Jiggly Caliente

Bianca Castro (born November 29, 1980), commonly known as Jiggly Caliente,^[2] is a Filipino-American drag performer, singer, and actress best known for competing on the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, for judging Drag Race Philippines, and for her recurring role as Veronica Ferocity on the FX series Pose. She released her debut album, T.H.O.T. Process on March 9, 2018. In 2020, she co-hosted Translation, the first talk show on a major network hosted by an all-trans cast.

Jiggly Caliente
Jiggly Caliente at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2023
Born	(1980-11-29) November 29, 1980 (age 43) San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines
Other names	Bianca Castro Jiggly Puff Jiggly Caliente Brooks[1]
Education	Fashion Institute of Technology[1]
Occupation(s)	Drag queen, Singer, Actress, TV personality
Known for	RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4) Drag Race Philippines (Judge)

Early life

Caliente was born in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines.^[3][4] In the first grade, she was expelled from school for stabbing a bully through the hand with a pencil.^[1] She moved to America in 1991 at age 10 with her mother and brother and lived in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City.^[1] She came out in junior high school to her late mother, and her drag mother is Chevelle Brooks.^[5] Her drag first name is based on the Pokémon Jigglypuff, and her original drag name was Jiggly Puff.^[6][1]

Drag Race and career

Caliente was announced to be one of thirteen contestants in the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race on November 13, 2011. She placed eighth overall, being eliminated in a lip sync by seventh placer Willam.^[7] She was in archive footage in the season 5 finale, and made an appearance at the season six live finale, where she asked a viewer question to Bianca Del Rio.

Outside of Drag Race, she can be seen in the beginning of the 2012 NewNowNext awards.^[8] Her acting career began in 2015 when she played a role in the season-two finale of Broad City as a shop owner.^[9] She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance.^[10] In 2016, she was in the pilot episode of Search Party.^[11] In 2017, she played a part with fellow Drag Race alumni Bob The Drag Queen, Katya and Detox in a season finale episode of Playing House.^[12] She made an appearance as a backup singer on the music video for Bob The Drag Queen and Alaska's "Yet Another Dig".^[13] She played the character Veronica in Pose,^[14] appearing in the sixth and eighth episodes of the first season. She later confirmed she would be back for more episodes of Pose's second season, on Bootleg Fashion Photo Review, and the web series by Drag Race alum Yuhua Hamasaki.

Jiggly Caliente at DragCon (2018)

In September 2018, Caliente performed as a background dancer behind Christina Aguilera for Opening Ceremony's Spring 2019 collection alongside other Drag Race alumni.^[15] In November 2018, she made an appearance on Saturday Night Live with Drag Race alumn Peppermint, as a Drag Queen for the Garmin GP-Yasss sketch.^[16]

In 2020, Jiggly Caliente co-hosted Translation, the first talk show on a major network hosted by an all-trans cast.^[17]

On May 26, 2021, she was announced to be one of the 13 queens returning for RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars Season 6. She was eliminated in the second episode, placing twelfth overall.

She is a main judge on Drag Race Philippines, which premiered on August 17 2022.^[18]

Music

Caliente released her first single, "Fckboi" on March 1, 2018, on her official Vevo channel.^[19] She released her debut album, T.H.O.T. Process on March 9, 2018. The twelve-track album features Drag Race alumni Sharon Needles, Peppermint, Alaska, Ginger Minj, Phi Phi O'Hara (Credited as Jaremi Carey) and Manila Luzon. It also features an intro with RuPaul. The album is the first hip-hop based record by a Drag Race alumni.^[20] The music video for the song "All This Body" premiered on November 30, 2018, and featured Alaska, Minj and Isis King.^[21]

She also was a featured artist for the first three volumes of the Drag Race Christmas Queens albums. The music video for "Ratchet Christmas" from the first volume was uploaded on December 9, 2015.^[22] She contributed to the compilation album Christmas Queens 3 (2017).^[23]

Personal life

Caliente publicly came out as transgender in 2016.^[24][7]

