GLAAD contributor Enrique Torre Molina is a diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ+ community activist, speaker and consultant working with companies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and media. He co-founded Colmena 41, co-hosts the “Mafia Gay” podcast and lives in Mexico City.
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Spoiler alert: this article contains details about Drag Race Mexico’s season 1, episode 10.
The previous episode ended with the emotional departure of Lady Kero. Back in the werk room, the finalists read a message that she wrote with lipstick on her mirror before leaving: “My top 4, I love you with all my soul. Kill it.”
Cristian Peralta said that “More than being sad, I am very, very, very proud of you.” Gala Varo also sent her a few words: “You already did what you had to do. You gave it your all. You should feel very proud for having come this far.” And Regina Voce’s comment was: “It seems to me that there is an extraordinary representation of the country in the top 4.” A reminder that the winner of the show will receive a year’s worth of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, a crown and a scepter from Amped Accessories, and a prize of 550,000 MXN (approximately $32,500).
The siren went off and Lolita Banana showed up to tell them that “This is Drag Race Mexico and here there are plenty of surprises”, cueing the entrance of Valentina accompanied by 4 men that we had not seen before. Each one wore a sash from their respective countries: Jorge Zavala from Mexico, Cristian Duque from Colombia, Gabriel Jadue from Chile and Jhonier Magdaleno from Venezuela. The hosts explained that this week’s challenge would be to “give birth to a new baby drag queen” as each contestant, teaming up with the guests, would become beauty queens.
My favorite moment of the episode was when Gala Varo gave a class on how to “tuck” – a technique some drag performers use to hide their genitals – drawing each step on a blackboard and provoking terrified looks, especially from Chilean guest Gabriel.
The time for the catwalk arrived and the category was “Miss Drag Latin America”, with special judge Laura Carmine, an actress and presenter from Puerto Rico. We saw the four pairs walk down the runway:
Gala Varo and Dalí Varo represented Venezuela.
Matraka and Maraka represented Colombia.
Regina Voce and Joana Voce represented Mexico.
And Cristian Peralta and Gaby Peralta represented Chile.
These last two reminded us of Conchita Wurst (the Austrian drag singer who won the 2014 Eurovision contest), and sent a message in support of LGBTQ acceptance among families.
The winner of the challenge, for the fifth time so far this season, was Cristian Peralta, taking a prize of 18,000 MXN (1,063 dollars, approximately) and the jury saved Gala Varo. Matraka and Regina Voce engaged in a tight and tense lip sync battle to the song “El bombón asesino” by Ninel Conde. In the end, no one was eliminated and all four queens will move on to the finale.
Drag Race Mexico S1 airs every Thursday at 2am ET on WOW Presents Plus, with its local airing in Mexico on Paramount+.