MANILA — The queens of "Drag Den Philippines" season 1 shone during the show's red-carpet premiere Tuesday in Quezon City.

Present during the event were O-A, Shewarma, Barbie-Q, NAIA, Aries Night, Pura Luka Vega, Maria Cristina, and Lady Gagita along with Miss Grand International 2016 first runner-up Nicole Cordoves, TikTok star Sassa Gurl, and the show's director Rod Singh.

Singh thanked all the supporters of the show, noting how they did not expect to fill the theater for the event.

"Una naming pinaplano, 50 seats lang, ganoon lang (kababa 'yung confidence namin). For all the things that we've been through, gusto kong pasalamatan lahat ng taong nandito, mga supporters natin, mga supporters ng mga queens, at supporters namin sa industry," she said.

Asked how "Drag Den" would be different from other drag competitions, director Antoinette Jadaone said: "For 'Drag Den', drag can be a contact sport."

Cordoves echoed Jadaone, hinting how the wrecking ball in the trailer would play a role in the competition along with their stories as members of the LGBT community.

"Barda kung barda, and nakita niyo naman 'yung wrecking ball, abangan niyo 'yung mga eksena ng wrecking ball na 'yun kasi as they said kanina, contact sport talaga siya pero maraming kurot sa puso," she said.

"May bigat, maraming substance talaga na maipepresenta sa show na 'to and also, sobra-sobrang saya. You will laugh and cry with all of us there."

Hosted by Manila Luzon, "Drag Den Philippines" will be launched on December 8 on Prime Video.

The show was unveiled in July 2021 as the “first-ever drag reality show” in the country, and by August held its auditions for aspiring queens.

However, it was “Drag Race Philippines,” the local version of the wildly popular “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” that first aired with Precious Paula Nicole winning the crown.

Manila Luzon made their international breakthrough via “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in 2011. They then appeared in two “All Stars” editions of the show, in 2012 then in 2018.

RELATED VIDEO:

Watch more News on iWantTFC