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Shangela

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'RuPaul's Drag Race' Profile: Shangela
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Shangela Laquifa Wadley, commonly referred to as Shangela, is the stage name of D.J. Pierce, a professional drag queen, actor, a contestant from RuPaul's Drag Race and comedian from Paris, Texas.

Biography

D.J. grew up as an only child with a single Army vet mom, a hard-working aunt and her grandparents, some of D.J.'s biggest supporters. D.J.'s grandpa was a pig and cattle farmer ranchhand. D.J.'s childhood was spent singing in the church choir, playing Atari Pole Position and tracing dresses from the bridal section of D.J.'s granny's JCPenney catalog. - Quoted from Shangela's website.

One of Shangela's first performances in drag was when she was 16 in 10th grade. D.J. had to do a book report for his English class. The book was Huck Finn, and D.J. re-wrote the lyrics of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" and performed as Jim from the book, earning him a high grade.

D.J. attended Southern Methodist University along with Sahara Davenport, who was on season 2 with Shangela. Her drag mother is Alyssa Edwards from Season 5.

RuPaul's Drag Race

Shangela
Seasons Competed: Season 2 Season 3 All Stars 3
Ranking: 12th Place 6th Place 3rd/4th Place
Mini-Challenges Won: 0 1 (Ep. 8) 0
Times as Team Captain: 0 0 0
Times Placed High 0 2 (Eps. 5, 9) 2 (Eps. 1 , 6)
Main Challenges Won: 0 2 (Eps. 3, 8) 3 (Eps. 2, 4, 7)
Times Placed Low 0 1 (Ep. 7) 0
Times in Bottom: 1 (Ep. 1) 3 (Eps. 2, 10, 11) 2 (Eps. 5, 6)
Episode Eliminated Episode 1 Episode 11 Episode 8


Drag Name Origin

She was choreographing Beyoncé’s Single Ladies for three guys doing a charity event. One of the guys got sick the night before the show and her friends asked her to fill in. She was running late for the show and they called to ask for her drag name. She didn’t have one and thinking that it’s going to be a one-time thing, said to just put down anything. Her friend Brad who had worked in telemarketing came up with the name. One time he called this lady and cannot get her name right. The lady said, "Let me tell you something, my name is Shangela Laquifa Wadley and don’t you forget it!" Her drag mother is Alyssa Edwards.

Memorable Quotes

  • "Halleloo!"
  • "And I say get it Stacy, eat that chicken, you bitch.." (about Stacy Matthews’s performance in the werk out video challenge)
  • "Some of the other queens are probably looking down on me for doing this for only five months... it just makes me feel more determined to show them that I can do it." – (Upon her surprise return in Season 3, Episode 1 "The Queen Who Mopped X-Mas.)
  • "I said bitch better have my money!"
  • "THEY SAY LAQUIFA!?! I SAY WHAT!?!" (as her character, "Laquifa the Post Modern Pimp Ho" on the 8th Episode, "Ru Ha Ha" in Season 3.)
  • "I said, bitch!"
  • "Are pineapples Japanese?"
  • "A lot of times, things don't go the way that you plan. Okay, that happens, for a lot of us out there. But LET me tell you something! You pick up the Halleloo-la-hoop! And you put it BACK around your waist! And you WERK the Halleloo-la-hoop!"
  • "One two three four, I don't want that whore no more! Five six seven eight, I am gonna FIND a date!"
  • "I don't have a sugar daddy. I've never had a sugar daddy. If I wanted a sugar daddy, yes, I could probably go out and get one because I am what? Sickening! You could never have a sugar daddy because you are not that kind of girl. Baby everything I've had, I've worked for and I have gotten myself. I built myself from the ground up, you fucking BITCH!" (in the infamous fight with Mimi Imfurst on the 2nd episode's Untucked on Season 3)
  • "Cousin It can still hear you!"
  • "They attacked me with knives. I don't attack with knives. I attack with strategy." (RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 3, Episode 8 "Ru Ha Ha")
  • "I GOT A POCKETFUL OF HAWTHORNES, HAWTHORNES, HAWTHORNES! P-P-P-POCKETFUL OF HAWTHORNES!!"
  • "I am the Nancy Drew of drag." (in Season 3, Episode 10 "RuPaul's Hair Extravaganza Untucked.)
  • "I saw those fish nets, and they were ripped."
  • ”Well if this is the face of a booger, then I think it's sickening.” (in the Season 3 reunion)
  • "C'mon Miss Tu-Tu-Tulle and fabric and felt!" (referring to Raja's fantasy hair look in Untucked of Season 3, Episode 10 "RuPaul's Hair Extravaganza".)
  • "Did she just throw her titty at me?" (on Alyssa's Secret)
  • "Wedges?!" (on We're Here)
  • "I'm a method actress, okay?"
  • "I'm the Daenerys Targaryen of drag."
  • "Jealousy is a killer in this industry, mama."
  • "Oh the Big and Milky, girl."
  • "Y'all told her on the internet it was funny. I blame y'all." (about Trixie Mattel's Snatch Game performance.)
  • "You'll never be glamour." (to Mimi Imfurst in Untucked of Season 3, Episode 2 "Queens in Space".)
  • "Hmm, honey look at the sperm count on this one!" (In the Bitchelor)
  • "Oh, you have insurance? You said Progressive." (In the Bitchelor)
  • "Season 3 Shangie would've thrown a drink on her."
  • "Ain't nobody that can make my famous pies, and put a man on the moon." (In My Best Squirrelfriends Dragsmaids Wedding Trip)
  • "Here come the dragons!"
  • "Step aside, I'm back again! So hype, so lit, adrenaline! I'm Shan-ge-la, (say what)? Started as a baby now I'm all grown up. Gonna take this verse just to let you know, never listen to the haters, be a pro! Cause I've worked my way, payed my dues, now I got the whole world screaming halleloo!" (Verse in "Kitty Girl")
  • "Ru's looking at me like, 'that's my daughter. That's my baby.'"

