Drag Race royalty announced as judge of new Philippines spin-off
RuPaul. (WOW)
Drag Race Philippines is sashaying onto screens with Jiggly Caliente confirmed as a permanent judge.
The spin-off will launch on 17 August, almost a year to the day after RuPaul first announced Drag Race was heading to the Philippines.
With the Drag Race Philippines release date announcement came the Ru-veal that season four legend Jiggly Caliente will serve as a judge.
Jiggly took to Instagram to share her excitement, saying: “If you would have asked me five years ago if I would ever be a judge on a [RuPaul’s Drag Race] franchise let alone be part of for my home land the Philippines I would have told you to stop doing drugs because they would never entrust me with such a responsibility.”
She added: “Set your calendars to Aug 17. You’re in for an amazing ride.”
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The Philippines-born queen is best known for competing on season four RuPaul’s Drag Race and the sixth season of All Stars.
She has also ventured into acting, starring as Veronica Ferocity on the FX series Pose, which saw her cement her status as a trans icon.
Jiggly Caliente is now the third Drag Race alumna to go from contestant to judge, after Canadian queen Brooke Lynn Hytes and Nicky Doll, who is due to host and judge the upcoming Drag Race France.
So far, she is the only judge to have been confirmed to Drag Race Philippines.
However, fans believe that the voice introducing Caliente in a trailer posted to Twitter is Paolo Ballesteros, leading some to think that the Filipino actor will be hosting the show.
Mabu-hayyy~ ?? Gagged to finally announce #DragRace legend @JigglyCaliente4 will be joining the #DragRacePH judge panel!#DragRacePH + the first international Untucked premieres August 17 on @wowpresentsplus ✨ pic.twitter.com/Fmmfx62jls— WOW Presents Plus (@wowpresentsplus) May 15, 2022
Former Drag Race star Manila Luzon is also set to launch her own Filipino drag competition, Drag Den, later this year.
“We’re trying to do something very new and something that’s very Filipino,” Luzon said.
Drag Race Philippines will stream exclusively on WOW Presents Plus with an Untucked after-show.
It is the second Drag Race spin-off to launch in Asia, following Drag Race Thailand which aired in 2018.