Discography

Albums

Year	Title
2018	T.H.O.T. Process

Singles

Year	Title
2018	"Fckboi"
2018	"All This Body"

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	The Queens	Herself	Documentary
2020	Milkwater	Gigi Sordide	Feature film

Television

Year	Title	Role
2010	Ugly Betty	Season 4, Episode 13: "Chica and the Man"
2012	RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4)	Contestant (8th place)
	RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked	Herself
2014	RuPaul's Drag Race (season 6)	Herself
2015, 2019	Broad City	Shop owner, Brunch Drag Queen
2016	Search Party
2018	RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10)[25]	Herself, Guest
	Saturday Night Live[16]	GP-Yasss skit
2018–2021	Pose	Veronica Ferocity (5 episodes)
2019	Full Frontal with Samantha Bee	Drag Queen
2020–present	Translation[17]	Co-Host
2021	CNN Philippines[26]	Herself (guest)
	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 6)[27]	Contestant (12th place)
	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked[27]
	Good Morning America[28]	Herself (guest)
2022-present	Drag Race Philippines[29]	Herself (judge)

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Ref.
2011	"Go Off"	Sahara Davenport	[30]
2011	"Hot Couture"	Manila Luzon
2012	"Queen"	Xelle
2017	"Yet Another Dig"	Bob the Drag Queen
2017	"Let It Snow"	Christmas Queens	[31]
2018	"Fckboi"	Herself
2018	"I Don't Give A F*ck"	Herself	[32]
2018	"All This Body"	Herself	[33]
2021	"Gummy Bear"	Ginger Minj	[34]
2022	"Angle"	Willow Pill	[35]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	Ring My Bell	Herself	Guest	[36]
2016	Fashion Photo RuView	Herself	Guest Co-host	[37]
2016	How to Makeup	Herself	Guest	[38]
2016-2018	Hey Qween!	Herself	Guest; 2 episodes
2018	Spillin' the Tea	Herself	Co-host	[39]
2019	Reading Queens	Herself	Guest	[40]
2019	Drag Queen Video Dates	Herself	Guest	[41]
2019	Bootleg Opinions	Herself	Guest	[42]
2021	Whatcha Packin'	Herself	Guest	[43]
2021	Drag Queen Makeup Tutorial	Herself	Guest	[44]
2022	Binge Queens	Herself	RuPaul's Drag Race: UK series 4	[45]
2023	Bring Back My Girls	Herself

See also

• Filipinos in the New York metropolitan area
• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT people from New York City
• NYC Pride March