Farewell Message

Season 2

"Love you all! Turn it out... Shangela "DJ""

Trivia

  • Shangela and Jackie Cox have the same boy first name, Darius.
    • Coincidentally, they are also two out of the four queens of Middle Eastern and West Asian descent to compete on the Drag Race franchise, the third and fourth being Aja and Jan respectively.
      • Coincidentally, Shangela, Jackie, Aja, and Jan all are biracial.
  • In high school, D.J. became the school's first male cheerleader since 1968.
  • Shangela was the first queen to write a lipstick goodbye message on the werkroom mirror, which has since become a Drag Race tradition.
  • She is the second most-followed first-out contestant on Instagram (the most followed being Vanessa Vanjie Mateo).
  • Shangela was the first contestant to place 12th (Season 2).
  • Shangela was the first contestant to compete in more than one regular season, followed by Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Eureka, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
  • She sent in an audition tape for Season 3, but was invited back on the show before the producers had even seen it.
  • She is the first of four contestants to be brought back for a second chance on a consecutive regular season, the others being Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Eureka, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. She and Vanessa are the only two first-out contestants to have this opportunity.
  • Shangela was the first queen to compete on 3 different seasons, with the second being both Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon, and third being Jujubee and Alexis Mateo.
  • She was on the bottom or low in any challenge related to sewing (Ball and sewing/runway challenge).
  • All Stars 3 was the first season in which Shangela wasn't up for elimination in the first episode.
  • Shangela is the second contestant in herstory to land in the Bottom two on her first episode competing and later win a Maxi Challenge on a regular season, after Sahara Davenport and before Darienne Lake and Lemon.
    • All four of these queens have coincidentally won the Maxi Challenge in the very next episode.
  • Shangela and Alexis Mateo were the first contestants to share a win on Drag Race.
  • She and BenDeLaCreme are one of 7 pairs to lip sync against each other twice in one season. The other pairs are BenDeLaCreme and Darienne Lake, Katya and Alaska, Eureka and Aquaria, Eureka and Kameron Michaels, Monique Heart and Trinity The Tuck and Yvie Oddly and Brooke Lynn Hytes
    • Coincidentally, she was the second queen to lip sync against BenDeLaCreme more than once.
  • Shangela is the highest ranking member of the Haus of Edwards, placing 3rd/4th in All Stars 3.
  • Shangela is the second queen to win three Maxi Challenges in an All Stars season without winning a Maxi Challenge in their first season.
  • Shangela is the lowest placing All Star from her original season, coming last on Season 2. However, due to returning the following season, she isn’t usually considered a part of the Season 2 crowd. She came sixth on Season 3, thus making Jasmine Masters the title holder if you discredit Shangela’s run on Season 2.
  • Shangela has a drag daughter named Bambi Wadley.
  • Shangela is the first person to place lower than someone they beat in a lip sync , first being Carmen Carrera in Season 3, second being Trixie Mattel in All Stars 3.
  • Shangela was first runner-up to Vanessa De Mornay in the 2010 National Entertainer of the Year pageant, having won California Entertainer of the Year that same year. Her first runner-up as California Entertainer of the Year was Chad Michaels.
  • Alaska, Roxxxy Andrews, Alyssa Edwards, Kennedy Davenport, Shangela, Naomi Smalls, Latrice Royale, and Valentina are the only people to win every lip-sync for your legacy they ever competed in on All Stars.
    • However, Alaska and Shangela are the only queens from this list to lip-sync for their legacy more than once.
  • In every design challenge that Shangela participated, she placed in the bottom three (placing low one time, being in the bottom two two times and being eliminated two times.)
  • Shangela had a sledgehammer and a piñata underneath her outfit for the finale lip sync of All Stars 3, as revealed by Trixie Mattel on UNHhhh.
  • Shangela performed a medley of Beyoncé songs at the 2019 GLAAD Awards, a ceremony at which Beyoncé was present and watched.
  • Shangela had met with Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020, in which she was showing her how to prop open a fan. The video had spread widely on Instagram, gaining over 140,000 views.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic Shangela chose to participate in parties in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico without any safety restrictions and gained a lot of hate for it from past contestants and fans.
  • Shangela is one of four contestants to have won and lost a lip sync to the same artist. She lost a lip sync to "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" by RuPaul in Season 2, and won a lip sync to "Freaky Money" by RuPaul (feat. Big Freedia) on All Stars 3.
    • The other three are Trinity the Tuck, who won and lost a lip sync to Britney Spears, Valentina, who won and lost a lip sync to Ariana Grande and Monet X Change, who won and lost a lip sync to Lizzo. Trinity is the only one to do this on a single season.
  • Shangela is the first contestant not only to have a tied win, but to be eliminated by her tied win partner.

