Excerpts from recent interviews with Willow where she spoke about her experience on the show and representation for people who are chronically ill or disabled:

From the Nylon interview:

You’ve talked about your struggle with cystinosis, which I think makes your win feel that much bigger. Competing with your condition would obviously be hard for anyone, but what stood out to many was how you refused to complain. You kind of had this steely demeanor where you just always grinned and bore it, no matter how tough it got. How do you think you managed to get through something this high-stakes and fast-paced in spite of those setbacks? And was it important for you to provide representation for people suffering from chronic illnesses by showing that it’s possible to fight through it anyway?

That's a hard question because part of the grin-and-bear-it mentality for people who are chronically ill or disabled is to appear strong and part of it is because you know you might get flak if you complain. Not that I expected to get flak from complaining [in this competition], but there was always that possibility. So, unfortunately, part of the reason I think I appeared so strong on the show is because I didn't want the judges or the fandom or anyone to be like, "Oh, look at her. She's kind of using excuses." And unfortunately, that's not really fair. So a lot of me being strong on the show is just because that's how I've had to learn to operate in life. We live in a very unforgiving and unaccommodating country when it comes to physical and mental illness, and so that's kind of how I've learned just to live life.

The good thing is that I feel like I was a strong representation of a chronically ill person who can do just as much, if not more, than someone who is completely healthy and able-bodied. But on the flip-side of the coin, sometimes I wish I maybe had…not complained a little more, but spoken up a little more to show that when you are chronically ill or disabled, you kind of actually do need some special accommodations, and it does need to not be seen as just “complaining.”

From the People interview:

"It was a pretty long experience. It wasn't easy," Willow says. "But when you are someone who's been dealing with chronic illness or a disability, you find your way to make it through the world and through daily life. It becomes kind of secondhand."

"It's unfortunate that people with disabilities and illness stay a little bit silent in their daily lives with what's going on," she explains. "It's important to know that if you are disabled or chronically ill, it's your right to talk about those things."

"I wanted to go into the show being really honest about what was happening in my life because I hate that sometimes we make a sugar-coated experience or an inspirational story out of sick people's lives when often, there's just pain there that needs to be felt and heard first and foremost," Willow continues. "Our communities need to take care of those who are most vulnerable because it's an impossible situation to be in. And one of the most gratifying parts of the experience of Drag Race has been hearing from people who tell me how important my time on the show has meant to them. That's kind of priceless."

And also the Entertainment Weekly interview (which is a 12 minute video interview btw, filmed on the night of the crowning / live reaction).

We can't ignore the history that was made tonight. You're the first trans winner of a regular season of American Drag Race. You've said in the past that it can get overwhelming to feel like you have a responsibility to represent, but breaking that standard, what weight does that hold for you?

It feels amazing to me because this season broke so many boundaries and had so many firsts. What's important to me is that I'm representing people who are disabled and chronically ill. That's not something we see on television — especially not on reality television, because people who are ill and disabled are amazing, fun, nasty, and catty, and they're everything anyone else can be, times 25.