{"id":97115,"date":"2026-01-12T11:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/97115\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:44:17","slug":"dd-fuego-on-why-drag-race-time-matters-despite-early-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/97115\/","title":{"rendered":"DD Fuego on why Drag Race time matters despite early exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n

DD Fuego is one of the 14 queens on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race season 18. (World of Wonder)<\/p>\n

DD Fuego is one of the 14 queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18. (World of Wonder)<\/p>\n

RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race season 18 queen DD Fuego has explained why her time on the reality show is important in today\u2019s politically tumultuous climate, despite her being the first contestant to be sent home.<\/p>\n

In episode two of season 18, the New York-based performer and her fellow 13 season sisters<\/a> were tasked with performing in a \u201cQ-Pop\u201d girl group, inspired by the mammoth rise of K-Pop. DD Fuego<\/a> ended up being in a group with Athena Dion, Darlene Mitchell and Mandy Mango, and found herself in the bottom two alongside Mandy Mango.<\/p>\n

The pair competed in a lip-sync to Dove Cameron\u2019s \u201cToo Much\u201d, with DD ultimately being the queen to get the chop.<\/p>\n

Though her time on the show was cut upsettingly short, she has explained why her appearance still matters during a time of rapidly increasing anti-immigration sentiment and ICE raids<\/a> under president Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the rhetoric that some politicians use is very divisive, but I think people of any kind of political affiliation seek good people and can recognise it,\u201d she exclusively told PinkNews.<\/p>\n

The drag performer and fashion designer, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, is of Middle Eastern, Mexican and American heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will be able to see me on their screens and hopefully root for me and connect with my story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"DD Fuego on the Drag Race season 18 main stage. (World of Wonder)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re hearing people\u2019s stories and you get to see people for who they are, you root for them, and then you realise \u2018Oh, I\u2019m rooting for\u2026 someone who\u2019s Mexican,\u2019 who [you] didn\u2019t know could look like me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re rooting for someone who\u2019s Middle Eastern and you\u2019re breaking down barriers of your preconceived notions of who those people are and then we stop being the enemy,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you hear our stories, if you get to know us, you\u2019ll realise the rhetoric that is meant to divide us, it\u2019s not worth [it]. People are people and when you meet people where they are and you get to hear their stories, you realise that what Drag Race<\/a> does best is bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The versatile queen also hopes that Drag Race will provide her with a platform to continue connecting with her fans, because she has got a lot more to show them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been very important to me that what I do has the widest reach possible and that I get to share joy and positivity and hopefully allow people to connect with their creativity and their spirits,\u201d she shared. The entertainer has connected with her own creativity on numerous levels: in addition to performing in drag in New York, she designs looks, has created a colouring book and a candle, and makes music.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that the show is introducing me to a larger world, I get to share that love and that spirit and that Fuego with more and more people,\u201d she continued, before teasing some major upcoming projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t take that for granted and I\u2019m so excited to share some new things with the world including a collaboration perhaps with a very famous fashion designer coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Betsey Johnson announced they had collaborated with the star on a line of shoes<\/a>. They go up to a size 13 in a bid to be inclusive, with $1 from each pair sold also being donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.<\/p>\n

\"DragRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race star DD Fuego. (World of Wonder)<\/p>\n

As for whether Drag Race fans will get to see the looks she had planned for the rest of season 18, she isn\u2019t coy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show presents an opportunity to the world of us walking the runway with these magical looks, but we put so much energy into the creation of these looks and some of them needed to be shot in different locations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to take people on a tour around the world with my looks!\u201d<\/p>\n

RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race season 18 continues on MTV on Fridays in the US and on WOW Presents Plus internationally.<\/p>\n

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.<\/p>\n