Precious Paula Nicole is the winner of the inaugural season of Drag Race Philippines. She shares how drag artistry has empowered herself and her career
Precious Paula Nicole, the drag queen who won the first season of Drag Race Philippines, is now among the most recognisable artists nationwide. She became an overnight celebrity. Having worked as a drag artist for so many years before her win, Precious often attracts attention by personifying everything but the mundane.
Here she opens up about her journey towards self-discovery and becoming the Philippines’ first drag star.
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I am bisexual.
Outside of drag, I am not feminine. I am also an introvert. Precious and Rodolfo [Hontiveros III] are two different people. I love how audiences are amazed when they perceive me in drag and then out. I am two personas in one body. I chose to keep Precious and Rodolfo as two different people with two separate identities.
My ex introduced me to drag 16 years ago when I was still a folk dancer.
At the time, he wasn’t sure what to do with his career, so he started going out and that’s where he discovered fabulous drag queens. He became a drag queen and brought me along, sometimes as his backup dancer. I immediately fell in love with drag; there was a voice in me that told me I could do it too. So I started doing drag in secret. I borrowed my ex’s drag outfits and pretended it was for one of my dance students. He recognised my perfume in his outfits and I got busted. That’s when I started to embrace my drag life.
Drag is very liberating.
I can do so many things when I’m in drag. I’m like a superhero; I’m indestructible.