Drag Race Philippines

Drag Race Philippines is a Philippine reality competition television series. It is a spin-off of RuPaul's Drag Race. The series is produced by World of Wonder and Fullhouse Asia Production Studios. The series airs on WOW Presents Plus, Discovery+, and HBO Go in the Philippines, Crave in Canada, and WOW Presents Plus in the rest of the world.

Drag Race Philippines is the tenth international adaptation of the American reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, following Chilean, Thai, British, Canadian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand, Spanish, Italian, and French versions. It has been followed by Belgian, Swedish, Mexican, Brazilian, and German iterations.

The series premiered on 17 August 2022. Twelve drag queens competed for the title of "Philippines' First Drag Superstar", a one-year supply of ONE/SIZE Beauty Cosmetics by Patrick Starrr, with a cash prize of ₱3,000,000, powered by Kumu. Precious Paula Nicole won the first season with Marina Summers as runner-up. Lady Morgana was named Miss Congeniality. A second season, announced on 19 October 2022, premiered on 2 August 2023. Captivating Katkat won the second season, with Arizona Brandy as the runner-up and Hana Beshie named Miss Congeniality.

Production

On 17 August 2021, RuPaul announced a casting call for season one of Drag Race Philippines throughout social media.

Judges

Paolo Ballesteros, also nicknamed as Mamwa Pao on the show, is the host and main judge. Jiggly Caliente (contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race season 4 and All Stars season 6) and television personality KaladKaren serve as permanent judges. BJ Pascual, Jon Santos, and Rajo Laurel serve as rotating judges.

Contestants

Currently, there has been a total of 24 contestants featured in Drag Race Philippines.

Series overview

Season 1 (2022)

The first cast of twelve contestants was announced on 27 July 2022. The season began airing on 17 August 2022, on Discovery+ and HBO Go in the Philippines and World of Wonder's streaming service WOW Presents Plus internationally. The season ran for 10 episodes and concluded on 12 October 2022. Precious Paula Nicole was the winner. Marina Summers was the runner-up, and Lady Morgana was voted Miss Congeniality.

Season 2 (2023)

World of Wonder announced on 19 October 2022 that the series was renewed for a second season. Casting opened on 29 October and concluded on 1 December 2022. The season ran for 10 episodes and concluded on 4 October 2023. Captivating Katkat was the winner. Arizona Brandy was the runner-up, and Hana Beshie was voted as Miss Congeniality.

Drag Race Philippines: Untucked!

After the teaser trailer for Drag Race Philippines was released, it also announced Drag Race Philippines: Untucked, a companion series similar to RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked. The companion series showcases the contestants’ conversations, key moments, and deleted footage in a similar documentary format. The behind-the-scenes series began to premiere on 19 August 2022. On 19 October 2022, it was confirmed that the second season of the companion series has been officially renewed alongside the main series.

Series overview

References