References

1. "On Point With: Jiggly Caliente". Thotyssey. Tumblr. July 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
2. Avery, Dan (November 22, 2016). "Jiggly Caliente Got Into Yale!". Logo. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
3. Angeles, Steve. "Meet the Pinoy plus size 'Barbie of New York'". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
4. @JigglyCaliente4 (August 4, 2022). "Throwback to the house in San Pedro" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. Caliente in "Meet Jiggly Caliente from RuPaul's Drag Race 4". Abby Normal. 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
6. "Jiggly Caliente: The Socialite Life Interview". Socialite Life. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
7. Rudolph, Christopher (June 28, 2021). "Jiggly Caliente: "Janet Jackson Has Never Been Justified on 'Drag Race'"". NewNowNext. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
8. "Logo's 2012 'NewNowNext Awards': On the scene". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
9. "OMG! Jiggly Caliente on The Season Two Finale of Broad City!". WorldOfWonder.net. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
10. Lamour, Joseph. "Meet All 30 Of Miley's Day-Glo Dancers From Her Insane VMA Performance". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
11. "Search Party S1:E1 The Mysterious Disappearance of the Girl No One Knew Recap". GingesBeCray.com. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
12. "Katya, Bob the Drag Queen And Detox Appear On USA's "Playing House"". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
13. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Winners Bob the Drag Queen & Alaska Thunderfuck Team Up for 'Yet Another Dig'". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
14. Moylan, Brian. "Pose Recap: Chicken Patty". Vulture.com. New York. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
15. "We're Still Screaming: Xtina Performs With Drag Queens at NYFW". Paper. 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
16. Daw, Stephen (September 19, 2018). "Peppermint and Jiggly Caliente Make Road Trips More Fun in Epic 'SNL' Sketch". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
17. Ramos, Dino-Ray (March 29, 2021). "OUTtv Media Group Teams With Producer Entertainment Group Launch First LGBTQ+ Apple TV Channel". Deadline. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
18. Barr, Sabrina (June 24, 2021). "All Stars 6: Jiggly Caliente second Drag Race queen eliminated in emotional scenes – or is she?". Metro. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
19. JigglyCalienteVEVO (2018-03-01), Jiggly Caliente - FckBoi (Official Music Video), retrieved 2018-03-15
20. "Jiggly Caliente Is Living Her Truth: 'It's Not a Gimmick, It's My Life'". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
21. "Jiggly Caliente - All This Body ft. Alaska Thunderfuck & Ginger Minj". YouTube. 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
22. Producer Entertainment Group/PEG (2015-12-09), Jiggly Caliente - Ratchet Christmas [Official] from Christmas Queens, retrieved 2018-03-14
23. Christmas Queens 3 by Various Artists, 2017-11-17, retrieved 2018-09-17
24. "The herstory of trans women on RuPaul's Drag Race". Gay Star News. 2017-05-04. Archived from the original on 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
25. Damshenas, Sam (22 March 2018). "Watch Drag Race fan favourites return for the season 10 premiere". Gay Times. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
26. Fil-Am Drag Queen Jiggy Caliente joins 'Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars 6' | Newday. CNN Philippines. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
27. Del Rosario, Alexandra (May 26, 2021). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' Moves From VH1 To Paramount+; Lineup Of Returning Queens Unveiled". Deadline. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
28. 'RuPaul's Drag Race' all-stars join GMA3. Good Morning America. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
29. Sim, Bernardo (May 16, 2022). "Jiggly Caliente Booked a Judging Gig on a New Drag Race Franchise". Out. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
30. "NEW VIDEO: Sahara Davenport & Manila Luzon". New Now Next. November 17, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
31. Rudolph, Christopher (November 17, 2017). "The "Christmas Queens" Are On Santa's Naughty List In New "Let It Snow" Music Video". NewNowNext.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
32. Rudolph, Christopher (March 12, 2018). "Jiggly Caliente Gives Dust To The Haters In Fierce New Music Video". NewNowNext. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
33. Piedra, Xavier (November 30, 2018). "Jiggly Caliente Tackles Body Standards With Alaska & Ginger Minj in 'All This Body': Watch". Billboard. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
34. Nolfi, Joey (June 25, 2021). "Ginger Minj serves 'Gummy Bear' realness in new video for her RuPaul's Drag Race talent show song". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
35. "Willow Pill - Angle (feat. Kornbread) Official Music Video". Youtube.com. 8 June 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
36. Jiggly Caliente on Ring My Bell. YouTube. May 11, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
37. RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with Raja and Jiggly Caliente: Pop Divas. YouTube. June 22, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
38. HOW TO MAKEUP: Jiggly Caliente - "Bronz-Her". YouTube. October 13, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
39. Spillin' The Tea: Is Jiggly Team Nicki or Team Cardi? 'Drag Race' Queens On Celebs | Billboard Pride. YouTube. November 8, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
40. Jiggly Caliente: Reading Queens with Psychic Char Margolis. YouTube. May 9, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
41. Drag Queen Video Dates: Jiggly Caliente. YouTube. October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
42. JIGGLY CALIENTE joins Bootleg Opinions x Drag Race UK Season 1: The Grand Finale!. YouTube. November 23, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
43. Whatcha Packin' | AS6 E02 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. YouTube. June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
44. Jiggly Caliente's 2.0 Brand Ru Look 💖 Ruvealing the Look | RuPaul's Drag Race AS6. YouTube. June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
45. SPOILER ALERT: Binge Queens - RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 4, Episode 1 Preview. YouTube. September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.

External links

• Jiggly Caliente at IMDb