Jiggly Caliente says it is ‘high time’ for Philippines to have local edition of ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’
Another RuPaul's Drag Race queen—and a Filipina one at that—has expressed her wish for the Philippines to have its own version of the hit reality show competition.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Filipina drag queen Jiggly Caliente said it is about time for a Philippine version of RuPaul's Drag Race to happen, given the talent the country has.
"I think it is high time that the Philippines get their own franchise of RuPaul's Drag Race. I feel like the Filipino drag community is so diverse and so eclectic and they're just so talented," she said.
Jiggly, whose real name is Bianca Castro, added: "The talent of the Filipinos are insane."
"I cannot wait for Drag Race to have a Philippine franchise and I would love to be part of it in any capacity."
Jiggly, who originally competed in the fourth season of the popular competition season, will be returning to the "Werq Room" as one of the contestants of the upcoming sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, a spinoff series of the show that features previous contestants and fan favorities.
RuPaul's Drag Race, in case you didn't know, is a reality show competition where drag queens compete in various challenges to win the title of "America's Next Top Superstar."
Many Filipino drag queens (or drag queens of Filipino descent) have competed in the show, including Ongina, Manila Luzon, Vivienne Pinay, Phi Phi O' Hara, and Rock 'Em Sakura.
Jiggly was born in Laguna and moved to the US when he was 10 years old; she visited the Philippines in 2017 for a performance at a bar in Quezon City.
"The one main thing I miss in the Philippines is the food. The simplest things, actually, are the things that I miss. I miss fishballs. I know it might sound super taboo or whatever but that's one thing I miss about the Philippines, it's street food," Jiggly said. "It's the comfort of just being at home in Laguna, and you know, right after church, the one thing I look forward to is being able to eat fishballs then and make 'tusok tusok' in the 'tamis-anghang' sauce."
In an interview with online show Hey Qween, Jiggly said she became emotional when she first performed in the country.
"It was just so much fun. And I was really proud to do it. Just because I live here, it kind of goes full circle with the America dream, making it here and being celebrated back home," she said.
Banner photo from Jiggly Caliente's Instagram account