RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
Register
Don't have an account?
Sign In
Advertisement
RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
Drag Race Wiki
1,446
pages
in: Articles in need of citations, Contestants, Queens with 1 Million Followers or More on Instagram,
and 18 more
English

Shangela

View source

Shangela Laquifa Wadley, commonly referred to as Shangela, is the stage name of Darius Jeremy Pierce,[1] 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 his 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 he 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.[citation needed]

D.J. attended Southern Methodist University along with Sahara Davenport, who was on season 2 with Shangela. The two briefly discussed this in the Season 2 premiere episode. His drag mother is Alyssa Edwards from Season 5.

RuPaul's Drag Race

Shangela
Statistics Season 2 Season 3 All Stars 3
Ranking: 12th Place 6th Place 3rd/4th Place
Maxi Challenges Won: 0 2 (Eps. 3, 8) 3 (Eps. 2, 4, 7)
Mini Challenges Won: 0 1 (Ep. 8) 0
Times as Team Captain: 0 0 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

He 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 his friends asked him to fill in. He was running late for the show and they called to ask for his drag name. He didn’t have one and thinking that it’s going to be a one-time thing, said to just put down anything. His 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!" His drag mother is Alyssa Edwards.

Memorable Quotes

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3

  • "Halleloo!"
  • "And I say get it Stacy, eat that chicken, you bitch.." (about Stacy Layne 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 his 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 his character, "Laquifa the Post Modern Pimp Ho" on the 8th Episode, "Ru Ha Ha" in Season 3.)
  • "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!" (from Season 3, Episode 4 "Totally Leotarded")
  • "One two three four, I don't want that whore no more! Five six seven eight, I am gonna FIND a date!" (from Season 3, Episode 4 "Totally Leotarded")
  • "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. Oh, you BITCH!"
  • "I am the Nancy Drew of drag."
  • "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".)

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 3

  • "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.)
  • "Spelling Bee winner" (referring to Chi Chi's Snatch Game)
  • "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."
  • “Oh, girl, just add some sparkle. It feels so sexy and free and you'll see, yes you will. Wear the glitz and glamour, be flashy for the cameras. So gay, gay, gay. Bitch if you want to play.” (verse in Drag Up Your Life)
  • "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 US 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 is also the first contestant to ever compete on two seasons, including All Stars.
  • Shangela was the first queen to compete on 3 different seasons, with the second being both Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon, third being Jujubee and Alexis Mateo, and fouth being Yara Sofia, Pandora Boxx , Ginger Minj and Eureka!
  • She was in 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 their first episode competing and later win a Maxi Challenge on a regular season, after Sahara Davenport and before Darienne Lake, Lemon, Bimini Bon Boulash and Gia Metric.
    • The first 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 9 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, Yvie Oddly and Brooke Lynn Hytes and Kandy Muse and Symone and Daya Betty and DeJa Skye.
    • Coincidentally, he 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 tied with Jasmine Masters for being the second-lowest placing queen to compete on All Stars, with both of them placing twelfth on their first seasons. Serena ChaCha, who placed 13th on Season 5, is the lowest.
  • Shangela has a drag daughter named Bambi Wadley.
  • Shangela is the first person to place lower than someone they beat in a lip sync when she sent home Carmen Carrera on Season 3 but she later returned. This also occurred on All Stars 3 with Trixie Mattel, who Shangela beat in a lipsync but went on to win the season.
  • 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. His first runner-up as California Entertainer of the Year was Chad Michaels.
  • Alaska, Roxxxy Andrews, Alyssa Edwards, Kennedy Davenport, Shangela, Naomi Smalls, Latrice Royale, Valentina, Shea Couleé, Eureka!, Ginger Minj and Kylie Sonique Love are the only people to win every lip-sync for your legacy they ever competed in on All Stars. However, Alaska, Shangela, Shea and Ginger 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 once, being in the bottom two twice, and being eliminated twice.)
  • 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 he 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 criticism 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 (against Sahara Davenport) to "Cover Girl (Put the Bass in Your Walk)" by RuPaul in Season 2, and won a lip sync to "Freaky Money" (against Trixie Mattel) 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 Monét 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 their tied win partner (Alexis Mateo). She would later be followed by Utica, who was eliminated by her tied win partner Symone on Season 13.

Gallery

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 3

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 3 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular

RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular Looks

Videos

External Links

Navigation

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shangela's Success Shows the Power of Queer Resilience | The Advocate — April 8, 2019
  2. ↑ Post by itsSHANGELA | Twitter — February 22, 2011
  3. ↑ Instagram
Categories
Languages
Español
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki
Explore Wikis