For those who have yet to watch Canada vs. the World, this article contains some spoilers! Read at your own risk.
Category is: Philippine representation on the international stage!
Filipino-Canadian drag queen Stephanie Prince may be the second queen to be eliminated in Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs the World, but she surely fashionably represented the Philippines.
In the show’s second episode, Stephanie landed in the bottom two spots, together with New Zealand’s Anita Wigl’t, when she received negative reviews for her impersonation of Cardi B during Snatch Game. The Filipino-Canadian drag performer got the chop when her fellow Canadian sister Icesis Couture picked her lipstick and chose to send her home.
Link: https://twitter.com/canadasdragrace/status/1596329259945295874?t=Vj-2Qfv9fevBcEfnEuQnYA&s=19
But despite her journey in Canada vs. the World, Stephanie flaunted her Filipino roots every single time she sashayed to the main stage.
During the first runway in the pilot episode, Stephanie donned a tribal bodysuit with Ifugao-inspired fabric draped around her. To complete her ensemble for the runway’s category, “Queen of the World,” she was also balancing a stack of palayok on top of her head.
In an Instagram post, Stephanie explained that her runway look was a love letter for his grandfather who passed away before she was set to film the show.
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“2 weeks before I left to film Canada vs. the World, my grandfather passed away, and I couldn’t fly to the Philippines to say goodbye,” she wrote. “This look is a love letter to him as he was treated as the village king. I want him to know that this little village princess is now the queen of the world!”
Stephanie then continued to showcase her heritage in the show’s second episode. With the runway theme “Celestial Bodies,” the drag artist was clad in gold and silver armor, complete with wings and a headpiece. She described in her sound bite that her outfit was inspired by Bathala, the Supreme Being in Philippine mythology.
“[I’m] serving you Bathala. In Philippine mythology, [it’s] the highest being in the universe. All this planet, I’m the sun, b*tch,” said Stephanie.
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Both of Stephanie’s runway looks were made by designer Patrick Isorena, who’s also a Filipino!
Stephanie was first introduced to the world in 2021 when she competed in the second season of Canada’s Drag Race season 2. At the time, she made an online buzz as she entered the werkroom wearing a Jollibee-inspired outfit. However, her journey was only short as she got the chop in the third episode, finishing in 10th place.
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Stephanie is the second queen to compete in Canada’s Drag Race, with Kyne being the first. She was then followed by another Filipino-Canadian drag queen Kimmy Couture, who competed in the show’s third season.
Apart from these three Filipino-Canadian queens, Drag Race has been featuring the talents of Filipino drag queens on the world stage. The US franchise has spawned Filipino queens such as Ongina (Season 1 and All Stars 5), Manila Luzon (Season 3, All Stars 1 and 4), Phi Phi O’ Hara (Season 4 and All Stars 2), Jiggly Caliente (Season 4 and All Stars 6), Vivienne Pinay (Season 5), and Rock M. Sakura (Season 12). In Drag Race Thailand, two Filipino queens also competed in the show: Jaja (Season 1) and Mocha Diva (Season 2).
Canada vs. the World is the spinoff series of Canada’s Drag Race where the show features queens from different franchises competing for the title of the “Queen of the Mothertucking World.” It is also the second installment of the vs. the World, following the UK vs. the World, with Irish drag queen Blu Hydrangea hailed as the first winner.
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