Vanessa Vanjie Mateo

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, sometimes known as Vanessa Vanjie, Miss Vanjie, or simply Vanjie, is the stage name of José Luis Cancel,^[1] an American drag performer known for competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and placing fifth on the eleventh season of the show. In addition to competing on Drag Race, she has also appeared in many of its spin-offs, including RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race, RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue, Canada's Drag Race, and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, the latter of which she appeared as a contestant for its ninth season, where she placed runner-up along with season five and All Stars 2 contestant Roxxxy Andrews.

Vanessa Vanjie
Vanessa Vanjie at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2018
Born	José Luis Cancel (1991-10-03) October 3, 1991 (age 33) Puerto Rico
Occupation	Drag queen
Known for	Competing on RuPaul's Drag Race
Website	vanessavanjie.com

Early life

Vanjie Mateo was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Kissimmee, Florida^[2]2 and Texas, and is of Puerto Rican descent. She started doing drag when Drag Race season three and All Stars alumna Alexis Mateo hired her as a backup dancer.^[3][4]

Career

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was announced as one of the fourteen contestants competing for the crown on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, which premiered on March 22, 2018.^[5] She was eliminated in the first episode, after lip syncing to Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" against competitor Kalorie Karbdashian Williams, while Aguilera was the guest judge.^[6] As she walked backwards off the stage, her parting words were "Miss Vanjie... Miss Vanjie... Miss... Vanjie", which later became an internet meme. "Miss Vanjie" was tweeted by many, including several by RuPaul, as well as Michelle Visage and Kathy Griffin. The meme was also edited into clips of various movies, TV shows, and even on dating apps, with clips appearing in The Simpsons, Pokémon, Grindr, and The Shining.^[7]

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, 2019

The "Miss Vanjie" catchphrase was said by Rylan Clark-Neal while commenting on the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 first semi-final broadcast during the presentation of Eleni Foureira from Cyprus; he also said it in reference to Montenegro singer Vanja Radovanović, whose name resembles Miss Vanjie's.^[8] RuPaul wore a "Vanjie" necklace during the Time 100 Gala red carpet.^[9] The catchphrase was also referenced in multiple further episodes of Drag Race season ten. A Snapchat filter of Vanessa's runway look was made available the day after the season ten reunion.^[10]

On January 24, 2019, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was announced as one of the fifteen competitors of season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race.^[11] She was in the bottom two for episodes nine and ten, and won both lip syncs against Plastique Tiara and Shuga Cain.^{[12][13][14][15]} She was eliminated by Brooke Lynn Hytes in the penultimate week in episode twelve, and placed fifth.^[16][17][18] In Episode 5 of All Stars 5, she made a guest appearance as a "Lip Sync Assassin", where she lip-synced against Shea Couleé, but lost.

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo in 2019

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was featured on the September 2018 issue cover of Gay Times.^[19] She appeared with Nina Bo'nina Brown for two episodes of the WOWPresents internet series "Fashion Photo RuView" on November 3 and 17, 2018, filling in for Raja and Raven.^[20][21] She appeared with Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Derrick Barry for an episode of the fourteenth season of Germany's Next Topmodel in 2019.^[22] On May 12, 2019, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was sponsored by Chips Ahoy! for a social media post for Mother's Day, which got homophobic backlash.^[23]

On April 23, 2024, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was announced as one of the eight contestants competing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.^[24]

She is one of the most followed queens from Drag Race, and has accumulated over 1.5 million Instagram followers as of October 2021.^[25]

