Jiggly Caliente joins Drag Race Philippines as a judge
Mabuhay, Saint Tropez: Drag Race Philippines just ordered a healthy heaping of baked potato and a side of serve for your nerve.
EW can exclusively reveal that RuPaul's Drag Race season 4 icon and All Stars 6 competitor Jiggly Caliente has joined the upcoming Drag Race Philippines as a permanent judge.
"I am overjoyed in a major major way to be joining the judges panel for Drag Race Philippines," Jiggly said in a statement. "There is a fierce Filipino drag scene and I am proud to be returning to my home country in this new role as a Drag Race judge to shine a spotlight on these incredible artists to the world — or the universe, rather. Pak! Mabuhay, Drag Race!"
The Filipino version will also be the first international Drag Race series to feature a companion Untucked series, which will air alongside new episodes.
World of Wonder Jiggly Caliente joins 'Drag Race Philippines' as a judge.
Drag Race Philippines has yet to unveil its official host, though production company World of Wonder has teased the star's silhouette in first-look photos (below) of the Filipino Werk Room and set.
Jiggly joins a growing list of RuPaul's Drag Race alums on judging panels among the global franchise's international editions. Season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes became the first RuGirl to lead one of the series' judging tables when she was enlisted to preside over Canada's Drag Race, while season 12 competitor Nicky Doll is set to host Drag Race France when it premieres.
World of Wonder The 'Drag Race Philippines' Werk Room set.
Outside of her work on Drag Race — which included the creation of a legendary "baked potato" look for the season 4 post-apocalyptic couture challenge — Jiggly, who came out as trans in 2016, landed a guest spot in a 2018 Saturday Night Live sketch as well as a recurring role across five episodes of the FX drama Pose.
"There's a stigma with reality TV personalities who want to be actors, and that's why, when I auditioned for Pose, I didn't audition as Jiggly Caliente, I auditioned as Bianca [Castro]!" Jiggly told EW in her AS6 elimination interview of using her real name as an actress. "I didn't want people to box me in as a reality star. I wanted people to give me a fair shot."
World of Wonder The silhouette of the 'Drag Race Philippines' host.
Fellow Drag Race star Manila Luzon will also hit the worldwide stage when she premieres her own Filipino queen competition series Drag Den in the near future.
"I'm so excited to be able to give back in some way. In the Philippines, the drag scene is still quite small and underground, so I'm excited to bring it to the forefront," Manila previously told EW of Drag Den. "Hopefully, they'll have a similar journey that I've had and that the rest of us queens have had [and] we'll take over the world, one little island at a time!"
Drag Race Philippines debuts Aug. 17 on WOW Presents Plus. See the first-look teaser and EW's exclusive portrait of Jiggly above.
Subscribe to EW's BINGE podcast for full recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including weekly season 14 recaps with the cast.
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