Jiggly Caliente
Bianca Castro-Arabejo (November 29, 1980 – April 27, 2025), known professionally as Jiggly Caliente, was a Filipino-American drag performer and entertainer. She rose to prominence after competing on the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race (2012) and the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (2021).
– To know about your favorite celebrities visit CelebsWikipedia
|
Jiggly Caliente
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | November 29, 1980
San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines
|
| Died | April 27, 2025 (aged 44) |
| Education | Fashion Institute of Technology |
| Occupations |
|
| Television |
|
She became a judge on Drag Race Philippines and was also known for her recurring role as Veronica Ferocity in the American drama television series Pose (2018–2021). In addition to appearing on television, she released her debut studio album T.H.O.T. Process in 2018.
Early life and education
Jiggly Caliente was born in San Pedro, Laguna, from an administrative region of the Philippines on November 29, 1980. During the first grade, she was bullied by a student for bodyshaming her and was expelled for stabbing the student’s hand with a pencil.
Castro soon immigrated to the United States in 1991 alongside her mother and brother. She was raised at neighbourhood Sunnyside located in western portion of New York City. In her junior year of high school she came out to her mother.
– To know about your favorite celebrities visit CelebsWikipedia
Afterwards, Castro wanted to become a veterinarian, but later was more interested in being a cartoonist and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) majoring in illustration. She soon realized that “comic books were kind of like a dying art form” and stopped attending.
Personal life, illness and death
Jiggly Caliente publicly came out as transgender in 2016.
On April 24, 2025, Caliente’s family revealed in a statement that her right leg had been surgically amputated due to a severe infection. She died in hospital three days later, at age 44.
Drag Race and career
Castro first started her drag persona roughly in 2004 or 2005 on dare after she supported her friend competing in a competition. She later named herself after the Pokémon character Jigglypuff and added the Spanish word caliente meaning hot.
– To know about your favorite celebrities visit CelebsWikipedia
Jiggly Caliente also worked at the Web, which is known for its sexual services and stated, “[she] just don’t think anyone should be ashamed for it.” She soon competed in various beauty pageants and was crowned as Ms. Asia America 2006, Ms. Mexico New York 2008, and Ms. Universo Latina Plus 2009.
She was announced to be one of thirteen contestants in the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race on November 13, 2011. She placed eighth overall, being eliminated in a lip-sync contest by Willam. Jiggly Caliente was in archive footage in the finale of the fifth season and made an appearance in the finale of the sixth season, where she asked a viewer question to Bianca Del Rio.
– To know about your favorite celebrities visit CelebsWikipedia
Outside of Drag Race, Caliente can be seen in the beginning of the 2012 NewNowNext awards. Her acting career began in 2015 when she played a role in the season-two finale of Broad City as a shop owner. She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus’s 2015 VMA performance.
In 2016, she was in the pilot episode of Search Party. In 2017, she played a part with fellow Drag Race contestant Bob The Drag Queen, Katya and Detox in a season finale episode of Playing House. She made an appearance as a backup singer on the music video for Bob The Drag Queen and Alaska’s “Yet Another Dig”.
She played the character Veronica in Pose, appearing in the sixth and eighth episodes of the first season. She later confirmed she would be back for more episodes of the show’s second season, on Bootleg Fashion Photo Review and the web series by Drag Race contestant Yuhua Hamasaki.
In September 2018, Caliente performed as a background dancer behind Christina Aguilera for Opening Ceremony’s Spring 2019 collection alongside other Drag Race contestants.
– To know about your favorite celebrities visit CelebsWikipedia
In November 2018, she made an appearance on Saturday Night Live with Drag Race contestant Peppermint, as a Drag Queen for the Garmin GP-Yasss sketch. In 2020, Jiggly Caliente co-hosted Translation, the first talk show on a major network hosted by an all-trans cast.
On May 26, 2021, Caliente was announced to be one of the 13 queens returning for the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. She was eliminated in the second episode, placing twelfth overall. She was a main judge for the first three seasons of Drag Race Philippines, which premiered in 2022.
Music
Caliente released her first single, “Fckboi” on March 1, 2018, on her official Vevo channel. She released her debut album, T.H.O.T. Process on March 9, 2018. The twelve-track album features Drag Race contestants Sharon Needles, Peppermint, Alaska, Ginger Minj, Phi Phi O’Hara (Credited as Jaremi Carey) and Manila Luzon.
It also features an intro with RuPaul. The album is the first hip-hop-based record by a Drag Race contestant. The music video for the song “All This Body” premiered on November 30, 2018, and featured Alaska, Minj and Isis King.
— Visit — CelebsWikipedia
She also was a featured artist for the first three volumes of the Drag Race Christmas Queens albums. The music video for “Ratchet Christmas” from the first volume was uploaded on December 9, 2015. She contributed to the compilation album Christmas Queens 3 (2017).
