‘Drag Race Philippines’ Finally Gives Jiggly Caliente the Respect She Deserves

As a global franchise, RuPaul’s Drag Race has lasted long enough that we are now starting to see not only season-long story arcs or arcs that jump from a regular to All Stars season. Now that the show has 14 years of history, we’re seeing the kind of long-form storytelling that previously could only be told in soap operas, comic books, and Grey’s Anatomy. The years are being more than kind to the queens, and Drag Race Philippines is the latest example of this.

I’m of course talking about Jiggly Caliente, one of the most iconic and beloved queens to ever walk through the Werk Room doors. She is back on TV where she belongs, and she’s serving it as a regular judge on Drag Race Philippines. She joins a very, very exclusive club of Ru girls who landed a reserved seat behind the judges’ table. There’s Brooke Lynn Hytes on Canada’s Drag Race, Nicky Doll on Drag Race France, and now Jiggly Caliente on Drag Race Philippines. But Jiggly’s ascension feels more than different. It feels satisfying, deserved, earned, and correct.

Just look at Jiggly’s saga from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 4 to Drag Race Philippines! Jiggly became a legend in her first episode — for the wrong reason. Her Apocalyptic Couture looked more like a baked potato exploded in a Party City and it went down as one of the most infamously iffy looks in Drag Race herstory. But you know what? That look has been so iconically wrong for so long that it is now right.

Jiggly almost went home in the first episode, but she fought her way back from the brink with a killer lip sync. Thank Ru she did, because Season 4 would not have been so memorable, so beloved, so successful if we hadn’t heard “May I call you Jiggly?” on repeat. The fact that Jiggly was eliminated 6th is wild because her presence looms so large in the fandom’s memory. The Apocalyptic couture, the omnipresent sucker, “very St. Tropez,” the Avengers tee in her confessionals, that Snooki impression — Jiggly didn’t win challenges in Season 4, but she won millions of hearts.

That’s why her return in 2021’s RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 felt so wonderful at first. We’d endured 9 years of Drag Race without Jiggly Caliente, and we weren’t going to get much of her this time around. Jiggly went home second. A travesty! The most memorable thing about her All Stars run was the Untucked where she was completely wrecked that she could not lip sync for her life due to All Stars rules. This was the Empire Strikes Back of Jiggly’s saga.

This is why her return as a judge on Drag Race Philippines finally puts respect on the name Jiggly Caliente. Her status as a judge feels proportional to the love and respect that we all feel for Jiggly. And who better to critique queens than a diva who went through the whole thing twice, who knows how hard it is to whip out a garment made out of garbage, and who knows the nerves of lip syncing? The Jiggly we saw become increasingly overwhelmed by Season 4 is now a self-actualized and fully-realized veteran queen. As depicted over the past 10 years on Drag Race, Jiggly’s had the kind of slow, character-building ascension from timid newbie to badass superhero that you’d find in Chris Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men (a reference I know Jiggly would appreciate).

Drag Race Philippines knows they have the real deal too. Host Paolo Ballesteros gave her a warm welcome in the premiere episode, and maybe she even gave her a new nickname.

Forget Auntie Jiggly. I’m ready to call her Queen Caliente.

Stream Drag Race Philippines on WOW Presents Plus