Zahirah Zapanta and Saki Yew in 'Drag Race UK' season 6. Screenshots from World of Wonder's YouTube channel.

From mismatches to being typecast, Filipina drag queens Saki Yew and Zahirah Zapanta shared the struggles of Asian queens during the premiere of "RuPaul's Drag Race" UK season 6.

Saki and Zahirah are the first queens of Filipino descent in the UK franchise of the hit reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Filipina drag queens Saki Yew, Zahirah Zapanta join 'Drag Race UK' season 6

In the first episode aired Friday, Saki shared how excited she is to be with a fellow Filipina queen.

"It's so good. It's like, it's so nice to have someone of the same heritage here," Saki said.

Sharing their experience, Zahirah said that it gets frustrating when people mistake her as Saki in Manchester.

"There's a few frustrations there ... I kinda feel as a person of color, you have to work harder than the other queen. Sometimes, I'll head on to the stage and in the audience someone will shout, Saki," Zahirah said. 

Saki echoed the same sentiment noting how Asian queens are boxed for only being beautiful.

"As an Asian queen, you always get compared to another Asian queen because they think, you look similar.

"Being an Asian queen, you get boxed into being just this pretty queen that isn't really that funny and that's pretty much it but I wanna prove to people, we can do everything that every other queen does."

Zahirah stressed how Asian queens are different and they can deliver distinct performances on the stage.

"It does get to me at the back of my mind, people will call me Jujubee out in the street ... It makes me feel really uncomfortable but as a professional I have to just carry on the show," the drag queen said. 

"Saki could not be more different to me and we look nothing alike. So for people and queens to keep mistaking us from each other, it upsets me so much," she added.

To their excitement, Saki and Zahirah are excited to show their brand in the TV series.

"I'm sick and tired of that and that being me and you here on this show together, we'll solidify ourselves as Saki, as Zahirah. I'm excited to see it. I'm so proud that you're here with me," Zahirah said. 

Meanwhile, Zahirah flaunted her Filipina roots during the hometown runway with a white Filipiniana dress.

Both Saki and Zahirah were safe in the episode and move on to the next episode.

In the country, Precious Paula Nicole and Captivating Katkat are the titleholders of "Drag Race Philippines," winning in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The Emmy Award-winning original series has featured the talents of Filipino drag queens in the US and several overseas in editions through the years.