LOOK: 'RuPaul's Drag Race' contestant Anetra wears Filipino pride on her sleeve
Drag queen Anetra brought Pinoy pride to the global stage by wearing the Philippine flag in her RuPaul's Drag Race runway look.
Anetra is of mixed Filipino, German, Japanese, and Puerto Rican heritage, paying homage to her roots with flags on each of her sleeves to represent the multicultural background of her parents.
On the ninth episode of Season 15, the Emmy-winning show's 200th episode overall, host RuPaul challenged the queens with the "Crystal Ball."
Here, they must present two looks brought from home and a final look made from scratch in the Werk Room. The three categories were Start Your Engines (homage to RuPaul's racing look), My Favorite Ball (in reference to any previous ball challenge), and Crystallized Eleganza (a garment made from crystals).
Anetra wearing the Philippine flag?? Aim high pinay 🇵🇠#DragRace pic.twitter.com/dhxnk9jfn5
— maybe: igig (@igiglim) February 25, 2023
Specifically, Anetra wore the Filipino flag on her sleeve for his first look. "On this runway, we're representing mom and dad on both arms. We have on my father's side, the Filipino and Japanese flags," the drag queen said.
For her My Favorite Ball look, she referenced the Sugar Ball in Season 3. Finally, for her third look, Anetra made and modeled a crystal-embellished, long-sleeved nude gown with a deep neckline. The said look’s centerpiece is the back—where Anetra intricately placed crystals to form a spine illusion.
Ultimately, she received positive critiques from the judges and ended up in the Maxi Challenge's top three together with Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Sasha Colby, who ended up winning the challenge.
Anetra previously won the season's first Maxi Challenge, a talent show, by duck walking, demonstrating martial arts, and just having that charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
Prior to elimination, proudly Filipino drag queen Aura Mayari also won the girl group challenge in the same season.
Other Filipino "Ru Girls" of note from the main Drag Race franchise include Ongina (Season 1, All Stars 5), Manila Luzon (Season 3, All Stars 1, All Stars 4), and Jiggly Caliente (Season 4, All Stars 6), among others.