RuPaul’s Drag Race star Shangela has discussed the importance of her appearance on this year’s Oscars red carpet.
Shangela was a guest at the Academy Awards following her small role in A Star Is Born, which received multiple nominations, including a coveted Best Picture nod.
Serving it on the red carpet in full drag, Shangela took a moment to speak about what it meant for her to be at the event.
“Honestly, I’m just so grateful to be here,” she told Variety. “And I think I might be one of the first, if not the first, drag queens, in drag, to ever walk down the red carpet at the Oscars.
“And I hope that means something to somebody out there, because it means something to me.”
When asked whether she had anything big planned to surprise fans during the ceremony, she joked: “You never know where I’ll pop up, I’m Shangela, OK?”
At the Spirit Awards earlier in the week, Shangela made a hilarious appearance on stage, where she performed made-up songs based on the nominated films.
Shangela first appeared on the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she was the first contestant to be eliminated.
The following year, RuPaul made the decision to bring Shangela back to the competition, surprising the other queens in the competition by jumping out of an oversized gift box.
More recently, Shangela returned to the competition for a the third series of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, making it further than her previous two attempts, though many fans were left disappointed when she failed to make the top two, due to a twist in the final episode that led the decision in the hands of the eliminated contestants.