Music

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo released her first single, "I'm Vanjie", on June 21, 2018.^[26] She appeared in the music video for Iggy Azalea's "Sally Walker" on March 14, 2019.^[27] She performed as a backup dancer to the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in April 2019.^[28][29] Vanessa Vanjie Mateo was also in the video for Azalea's "Started" with Trixie Mattel.^[30][31][32]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	RuPaul's Drag Race	Herself	Contestant (14th place)
	RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
2019	RuPaul's Drag Race		Contestant (5th place)
	RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
	Jimmy Kimmel Live!		Backup dancer
	Germany's Next Topmodel		Guest
2020	AJ and the Queen[33]		Guest appearance
	RuPaul's Drag Race		Guest
	RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
	RuPaul's Celebrity Drag Race[34]		Mentor
	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars		Lip Sync Assassin
	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked
	RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue[35]
2022	All Star Shore		Contestant (Finalist)
	Canada's Drag Race (season 3)[36]		Guest judge
	The Book of Queer		Episode: "Queens' Work Makes the Team Work"
2023	Drag Me to Dinner		Hulu original[37]
2024	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars		Contestant Runner-Up
2024	Everybody Still Hates Chris	Drag Queen (voice)	Episode: "Everybody Still Hates Bullies"

Music videos

Year	Title	Role
2019	Iggy Azalea – "Sally Walker"	Funeral attendee
	Iggy Azalea – "Started"	Real Estate Agent
2020	Yvie Oddly - "Hype"	Herself

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018, 2019	Queen to Queen	Herself	With Kalorie Karbdashian-Williams, later with Silky Nutmeg Ganache and A'keria C. Davenport	[38]
	Countdown to the Crown		Season 10 and Season 11	[39]
	Whatcha Packin'		Guest	[40]
2018	Cosmo Queens		Cosmopolitan Series	[41]
2019–2022	The Pit Stop		Guest, 2 episodes	[42]
2019	Reading Queens		Episode: "Miss Vanjie"	[43]
	Follow Me			[44]
2019, 2020	Be$tie$ for Ca$h		With Silky Nutmeg Ganache, later with Alexis Mateo	[45]
2020	Silky's Snack Shack		Guest	[46]
	Werq the World			[47]
2021	Out of the Closet			[48]
2022	Vanjie: 24 Hours of Love		Host	[49]
2023	LGBTQ Herstory Month: Honoring Latinx Heroes		Web special	[50]

Discography

Singles

Year	Title
2018	"I'm Vanjie"
2019	"Queens Everywhere" with A'keria Davenport, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Rupaul, Yvie Oddly
2020	"Hype" with Yvie Oddly[51]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Work	Results	Ref.
2019	People's Choice Award	The Competition Contestant of 2019	Herself	Nominated	[52]
2023	Queerties Awards	Future All-Star	Herself	Nominated	[53]

References

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2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4bwrC8rJfU&list=PLGwZKkKxJCicD2nh9qE667lH-S-LPG7Sf&index=
3. Koch, Drew. "How Vanessa Vanjie Mateo's Drag Mom Came to Her Rescue After That 'RuPaul' Elimination". Bustle. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
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10. "There's Now A Miss Vanjie Snapchat Filter". LOGO News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
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14. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Power Ranking Season 11: Episode 10". Billboard. May 9, 2019. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
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21. WOWPresents (November 17, 2018), FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: Vanessa Vanjie and Nina Bo'nina Brown!, archived from the original on November 6, 2019, retrieved November 22, 2018
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23. Bollinger, Alex (May 13, 2019). "Conservatives got triggered by a Mothers Day commercial from Chips Ahoy!". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
24. Vary, Adam (April 23, 2024). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' Season 9 Queens Revealed, Will Compete for Charity for the First Time". Variety. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
25. Juengling, Konrad (October 15, 2021). "Here are the 25 Most-Followed "RuPaul's Drag Race" Queens on Instagram". IntoMore. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
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30. "Watch: Iggy Azalea recruits Trixie Mattel and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo for 'Started' music video". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. May 6, 2019. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
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44. FOLLOW ME: Miss Vanjie. YouTube. June 17, 2019. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
45. BESTIES FOR CASH – Holiday Edition with Silky and Vanjie. YouTube. December 17, 2019. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
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51. John Boone (June 18, 2020). "Check Out Yvie Oddly and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo's New Music Video for 'Hype' (Exclusive)". ETOnline. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
52. Evans, Greg (September 4, 2019). "E! People's Choice Awards Finalists Announced; Voting Open Through Oct. 18 – Complete List". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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External links

• José Cancel on IMDb