WATCH: RuPaul and Cory Booker react to learning they’re related
The two men found out they share similar DNA through testing done as part of the PBS series "Finding Your Roots"
RuPaul and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) recently found out they are distant cousins, a revelation that they both seemed happy to discover.
RuPaul recently participated in the latest season of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, a program hosted by Henry Louis Gates that analyzes the ancestry, DNA codes, and familial connections of various celebrities.
Booker had his DNA tested in a previous season, but, due to Gates’s records, the show was able to find a long stretch of identical DNA that the two men share in common.
“He looks like my kin,” RuPaul said during the episode, which aired earlier this month. “There’s a sweetness about him that I’ve always loved and an intellect that is undeniable. But every time I’ve ever seen him, he reminds me of my cousin Yula.”
“There’s a good reason,” Gates told RuPaul, “because you’re related.”
“How about that?” responded the Drag Race host.
Also Read: Cory Booker shuts down persistent gay rumors: “I’m heterosexual”
Booker, speaking during an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday, Booker said he “told everybody that would listen in my world” when he found out the news.
“So yeah, my mom knows,” Booker said. “I just, I love RuPaul, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since the news was revealed but I was very happy about that news and I hope that he and I can have a family reunion sometime.”
The two distant cousins previously met in person when Booker, appeared on Ru’s talk show RuPaul during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last year.
Watch RuPaul’s reaction on “Finding Your Roots” below:
Watch Cory’s interview with Wendy Williams below:
Read Next:
Homophobic and transphobic attacks increase as election nears
State Department aides balked at Mike Pompeo’s plan to address anti-LGBTQ group
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
