Gigi Era has revealed her planned character for Drag Race Philippines’ first-ever edition of Snatch Game.
The fan-favourite maxi-challenge separates the drag queens from [insert country here]’s Next Drag Superstar, as 11 winners have gone on to win the crown: Jinkx Monsoon (x2), Bob the Drag Queen, Alaska Thunderfuck, Aquaria, Natalia Pliacam, Trinity the Tuck, The Vivienne, Shea Couleé, Blu Hydrangea and Sharonne.
Sadly, a lot of the contestants don’t make it to this point, as it usually occurs (bar All Stars) halfway through the season.
Speaking exclusively with GAY TIMES, the Davao City-born performer says she would’ve impersonated Aira Bermudez of the Philippine dance group, the SexBomb Girls, who are the country’s best-selling girl group of the 2000s with over 12 million sales across albums and singles.
Bermudez led the group from 2011 and 2017 and also serves as their head choreographer and manager. Besides the SexBomb Girls, she is known for her role in the Philippine television drama anthology, Daisy Siete, and for co-hosting a dance program called Let’s Get Aww!.
“Aside from the fact that we’re both dancers, she’s actually really close to my heart,” Gigi explains. “Get Aaw!”
On the latest episode of Drag Race Philippines, Gigi Era became the third queen to sashay away from the series – following Prince and Corazon – after failing to impress the judging panel with her performance in the girl-group challenge.
Gigi also received mixed feedback for her “Shake, Rattle, and Rampa” runway presentation, where she embodied a demonic, blood-soaked baby.
While the star hails the episode as “really fun and camp” and agrees with the judges’ comments about her runway, she says her performance in “Pop Off Ate” should’ve saved her from lip-syncing for her life.
“My performance was incredible and a lot of people enjoyed it. It’s very Glamazon, right?” she says. “I know I can give more and show more.
“I was actually hoping for Paolo [Ballesteros] to call me back and have that Kandy Muse moment, when Mama Ru called her back and said, ‘I’m not ready for you to go.'”
Hosted by Paolo, Drag Race Philippines has received unanimous praise from viewers for the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent of its contestants and its celebration of Filipino culture.
The series has also been met with praise for the inclusion of season four alum Jiggly Caliente and comedian KaladKarden on the panel, marking the first-ever series of Drag Race to boast two openly trans women as regular judges.
In Jiggly’s interview with GAY TIMES, she said judging the series was “fucking difficult” because of her attachment to the queens.
“Michelle [Visage] said it was going to be hard, but she didn’t say it was going to be that difficult. She didn’t tell me that you’d get invested in the girls. No, she didn’t tell me that part. She only told me to lead with my heart. She wanted me to suffer as much as she did, I guess,” she said.
“[I got attached] to all of them. I didn’t want anyone to go home. After seeing All Stars 7, where nobody went home, I wish nobody went home so we can show the things that they worked for because these queens literally had to do all their preparing for Drag Race in the height of the pandemic in lockdown.
“Things were very scarce to come by. Wigs were hard to come by, fabric was hard to come by, designers were hard to come by. Some of these girls have to travel four, five or six hours out of their neighbourhoods to go to designers. I just felt bad for them. I couldn’t be a shitty judge and be like, ‘Your dress looks weird.’
“I couldn’t do that to any of them because I know how hard it is in the pandemic. It was hard for me in the US getting stuff for All Stars, let alone these girls in the Philippines.”
The cast for Drag Race Philippines season one is as follows: Brigiding, Corazon, Eva Le Queen, Gigi Era, Lady Morgana, Marina Summers, Minty Fresh, Precious Paula Nicole, Prince, Turing, Viñas Deluxe and Xilhouete.
Drag Race Philippines continues every Wednesday at 12pm BST exclusively on the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus. Subscribe via https://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/.
For fans wishing to meet Drag Race alum and host Jiggly Caliente, tickets are now on sale for RuPaul’s DragCon UK 2023 at https://uk.rupaulsdragcon.com/.
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