim her experience on the show” and find closure.

“Doing those Creature Features with Opulence and Victoria was such a blessing. They’ve been a part of my life since the beginning. My whole Orlando experience is intertwined with them. I would not be the person I am — or the performer that I was — I wouldn’t be any of that without the experiences and encouragement that they gave me and being able to come full circle,” remembers Black. “That night, after we did photos and the lights went off and people started exiting the theater, I looked at Victoria and Opulence, and I just thanked them. I’m so grateful for so many lessons and skills and memories made with two people who I know love me very much.”

But this isn’t quite the end for Black on the airwaves. There’s still the matter of Central Florida drag stars-go-ghost hunting show Shook on the horizon, getting its Orlando watch party at Will’s Pub on Jan. 5.

“Shook is such a fun project. We’re premiering it in January here in Orlando with the pilot episode,” says Black. “I’m not sure what the future holds with Shook. We want to film more episodes and continue to make it. But I host the show, and I haven’t exactly figured out how I want to host it. Do I host it as Dakota? Do I bring Dollya back from the grave only for Shook?”

Questions of ghost-hunting and resurrection aside, looking forward to 2026, Black is content to take life as it comes.

“I love to create. I would love to make looks for myself, curate photos. I really want to collaborate more and explore more modeling,” says Black. But then, she’s not really Dollya Black anymore.

So for 2026, goodbye Dollya — and hello, Dakota Hartenstein.