Drag Family

House of Edwards

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Alyssa Edwards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Cheryl Hole
 
Laganja.png
Laganja Estranja
 
 
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Plastique Tiara
 
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Shangela
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Gia Gunn
 
Pinay.png
Vivienne Pinay
 
RDR?.jpg
Leyla Edwards
 
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Logan Hardcore


Other Works

  • After Shangela's Elimination from Season 2, Shangela gained more experience and learned new things on her own. Shangela competed in the Miss California Entertainer of the Year pageant, and won the pageant crown, earning her the title of Miss California Entertainer of the Year.
  • Shangela appeared in a variety of different films and TV Shows after her eliminations from both Seasons of RPDR.
  • In the TV show Terriers on the Pimp Daddy episode as "Mikalea", a transexual hooker. (2010)
  • In the TV Movie Mann's World as "Snip" (2011)
  • In the TV Movie Spring/Fall as "Dion" (2011)
  • In the TV show Detroit as "Shangela" (2011)
  • In the TV show Dance Moms as "Shangela Laquifa", being a guest mentor teaching the girls to do her signature move, the Death Drop (2011), later coming back to visit years later (2016)
  • In the TV show Community on the Advanced Gay episode as "Miss Urbana Champaign" (2011)
  • In the TV show Two Broke Girls as “Hallelujah" (2012)
  • In the TV Show Glee as Shangela (2012)
  • Shangela appeared in TV show Bones as "Kimmy Moore" (2014)
  • Shangela, Manila Luzon and Carmen Carrera appeared together on a commercial for Orbitz Travel.
  • Shangela also appeared on the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. At first, she was mistaken/acted to be competing yet again with the Season 4 cast, coming out of an "Explosive Box" on the 1st episode. She was sent back, but reappeared later as Laquifa, the Post Modern Pimp Ho, getting eaten by the Drag Queen zombies.
  • Shangela appeared in The X Files.
  • Shangela appeared in the movies Hurricane Bianca and Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with hate as one of Richard Martinez's friends.
  • Shangela was handpicked by Lady Gaga to cast in her movie A Star Is Born as the drag bar emcee.
  • Shangela appeared in Ariana Grande's song "NASA".
  • Shangela appeared on an episode of Broad City titled “Lost and Found.” She appears at a drag brunch alongside Sasha Velour, Jiggly Caliente, and other queens.
  • Shangela appeared in Season 4, Episode 3 of the ABC show, Station 19 as a queen performing a virtual show.

Gallery

Season 2 Looks

Season 3 Looks

Season 4 Looks

All Stars 3 Looks

Holi-Slay Spectacular Looks

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