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Anyone who has had to come out as LGBTQ+ to a parent is likely to have found it a challenging experience.

There are no guarantees the news will be welcomed positively, and it can be a pivotal moment in a parent-child relationship.

What Priyanka, a contestant on Canada’s Drag Race, probably wasn’t expecting was to have a gap of six years between telling one parent and another.

The Toronto-based drag queen, 29, told ���˿��� Bitesize about her experiences, how appearing on this latest version of the popular franchise initiated coming out to her dad, and how a ‘chosen family’ can be precious to LGBTQ+ people in the biggest moments of their lives.

“Coming out is the most exciting and the most scariest thing someone can do,” she said. “You have to sit there with yourself and your thoughts and realise that you are gay, lesbian, trans, non-binary, however you identify. You sit there with this feeling in the pit of your stomach because, growing up, you feel you are told to be a certain way, and that’s to get married and have 17 kids.”

Before Priyanka, a former children’s TV presenter, told either of her parents or her three brothers, she came out to friends first, who were "incredibly supportive".

She was "around 23" when she finally told her mum. She explained: “Finally, I talk to my parents about it. My mum, specifically. I was ready to come out to my dad at the same time, but with my mum it was a scary experience as she is cool, but I still thought what would happen if I came out to her and she’s not the cool mum anymore, she decides she doesn’t want a gay son? That really scared me going into it.”

Priyanka’s mum, like her friends, was supportive from the off. However, she suggested waiting a while before telling her dad, and that it may be better to do so once Priyanka was in a relationship. That while became years. In the meantime, Priyanka had come out to all three of her brothers. She even stopped them using inappropriate ‘locker room’ talk about LGBTQ+ people, telling them it was disrespectful and unsupportive. One of her brothers started coming along to cheer her on at drag shows.

But dad still didn’t know, and with Priyanka’s appearance on Canada’s Drag Race imminent, she described it as the ‘perfect launch pad’ for sharing the truth with him. Up until that point, he thought Priyanka was the name of his son’s girlfriend.

Priyanka said: “I made the mistake of telling him about Drag Race first. I told him I was in it, but because I’ve worked as a TV presenter, he thought I’d be hosting it. Then I told him I was a drag queen. Then I told him I was gay.

“My dad reacted exactly how I thought. He didn’t say, ‘oh, I always knew’, because that’s not how he is, that’s not our relationship. He stayed quiet, said ‘oh, great,’ then wished me luck on ‘that RuPaul show’.”

In a post Priyanka shared on her Instagram account recently, telling the story of coming out to her dad, she also mentioned the importance of chosen family. While her own immediate family have proved a great support, a chosen family is a group of close friends, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community (but not exclusively), who form a strong unit and look out for each other.

“Chosen families are a necessity in a queer person’s life,” Priyanka continued. “I have my drag mother [an experienced artist who acts as a mentor to a young person starting out], my best friend who is also a drag queen, and they’re the people I can be the most vulnerable with, the people I can rely on.

“You get to set up a world full of acceptance, love and appreciation for what you do, what you say, who you are. It comes without those pressures your actual blood family can sometimes bring. They can really help you find yourself and put you on a better journey. You’re stepping into a family that’s already educated.”

While Priyanka is aware that her coming out story has been largely positive, others are not so lucky, and she hopes her status in the wake of Drag Race will enable her to reach out to those who need help more. Her take on it? “We’re like the accessible version of a pop star. If we can help you out, we’ll be there for you.”

And even though at the time of writing, just two months has passed before Priyanka came out to her father, it hasn’t affected their relationship.

She said: “Dad is so funny. He’s the life of the party and he still cooks me food whenever I show up, that’s his way of saying he loves his son. He watches Drag Race in glimpses. I don’t think he’s totally comfortable in sitting down and watching the show just yet but he does recognise my voice. There’s that curiosity there. I think it’s a lot for him at first, it’s still sinking in.

“It’s been two months. But that conversation the two of us need to have? I think it will come.”

If you find that a friend wants to confide in you about their sexuality, Bitesize has this guide containing expert advice on reacting to the situation.

If you need any information about coming out or other LGBTQ+ issues, click here for a collection of Bitesize content.